Bobby's-Blogging and Mentoring Experience

1. What do you see as excellent features?
-There are many excellent features to this blogging exercise, for example, the ongoing feedback on your written work. I enjoyed putting my completed work on the web and getting feedback from the people who took time out to read it. Another good feature is that we get to make a website/blog site of our own. We can design it with whatever we like, that helps with ownership and students love to feel like they are in control. It is also a good feature for students who do not like to talk in class; this gives them to voice their opinions without ever having to open their mouths in a classroom setting.

2. What do you want to see changed or revised?
-I liked how we did the classroom activity, but after the fourth or fifth week we were basically doing the same thing as the week before. I think we can finish that up quicker and start something new and different. I also think that the assignments we did in week eight, should be scattered throughout the whole blogging experience. If we mad a link at the beginning when we were designing our blog, then we could add our project there each week. Also, I think if we were required to find the websites a little earlier it would not be such a hassle at the end. I have noticed that some of the groups haven’t even put five websites up, let alone twenty-five.

3. What do you believe does not belong in the blog?
-The last point of that paragraph brings me to a problem, do we even need the links to websites, and what is there purpose? I liked finding websites and I used them for my teaching and learning tool, but I noticed a lot of people did not use them. I see how it could benefit the student if used properly, but we only had them assigned at the end of the blogging experience. If we had them throughout the experience it might have held a better purpose.

4. What do you want to see added to enhance the blog?
-As one of mentors told me in a comment a couple of weeks ago, I think we should add pictures to enhance the graphics of our blog. My mentor told me we would be, but we were never assigned. I think pictures and graphics would enhance the blog greatly. I also think that if we add more posting like “life as an undergrad” we would get more student participation. If students are writing more about their experiences and assignments and are also reading about others, then they can get more feedback and evaluation from them.

5. Please comment on the quality of blog components and features:
-I think the interactions between my mentors and me was wonderful, they gave me a lot of helpful advice when it came to my classroom activity. They usually responded at the end of the week, but who can blame them with their full-time jobs. Nevertheless, the feedback they gave me was wonderful, right to the point, and extensively useful. The interactions between the students were good as well, but the were more informative of how they liked our projects, not really on tips or hints to help us. But they were building and constructing their own projects and they were in no position to be giving advice. However they saw other people ideas and got to build off of it as I did with the group members of the blogs I was enrolled in. I think all except one blog site had nothing but words. One site had pictures and different color letters in each of their post. My blog was basic and straight to the point. But I would like to have had some pictures. I think the content of the blogs were very extensive and concise. They showed each student projects, classroom activities, and their personal life. I think that the students really enjoyed writing about their weeks and telling other students how their school classes were going.

6. What stands out from this blogging and mentoring experience for you?
-I really enjoyed getting feedback on my classroom activity and my assignments. The mentors and teachers were very helpful and genuinely caring to our classroom activities. They were very patient with us and gave us helpful hints to better our blogs. I also enjoyed reading about fellow students week, was it bad or good, what did they do exciting, or how is their schoolwork coming along. It was nice to read how other people are dealing with the same things I am. I really liked how other people would post their assignments and I could look at theirs and judge how good mine is doing (most of the time, the others were better).

7. How did you see yourself functioning initially in this context? Did that change as the experience progressed?
-When I first started the blogging experience, I thought it would be a waste of time, but once I started to put my classroom activity together and get helpful feedback, I warmed up to it real quick. I had the same goals each week, to do the posting, comments, and maintain responses to the comments. This part did not change, just my mind set about the project.

8. What role should teacher and students have in a blogging experience?
-I think the teacher should take the role of guiding the student in the process of their classroom activity. Help with forming ideas, constructing a better blog, and facilitate the flow of the blogging experience. I also think the teacher should have a blog of their own, where the students can follow along and know what assignments are do. I think the teacher should lead by example, and allow the students to leave comments in the particular areas they need help with.

9. What do you see as the educational value of blogs in the classroom? How about outside of the classroom?
-I think blogs have a lot of educational value for the reason already mentioned. Feedback, ownership of blog, post assignments completed, and ability to voice one’s opinion or thoughts are some of the good educational value. I think the values of blogs are used more readily outside the classroom. Many students have personal profiles on myspace and facebook, and are already using blogs on a weekly basis. But if the schools incorporate the outside value of blogs, such as personal events and weekly adventures (like post 3 in our projects) then the student would accept them more generally.

10. In your view based on this experience, how can blogs be integrated appropriately and effectively in K-12 classrooms?
-Like I mentioned above, if I had this project through grade school I would have liked it for the same reason: feedback, my work is on the web, and ownership of a web/blog site. If a teacher sets up one site and post the students assignments on their, then the students can place comments on other students work and get a glimpse into the world of blogging. After that the teacher can assign each student or groups of students to construct and maintain their own blog, like we did in our classroom. I do not think it will be that difficult to do, many students in grade school already use blogging in some way or another.

11. As a teacher or future teacher, what issues or concerns do you have about using blogs in the classroom?
-The only issue would be the time it takes to maintain and update the blog. It was very time consuming for us added to the other assignment we had due, not to mention all of our other class work we had to do. It got a little overwhelming for us and that can cause a problem for grade school students. Most high schools have seven periods, with seven times the homework, so for one class to be demanding so much, it will eventually be disastrous. Also another concern would be if a student did not have a read access to a computer or Internet. There are a lot of lower income families who could not afford a computer, so we cannot penalize a student for not having enough money.

12. How should school administrators, teachers and/or parents manage and/or respond to the issues or concerns that you identified in the previous question?
-Well a parent could buy a computer, but if they have no money to spare, then they would not be able too. I think other teachers could lighten up their homework load, but that would not be fair to their classes. Also other teachers can join together to allow their students to post all their classes assignment (or the classes who are participating) on the blog. To go along with responding to the time issue, if a teacher schedules the construction and marinating of the blog to a slow schedule then the students would only have to do a little each week.

13. What surprise you about this blogging and mentoring experience?
-I was surprised by how much the mentors cared and read in detail our classroom activity progress and gave helpful feedback each time. I also was surprised on how the read our completed assignments and the other post, and gave conversational feedback there as well. I was on the mindset that they would just judge our work like a teacher, but instead they gave us helpful hints as a friend. Another aspect that surprised me was how much time it took each week to do the posting. It is something that I always forgot to do, I would be waiting for class during my hour break and remember that post one is due. They were not hard assignments, just a tad bit time consuming.

14. What did you learn from this blogging and mentoring experience about yourself and about blogs as tools for teaching and learning?
-I have learned a lot about blogging and myself in general. I think that blogs can be a great teaching and learning tool and can help kids get involved with the technology they use weekly. I have done blogs in the past, but I have never done anything like this and as long as this using the web. I think it is awesome to have my own site where people can come see my own work. If I had the opportunity too, I might continue with this and make a blog of my own, showing people my interest and the study I am doing. Hopefully the feedback would be as good as the stuff I have gotten from this class.

Bobby's Teaching With Technology

Throughout this semester, we were assigned to create our very own classroom activity. We choose our own topic, research, goals and standards. The main goal and title of my classroom activity is "The Diverse Cultures of the World." I want my students to be able to recognize that there are different cultures out there, and we need to be accepting and caring for all. There is too much racism and slandering other cultures just because of a couple bad eggs. I want to rid my classroom of those actions, thoughts, and mind sets. I hope i will be able to accomplish this or atleast plant a seed in their lives. To read the full and final copy of my Classroom Activity please click here.

Bobby's Post 3

3. What surprise you about this experience? Why?

One of the big things that surprised me about the blogging activity was the demanding amount of time it takes to do 9 postings each week. They were not that big of postings (only 6 comments and 3 posts), but sometimes I forgot to do it in the amounted time. Another thing that surprised me was how cool it is for my work to be actually posted on the Internet. I have like my space and face book, but they are totally different from this website. They are just for friends and other stuff, but this website showed people what I have accomplished in this class.


5. What role should teachers and students have in a blogging experience?

In the blogging activity, it is the student’s job to do the posting of their work and ideas, and it is the teacher’s job to guide them and helps clarify their ideas on the way. With the classroom activity post, it is good to have an actual teacher there to tell of her experiences and inform you of mistakes or potential mistakes with your project. The one thing I didn’t see throughout this blogging activity was the acknowledgment that when you get experience of something new, you make your own feelings and adjustments there. I was glad for the advice from the mentors and fellow students, I will consider them when I write my own classroom activity for my real class, but I think that my ideas will change and my philosophy will change once I have a class of my own.


6. What issues or concerns do you have about using blogs in the classroom?

I do not think I would ever use a blogging activity in my classroom, I did not see that much educational value from it, besides the fact that your work is posted on the web for feedback. The blogging website is a good tool to learn and know for an activity or a club, but I don’t think it is absolutely necessary for a classroom setting. Most kids, if they do blog, would be doing it from home for fun. Maybe in a couple of years if I see the educational value in this activity, then I might begin to use it in my own classroom.


7. What did you learned from the experience?

I cannot say that I came out with a lot of new skills that will help me to become a teacher, but I did learn a new computer program. It was fun to post my work, read other peoples work, learn a little about their lives, and work on a classroom activity. During this project, I learned a rudimentary process for a classroom activity. Some people make it sound that these activities are really hard to do in real life, and need all the details up front. I choose my activity on the fact that I wont be teaching for a couple of years and understand the fact that my process will change with the students I teach. But nevertheless I learned a format for a classroom activity.

Bobby's Post 1

I have made many changes to my classroom activity throughout the blogging experience. I had a lot of help from my mentors and fellow classmates. I have changed the way I will grade my projects, how much time is available for this project, what resources I am looking for, extra credit I can give to guarantee participation. I noticed how the best and most response came from my mentors. They told me what works for them and what does not. With their good advice I should be prepared for my own class, but a lot of my knowledge will come from my experiences when I do become a teacher.

Jbconely wrote, "Do students need to get it approved by you or can they just wing it? I think that the reflection paper is an excellent idea because it gives you feedback on if the students liked the activity or found it useful. Overall, your evaluation and assessment looks good." > 3/31/2006 11:30:13 PM< jbconely gave me a lot of good suggestions for my project and also reinforced me when I did something good. I am definitely confident that my project is good, but once I become a teacher I will have to change some of my ideas to be geared to my particular class.

Ms. I wrote, “Here is my checklist: I will be looking at 1. Subject/verb agreement (issues with prepositions) 2. Correct pronoun usage 3. Inappropriate fragments and run-ons 4. Your/you're 5. Its/it's 6. Their/they're/there. That is it. If I have done specific instruction on a convention, that will be included on the list.” >4/02/2006 12:28:05 PM< Ms. I helped me clarify my ideas and help me think outside my normal state of mind. This particular comment helped me decide how I will grade my grammar, I really like her protocol and I plan on using this in my classroom. I don’t want to grade my students to harshly on their grammar that is what the English teachers are for. I just hope they learn the history and critical thinking skills, but also use good English.

Jbconely wrote, “I agree that you will have to alter your scheduled events to meet the class needs, but for this assignment pick the amount of time that you want. I'm happy that you realize that you need to be flexible in class time because sometimes the class will be ahead or behind schedule. I think that you can definitely shorten the amount of days it would take to complete this project. One example would be able to combine days 1, 2, and possible part of 3. Should students know what culture is before they are given examples of the project?” >3/25/2006 12:17:07 AM< In this message from jbconely she showed me that I really don’t need too much time for this project. She agrees with me that I need to be flexible, but should not use so much of my valuable class-time devoted to this one project. She also brought to my attention that I need to let my students choose what culture they want to do, but they need my approval on which one they do.

Bobby's Post 2- A_12

It is the year 156 B.C., Centurion Macro and his Optio Cato are standing on the coast of Gaul with the 13th legion. The Legate of the 13th legion is Vespasianus and he has orders from Emperor Claudius to capture the Britannic Islands.

This is an excerpt from my teaching and learning tool assignment. I wrote a story about a roman legion. If you would like to read more and possible take my interactive quiz, click here.

Bobby's Post 3: Life as an undergrad

Hello again, This has been a very interesting week. It first started out great, i went to an awesome concert on Teusday, and i got to play two good games of baseball. But then my classes came in to piss me off, for example, i had to sing with my group in class, led a discussion on a chapter 21 of a book, and had to write 3 essays. All of these things i love to do, but not all in one week. I thought my week would get better on wednesday night since i only had one more day of school until the weekend, and at the end of this weekend the redsox start up, so i had a lot to look forward too. But then in my second baseball game of the week, i was going back for a fly ball, and since i am short stop i had to catch it over my shoulder. Well i got under it and started to slow down, and my feet stopped but my body was starting to go to the left to catch it. I caught it, but as i was going down i must have landed the wrong way, but CRACK!!!!. i broke my anckle. The thing that upset me the most was when my anckle cracked i dropped the ball. Most people would think that of little importance, but all the great injuries come from a great play. Anyways i am out of service for 6 to 8 weeks at the minimum, but hopefully i can get on my feet sooner. It has been really hard since i never broken anything before. i am having a lot of trouble sleeping since i have to prop my foot up, and i usually sleep on my side of stomach. I am begining to adjust to it now, but i am still in some pain(expecially when i move it a certain way). Well anyways, i am going to church now, so i will talk to you later, bye.

Bobby Post 2: A7a

I think with the more technologies we put all our faith into, it is easier for hackers and thief’s to break in. Now days, we use technology as our lifeline. I pay all my bills online, due some shopping online, check my back statements online, check balances, and many other applications. I always wonder who can access this information and how do I know that it is truly secure. They cannot stop all the thieves, but I think with more and more technology we use it could make it easier for them to steal. I hardly ever use the US mail service anymore, because I pay bills online and use emails to send to family and friends. I don’t use stamps because they are almost obsolete. I believe that if a person is not technology literate then they will be left behind in this continually growing nation. Cash is becoming a thing of the past since everybody is using debit and credit cards. More and more companies are putting their ad and brochures on the Internet and every school requires type written work. Almost every job uses the computer or another technology item.

Here is an excerpt from my A7a intergenerantional autobiography. I interviewed my mother, since she passes the age requirment for this project. It was very interesting to hear of all the things she used when she was growing and all the advancments i have used since. If you would like to read more click here.