Region 4 High Schools

Prepare for the Regents by looking at old exams here:
http://www.nysedregents.org/testing/hsregents.html

Welcome to the Region 4 Blog workshop. Our agenda for today is to:

• Share our blog experience and learn what a Blog is
  
• Learn how to use a Blog
• Learn about the features of the Region 4 Blog
• Set up your own Blog
• Personalize your Settings
• Learn how to use RSS Feeds and Bloglines
• Learn about social bookmarking on De.licio.us
• Practice with your own Blogs
• Bring your Blog back to your school and share what you learned

My plan is to get you right into Blogs by having you read this post and comment on it. I want you to click on the Bold blue title of this blog. Clicking on the title of a Post will link you to the Post's dedicated page. This will make it easier for you to read other comments and add your own comments in one place. Do that now and then continue reading the Post.

Blogs depend on people like you to read and respond. When blogs are used effectively in teaching and learning, comments include a synthesis of relevant information from multiple sources. The Blog author can then read what you have to say, maybe look at links you have suggested and then, possibly, reconsider what they originally posted. A Blog author would not go back and revise the original post, but certainly could continue the discussion. As you can see, Blogs are essentially about thinking,  reading AND writing and they are never quite finished.

Now that you have a basic introduction to Blogs, I'd like you to think about what you read here and what people shared a few moments ago. Based on what you have heard so far, add your voice to the discussion. To what extent should teachers and schools make use of Blogs in teaching and learning? Why?

You may want to visit http://www.weblogg-ed.com/why-weblogs to see what others say about using  blogs in the classroom.

When you are ready to add a comment, scroll down and add your comment in the text box and click submit. Your comment must be approved before it will be displayed. I will show you how I can quickly and easily approve comments.

In our training discussion, the issue came up of whether or not it is worth it for the teacher to put themselves at risk by using the Blog. If a student posts something inappropriate and the teacher misses it and approves the comment, he or she may be open to disciplinary action. Does the use of a blog have enough educational value that it is worth this risk? How can we protect ourelves from getting into trouble because of what the students comment? What do you think?

NBC in partnership with THINKQUEST NYC is sponsoring a Digital Media
competition for students( 8-12). Please forward to your  staffs and
educators who would be willing to coach a team of students to victory.
Prizes for students, educators and schools PLUS visibility for students
interested in the Digital Media Industry.

The attached flyer is for your convenience  or go to www.tqnyc.org and
click on NBC Universal Digital Media Competition

I noticed on Ms. Weidner's blog that there was a category for archiving blogs. How do we archive materials from the blog?

You can find all of the links we shared at training at my del.icio.us account. Click here.

How do you envision blogs being used in your subject area? How can blogs help students learn and teachers teach? How can you use blogs in your classroom?

Hello everyone. It's been great to see that many of you have commented on the welcome post. Please continue to do so. Remember that to post a comment for everyone to see, you should click on the post title and then scroll down to the bottom of the page to get to the section where you can enter your comments.

Some of you have e-mailed me privately with blog-related problems or questions. Of course I will get back to you, but remember that blogs are a forum for sharing. Don't be shy about posting your questions out there for all of us. I am not the sage here. Many of us have valuable experiences and we can help eachother. If I don't know how to help you, maybe someone else does.

I set up my del.icio.us account. You can access my bookmarks at http://del.icio.us/rsthompson where you will find many of the sites that Will Richardson shared with us at the retreat, as well as some of my other favorites.

Welcome to the Region 4 Blog for High School Teachers. My name is Rachel Thompson and I am a Technology Integration Staff Developer.

 

A blog is an online communication and collaboration tool, similar to a website. It allows viewers to post comments, which you monitor prior to publishing. Your blog allows you to discuss ideas, ask questions, share best practices, exchange knowledge, share resources and discuss student work. Using this medium, we hope to build a community of high school teachers, dedicated to using technology to enhance collaborative teaching and learning.

 

The purpose of this blog is to create an area where we can share our experiences and ideas about teaching and learning with blogs. Some of us are more experienced than others and I hope that those of you who are doing this in your classrooms can share your experiences, both good and bad, positive and negative, with newbies so we can learn from each other.

 

Please take a moment to share with us. What is your name? Where and what grade/subject do you teach? What experience do you have with blogs? What ideas do you have about integrating technology like blogs into your curriculum? If you already use blogs, wiki's and/or podcasts in your classrooms, what do you do? Where can we go to see your own blogs or websites?

 

Please post any questions or other comments that you have or would like to open up for discussion.