Chapter 8: Communicating and Networking with Websites, blogs, Wikis and More
1) The chapter gives a few different ways to communicate with your students, for example blogs, email, teacher websites, online discussions and Wikis. (Wiki comes from the Hawaiian work "quick", I found that a fun fact the textbook stated). The textbook also gives a chart explaining when it is best to use each of these computer-mediated communication forms. I recently gave my students my email address (my school where I work gave me this email to use), though my school does not have my password I found it safer to use the school email and would never use a private one. I work in a high school and the problem with privately communicating with students of this age group is that sometimes they use this private communication for other means. Some of my students even said is this email only to hand in the project? The text states on page 210 that many schools worry about student and teacher communication through online social networks. I learned about the website Ning.com and how you can use it to make your own social network to only invite certain people into it. I went to the website The site was great, however it was $49 for a regular site, and $100 for a business one, etc. As a teacher it is hard to have communication with your students outside of the classroom, in a safe and proper way. How would you implement communication with your students outside of the class, which websites do you believe are safe to use, which communication methods would you use?
2) The text stated that 36% more student success was achieved when parents had internet based communication with teachers and the school. The problem however was that this occurred in areas with higher income, education and parent involvement. Overall, parent involvement was better when the information was found online. I work in the South Bronx, and my students are able to access their grades through a site called Powerschool. They always come in to class saying that they saw their grades, and are either happy or not. I believe that when parents and students have this access, they are more likely to be involved and stay on top of their grades more. How do you implement parent involvement? Do you use the internet?
3) Page 214 of the text really hit home with me. The text states that 4 out of 10 students in high school never write a paper of more than 3 pages and that by the end of high school many students are writing unsophisticated work or immature. In my classroom I assigned my honors class a 3 page, 5 paragraph comparison essay to write over the spring break. All of the students flipped out saying that it was too much writing (double spaced mind you). I found this appaulling because I though the assignment was easy. The text stated that 60% of teens use text, online blogs, Facebook, etc to write daily but do not see that as "real" writing. I tend to agree with this fact because, though they are writing they are not writing properly, therefore this is not helping them. How can you as a teacher improve this problem with students writing? The text stated that many social studies/history teachers never have their students write, how can you as another subject matter teacher beside ELA promote writing in your classroom?
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ReplyDeleteHi Tatiana. I was really drawn to your second point about parental involvement in the academic process. I believe that as time goes on, the DOE and other districts should focus and redirect funding for less fortunate areas such as the South Bronx on the implementation of online databases for learning, records and information. Given how much money is allocated for textbooks, workbooks and other printed materials that must be ordered in large quantities and often become outdated within a few years,it seems more fiscally and academically prudent to invest in sources that students, parents and teachers can utilize to communicate with each other and find all of the relevant materials for completing projects and assignments. Additionally, these online sources can be updated continuously by administrators for years without having to be constantly replaced as books must be.
ReplyDeleteI understand your point, however, many of my students do not even have computers at home, they go to the library or simply do not do their work if they need to use a computer. Therefore, books do make it easier for them to use. The school should however let the students use the computers a few times a week after school hours to complete work, which they do not allow.
DeleteJason F,
ReplyDeleteI liked a lot of the points you raised in your blog. The wiki fact I liked the most and am going to use that one. to answer your question, I think I like twitter and instagram as two social media sites to use with the kids. I like doing timeline pieces for stories and having the students use those sites to post pictures and captions is a fun way to engage them. not every test needs to be a formal assessment and doing fun tests with the student swill also keep them engaged and motivated for school. for parents, allowing them to email you and maybe even posting a parent comment section on your teacher page would help facilitate parent involvement and communication. Parents have less and less time it seems to come to the school and speak with the teacher. Also teacher hours may not be that accommodating and you want to be able to reach every parent in the class. Making yourself more available I think is the best tool for parental engagement. Also not coming off as a mean teacher helps, we have to smile.
For your last question, using social media sites and being creative in our lesson plans is a good way to spark student interest in writing. My English class is going over a few games and tips on how to engage students more and I will bring those in for you. Making a rhyming game with the class is one way and making the lesson more about the students can help as well. For instance, if I was a social studies teacher, I would do a lot of investigative more. Map out for certain subjects the events that need to be covered for a magazine the class is writing. Each students takes a different perspective of what you are discussing, the Civil War for instance. The students can break off into groups and find out different aspects of those times, not just the war. They make their own news paper and the paper gets handed out. This can be a group project spanning a week or so and gets the students moving and involved in group work. Just being creative in your own subject is how you can get kids to work more. Just showing up doesn’t count.
The fact about 40% of students never writing a paper over three pages is absurd. I agree with your perspective in that regard. If the students used the same energy they use in social networking, perhaps they'd be able to get further in their academic career. I remember writing papers longer than three pages in middle school. If this is becoming the standard, I am nervous for future generations.
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