Possible Assessments

For the assessments of the unit listed below, I have a few different thoughts as far as what I would like to implement.  First, throughout the reading of the book, I would like to have students journal on a question that relates to what we read the previous day, or to prepare them to begin thinking about the topic for that day.  I have not come up with the questions yet, but will do so before I begin teaching.

Secondly, during reading, I would like to have short discussions on how Esperanza’s life relates to their lives.  I am not sure if this is something that would be better to put at the end of the unit, or if I could do it intermittently.  In any case, I think that daily brief discussions is a good way to assess students’ comprehension of the material and should be used at least every-other day in order to make sure that main ideas and themes are coming through.

For the final project I think that I would like to have my students make book trailers for this book.  I realize that this will be time consuming and something we would have to spend a great deal of time on, but I would like to try it out, and I know that it made the book very meaningful to me.  This is also something that students could do in groups if they do not feel comfortable doing it by themselves.  I would then have everyone present their movies to the class.

The other idea that I have is to give students more of a choice of what they would like to do.  Some of the options include:

1.  Writing a scene that they believe should have been added to the book, and then acting it out.  They can possibly video tape it if there is a video camera available through the school.  A major theme of the book should be included.

2. Making a collage in which they include the major themes of the book, and give a brief description of their collage and how they represented the characters, setting, plot, a major theme, etc…

3. Book Trailer? I’m not sure if it would work to have this as an option if the whole class wasn’t doing it…

4. Extending the ending: Have students write what happens next in Esperanza’s life and briefly explain their choices.

5. Write an alternative Ending: What if the story did not end like this? What if the last chapter was not there? What would the story look like? Why?

These are just a few ideas that I have.  I figure that I can easily incorporate the  overarching questions into these assessments and make them more specific.  Please let me know if you have any comments and/or suggestions!

Unit Proposal

First, I must apologize for not having this posted before now.  I have been having difficulties coming up with an idea of what exactly I want to end up teaching, so even though I have a general idea of what I would like to do, I am more than willing to take into considerations any suggestions.

I am student teaching next semester in a sixth grade classroom.  The school is located in a semi-rural area.  I have a total of twenty-three students.  I have discussed with my teacher books that I would like to teach and that we have available.  I have decided, with her guidance, to use the book Esperanza Rising as the main text for my unit.  I am thinking that the unit will last about two weeks.  Does that sound about right for a text of that length?

There are a few reasons why I have chosen Esperanza Rising for the sixth grade class.  The students I have are from just outside St. Cloud, meaning a fairly rural area.  I wanted to introduce them to a text that had some diversity within it, but something that is still relatable to them.  The group of students I have is fairly homogonous and therefore they do not experience ethnic diversity and issues that come along with it, unless they venture into St. Cloud. 

Esperanza Rising has many issues that are relevant to their lives.  First, there are a lot of immigrants in St. Cloud that experience some of the issues that Esperanza and her family encounter.  I figure that we can explore these within the unit.  Second, Esperanza is twelve, which is about the same age as most of my students, making her more relatable. 

The overarching questions I am considering using are:

-What are the main themes throughout the book?

-What are the cause and effect relationships throughout the book?

-What connections can be made between yourself and Esperanza?

 o   More specifically:

 §  How does Esperanza Rising relate to today? Is it applicable even though it is set in the 1920s? Why or Why not? Give examples with current events.

 §  How does Esperanza’s life connect to your own life?

 §  Does the harsh treatment of Esperanza’s family still exist today?

The Standards that will be incorporated are:

o   6.4.2.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments.

o   6.4.3.3 Describe how a particular story’s or drama’s plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution.

Please let me know what you think and/or if you have any suggestions! Thanks!

Break: Teacher Friend or Foe?

Well, I know that I'm lagging behind on this blog post, but I for the life of me could not come up with something education related to blog about on here.  That was until I started thinking about how I should really get this done before break.  This thought process lead me to thinking about having break as a teacher.  Almost every Education student or teacher knows and thinks about break.  We know that it is definitely a perk of our job.  We probably have more days off as a teacher than any other profession.  However, are the breaks all they're cracked up to be?

As a student, I know that I enjoy my breaks.  They are a time when I can rejuvenate and gain back any lost sleep.  I also know this will be true for my future students.  Studies show that everyone needs a break at some point in their lives, both mentally and physically.  Without this time as a student, I know that I would just crash and burn into a long narrow road.  On the other hand, there are disadvantages that many students do not necessarily think about while they're spending their days relaxing and just being kids.

The breaks that we have a majority of the time are relatively short.  They last about a day or two longer than a normal weekend, sometimes extending from a week to two weeks.  These breaks are typically productive when it comes to relaxing and not being mentally challenged.  They allow students to rejuvenate and come back ready to learn.  I remember being a small child and thoroughly enjoying this time off, and I was able to do just that- come back and perform with more rigor than before.  Therefore, short breaks are not a problematic situation.  It is when longer breaks come into the picture that teachers begin to worry.

A long break, such as the typically summer three month break is definitely a perk in most teachers minds.  It is not the reason why we go into education, but we do see it as a time to sit back and relax, and also as a nice amount of time to begin preparing for the next school year.  However, many students do not do the same.  During the summer, students look at is as all play and games, and NO education.  Students who need to go to summer school to help them retain what they have learned often times do not like this because they don't understand why they have to go when no one else does.

As a result of a "free" summer, many students fall behind.  They loose their routines, and they forget to some extent what it's like to be in school.  Consequently, teachers have to take valuable time to review and sometimes reteach information that they can no longer recall because they have not been thinking about it.  Many students "loose" information and loose any gains that they had during the school year.  In essence, it sometimes seems like a teacher is starting back at square one.  On average, the first two to three weeks is spent reviewing information from the previous year and setting routines of the new school year.

There are a few different options to decrease this loss of knowledge.  The first is to have year round school where students go to school for a month/month and a half and then have two to three weeks off.  In this, students are given enough time to relax and then come back to school.  There is then less of a loss of information.  The problem with this is that the breaks for the schools do not always align, making it difficult to go on family vacations.  It is also hard to set a routine with being in and out of school so much.  There also can then be a debate on when students move up to the next level of schooling because there is no real defined start or end to the school year.

The second option is to have summer goals set for students, such as reading so much every day.  A time period of 30 minutes a day is sufficient and allows students to keep thinking.  Worksheets and online activities can be given to parents/guardians for their student to work on at home as well.  The problem with this is that there is no definite way to enforce the reading and make sure that it is being done.  Also, if students have limited resources at home, external resources must be sought out.  Although not impossible, students may be less motivated to go to the library to work on academics during the summer than if they are forced to at school.

What it all comes down to is communication with parents/guardians, students, and teachers.  Teachers NEED to emphasize how important it is to keep the information new.  If students have the resources at their finger tips, they should be encouraged to use it.  If students do not have resources available to them, the teacher/school should provide a list of ways that this student can keep learning throughout the summer.  One discussion that teachers may want to have with their students is the fact that learning is a life long process and point out different times and places that he/she has come into learning.

Another way to improve this targeted learning is to have a whole school or school district initiative where everyone is involved.  Motivation is key, so if schools can find a positive incentive for students, then it will probably work better.  Also, if it is district wide, everyone will know that every other school and student should be doing this as well.

There is no right or wrong answer, but many options.  Ultimately, the school district and state will decide, but knowing the options available is a start to creating a community of life long learners.

Technology in the classroom

Today’s students are born into a world that is technology based.  There are more means of usages of technology than ever before.  However, many teachers have an inclination to not use technology in their classrooms.  Some of the reasons are that they do not feel that it is important, others don’t know how to use it, while others think that reading a hard copy of a book is an art that will soon be forgotten.  While these are all legitimate reasons and concerns, I feel that technology is very important.  It is what the new generations will be working with in every single job.  So, instead of working against technology and the fact that our students are watching more TV than spending time reading a book, let’s work with technology and show students how best to use it.

In this new industrial age, there are so many opportunities to create images and projects with technology, whether it is with Powerpoint, Microsoft word, or iMovie.  Technology is something that students encounter daily.  A large majority of students have computers at home, and if they don’t they have access to a computer is some way, shape, or form.  There are also new applications online that help students who are struggling with reading, mathematics, speaking, etc…  It is only to our benefit as teachers that we use the technology that is available to us through different organizations.

Will using these technologies change our classrooms? Yes, of course it will, but it is a change that I am personally willing to make.  I taught in a kindergarten classroom a week ago and in that classroom there is a smartboard.  I made lessons using the smartboard, and it was wonderful because it was more interactive than a whiteboard and I could change what we were doing with the touch on the screen.  The students absolutely loved it, and probably could teach me a thing or two about how to use it.  In my opinion, we should use the knowledge our students have to increase our knowledge of technology, as well as create projects where they can show off what they know.

With the invention of the iPad and Kindell, we can include technology and make reading “fun.”  I still love to use a real book and flip the pages, but whatever we can do to get our students to read is fine by me.  I think what is most important here is to let students experience and evaluate the technology for themselves and use it as they see fit, within educational means of course.

As educators, it is our job to educate our students on the usages of technology.  We have the opportunity to help our students figure out what is the proper use and how best to use it.  We can help our students understand what is out on the World-Wide-Web and help them to learn how to evaluate their sources.  It is something that they will be using the rest of their lives, so we should take this opportunity to mold our student’s thinking of the appropriate usage of technology.

I suggest that you view these few videos.  They are definitely mind opening.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A-ZVCjfWf8&feature=fvw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mmz5qYbKsvM

PLN reflection

When this semester started I couldn’t even begin to tell you what in the world a PLN was.  Not only did I not understand what PLN stood for, I also had never been a part of a Professional Learning Network.  After spending a great deal of time working with them and figuring out what in the world we were supposed to do I began to get into the swing of things.  I started reading other blogs and looking for blogs that were beneficial to me.  I found that bloggers wrote about a variety of topics and that they could improve my performance in the classroom.

As far as the blogs for class go, the class PLN has had many benefits.  It extends the learning beyond the classroom, and allows us to talk to one another on different aspects that we find important or have questions about.  It allows us to take full responsibility for our learning.  The challenges of the PLN are that it is very time consuming.  I have a full load of classes, as well as a life outside of my academics that I live, which takes a lot of time and commitment.  I have felt overwhelmed by the amount of work that it takes beyond the “normal” classroom commitment.  I feel that it is very beneficial to have this experience and to be able to put something like this on our resumes.  It will definitely set us apart from other professionals if we say that we have been a part of a PLN and can help to possibly set one up for the teachers at the school we will be hired at.  Overall it has been a fun experience, and a great way to learn, but is also time consuming.

Here are the professional Blogs I am following:

The Teacher Geek: This blog gives a bunch of ideas for elementary teachers, what books to read, how to spruce up your classroom, etc… Definitely a thumbs up!

The Edublogger: This blog gives ideas of how to incorporate technology in your classroom, such as blogging! Another thumbs up!

Robin Talkowski’s Blog: Reading & Technology: This blogger writes on a variety of different topics and easy to relate to.  She talks about struggles of being a teacher, but also ways to overcome those struggles.  She also suggests to her readers a variety of resources to use. Thumbs in between.

ideaconnect: This blogger blogs about a variety of topics, but has a lot of great resources and ideas.  Definitely a thumbs up!

Live the Conversation: This blogger talks again about a variety of subjects, but talks a lot about student motivation. I give her a thumbs up.

Beginning Reader Help: This teacher talks about different reading strategies for beginning readers, or readers who are having difficulties with decoding.  I give her a thumbs up!

Twitters I’m following:

web20classroom

C Southard

CRHeitz

kiethschoch

brownsl

ac2steachk
CheekyLitTeach

FirstGrade (I LOVE this one!!!)

Critical Literacy 101

Critical literacy is the ability to take a text and dive into it, engage in the reading and make it your own.  It is the ability to understand what you are reading, why you are reading it that way, and how the author/situation is affecting your understanding.  Being critically aware is a major part of being an educated reader.  Critical literacy can start as young as you want it to start.  It is questioning, interpreting, digesting, and recreating what you have read in order to make sense of it, and give it a deeper meaning and understanding in your own thinking.

The thing that I find most intriguing about critical literacy is that it goes beyond the text.  It goes beyond the traditional way of looking at a story as a passive reader to looking at the story as something that is up for interpretation, where there is no right answer.  I feel that a lot of times students are put off by reading because when they answer comprehension questions there is often a right and wrong answer, but when you are thinking about something critically there is the option to interpret and define things for what you think they are supposed to be. 

Also, by looking at the details of who the author is, where is the author from, where is the story located, what is the background information? Why has the author chosen this character to follow that closely? What would/could change if something was different in the story?  These questions allow students to be an active reader and understand that texts have biases.  As human beings, we all have biases.  As I am writing this blog, I have a bias.  My background is different from the next persons, creating a different view of what is important in literature.  It is important to understand where the texts have come from so that we can try to step out of the box that the author has presented us.

In teaching students how to be critical analyzers, teachers are giving students the opportunity to be the author of their own reading.  In my future classroom, I think that this could be a great way to increase my students’ understanding of literature.  My only questions would be what is the best way to implement these questions for younger ages and how often should this approach be used?

Struggling Readers: Success in a Different Light

When it comes to reading, I am about the last person to pick up a book and read for pleasure.  I know this is surprising since my concentration is English and Language Arts, but that is also part of the reason why I have chosen this particular focus in my education.  I am, and have always been, a struggling reader to an extent.  Typically it takes me twice as long to read a passage as it takes the normal person.  The reason for this, I am still discovering, but I have many theories about it.  I do not have difficulties with vocabulary and decoding, my difficulty is with the rate at which I read, which is probably most likely linked to fluency and comprehension.   


I am not your typical struggling reader.  I have never been "caught" or seen as a struggling reader by teachers.  I have always gotten good grades, I had a 4.0 in high school, and have maintained about a 3.62 throughout college.  Through this class I am learning about how students have struggled, and now I can start to see myself in these different labels.  I am one of my future students.  I know the difficulties there is to reading, and I know how much effort  it takes to read a book for struggling readers.  It is not fun to look at your assignments and see that you have 60 pages of reading to do, which for the normal reader is about 2 hours, for me it takes between 3 and 4 hours to do.  I understand what my future students are going through and I know that this will make me a better, stronger teacher in the future.  It is also probably one of the reason why I am so enthusiastic about learning to work with students who have these difficulties.


Most of the struggling students who come into a middle school or junior high school classroom will have been noticed along the way.  They will have probably received some sort of extra support by teachers, and if they haven't then that's the teacher's fault.  Even though I would like to say that this never happens, the truth is that I know that it does.  There are always going to be teachers who don't want to take the time or effort into making accommodations and modifications to assignments, or even just giving extra support.  However, these teachers are far and few between, and obviously do not have a zeal for learning.


Students who are struggling at this time in their school careers will have already been to specialists, been tested, and been told that they cannot receive help, or they have received help and are still struggling.  No matter the case, it is our job and responsibility as educators to help students in whatever way, shape, or form possible so that they can succeed.  Students who struggle will more than likely have some self-esteem issues, which will not help with their view of reading.  Student who frequently say something to the effect of "This is dumb" are often the students who need the most help.  These are the students you need to watch out for and pay close attention to, because what they are really saying is, "I need help, I want to succeed, I just don't know how to get there."


When I get into a classroom, I can almost immediately pick out the students who are struggling and within a week figure out how to best help them.  It's something that I do automatically and something I love doing.  Personally, I am super excited to be able to go and help a struggling reader.  It is amazing to see a student's face light up when they do something that they couldn't do before.  Working with the struggling students is the best part of the job in my opinion, because they are the ones you can make the greatest impact on.  With a little extra help and support, and trying something in a new way a student may just finally understand what they have been struggling with in the past.  All it takes is one success for a student's academic career to turn around.  Think back to when you were in elementary and middle school- you just wanted to be like everyone else and be successful.  Motivation may be an issue in some cases, but there are ways to over come that as well.  The greatest lesson to be learned is never give up on your students, because they will then never give up on you.


As a final note, here are a list of a few goals that I have for being a teacher:
1. Believe in your students
2. Give them your A game, because then they will more than likely give you theirs
3. Confidence is key- The more you have, the better things will go
4. Everyone deserves a chance to succeed, so don't let your students down by being overwhelmed by the fact that there is not enough time in the day to get to every issue.

The Words on the Wall go Round 'n Round

Of the activities that we have done in class, the one that I am the most intrigued by is the carousel brainstorm.  During the activity, students have the opportunity to get up and move, comment as an individual and a group, write and read responses, reflect and dive into deeper thinking and understanding of the topic chosen by the teacher, and view multiple perspectives on what is being discussed.  The carousel activity is one that I can see myself using in my own classroom.  I feel that it reaches many different types of learners and can create a sense of autonomy amongst the class because as groups are moving and writing answers, they are not saying who has said what.  That way if students do not feel comfortable sharing to the whole class they can still share what they feel is important while they are in their individual groups.

As students partake in this activity, the developmental domains that are being focused on are physical, intellectual, and social.  The other two domains, moral/ethical and emotional/psychological, are being addressed, but not to the extent of the other three.  The physical domain is being addressed by the pure fact that students are up and moving around the classroom.  It helps them to stay active physically, and intellectually.  The carousel activity is active learning.  It makes students do the describing and higher level thinking of the material that they already have some experience within and outside of the classroom.  This activity also allows students to work as a group and socialize to some extent as well.

In order to facilitate this activity I would have students already have read some information on the topic, or in the case of using it in my ELA classroom I would possibly do an activity using a book that we have just read.  Questions and topics of each poster or chart could be on the author, what they found interesting in the book, what they have learned from the book, what the moral of the story is (the theme), etc…  Next, I would divide the class into small groups of three to five, depending on the number of students and posters/charts in the activity.  I would have already had students think about the story, and would use this activity more as a wrap up of all the information.  After students have gone through and answered all of the questions, I would have students go back to their original poster and pick out the main ideas and have one group member explain what those are to the class.  This would hopefully lead into a class discussion on the book and create an even deeper understanding of the material.  I would end the class period with my students writing down the main ideas from the book for their own information to reference to in the future. 

As I have already alluded to, the most appropriate time to use this strategy is at the end of a unit, when students have already had time to think about and discuss the book, poem, unit, etc…  This can help students to gather all of their thoughts and put them down on paper, while allowing the teacher to assess what students know.  However, one down fall is that some students may not do the work prior to the carousel brainstorm, so it ends up that not everyone participates at the same level.  It is also difficult to assess individual understand of the material when it is a group effort to put all the facts together.  No matter the case, I think that this activity has potential to be effective in creating a safe environment that promotes higher level thinking.  

Decoding and Vocabulary: What's the Big deal?

Reading and Literacy in the Middle Level grades is a delicate situation for students who struggle as readers.  They have a sense of wanting to succeed, but at the same time probably don’t want to ask for help or be embarrassed by receiving extra help.  Therefore, any additional instruction offered needs to be given extra thought.

When ELA teachers are needing to teach decoding and vocabulary in their classrooms, a few things should be taken into consideration.  First, decoding is much more than being able to “sound out” words.  It is the ability to understand and comprehend what the text is about as well as the phonemes and phonics of reading.  From the readings done in this class, I feel that the best way to learn decoding is by offering support to nudge the reader to begin to read independently.  Teachers should guide students to figuring out words and be asking what exactly the text is about as an assessment to see how much the student is understanding.  Teachers should ask guiding questions while reading, such as, “Can you figure this word out?” “Prepare your mouth to say the word.”  The suggestion to “prepare your mouth” is from the text When Kid’s Can’t Read: What Teachers Can Do by Kylene Beers.  She says that this will help students to take an active part and start to put together the sounds of the word as an active participant instead of just staring blankly at the page. 

After the foundational skills of phonics are in place, if students are still having problems with decoding, the teacher must teach students how to find and use the context of the reading.  This must be done with careful consideration of individual student’s abilities to recognize when the author is giving the definition, a synonym, or even an antonym within a sentence or two.  If students do not know how to do this, the teacher should help students to be able to find context clues.  Also, if there are pictures included on the page, a teacher can ask if the word makes sense in comparison to the picture.  Students should eventually learn to make sense of what the whole meaning is by learning to look at what is on the page.

One part of learning what is on the page is to look at the vocabulary on the page.  Knowing what words mean is one part of decoding that should not be separated from it.  However, vocabulary instruction should not be a passive product of having students look up definitions to words, memorizing them, and then having a test on them at the end of the week.  When vocabulary is being introduced, students should define the words in a way that makes sense to them and put the definition in their own words.  After this, the teacher should find an active way to use the word, such as using the word every day in class.  Also, there should be no more than 10 words on the list, 5-8 words has been said in When Kid’s Can’t Read to be an ideal number.  Any more words than that and students are overwhelmed and cannot learn the terms in a way that is conducive to long term learning and remembering of the words.

Overall, I think the general message of learning to read and understand reading is that it should be an active process by both the student and the teacher.  Both should see that if additional instruction is needed that it is not a bad thing, and that the student should not be embarrassed or ashamed of needing extra help.  One concern that I still have is, what is the best way to pull aside students for extra help when you have 25-35 other students who are watching your every move?  Where would the best place be to give additional support?  When and how often should additional instruction be given?

Attributes of Effective Middle School Teachers

As my last post implied, there is much more to middle school than academics.  Middle school is the breeding ground to a productive lifestyle.  Therefore, people who teach middle school must have special qualities that make them exemplary. Here are a few qualities that I believe are fine qualities of a middle school teacher:

1. Patience in any situation that middle school students will put you through.

2. The willingness to be a counselor when needed, but also knowing when to bring in outside help for the student.

3. Open to talking to students about what is on their mind.

4. Understands what middle school students are going through intellectually, physically, emotionally, socially, etc…

5. Has a strong sense of how they can help middle school students.

6. Knows the fine line between being a “friend” and a teacher mentor.

I feel that overall I posses most of these attributes, including patience, openness, and understanding of what middle school students are going through.  This mid-level literacy class has helped me to be more comfortable in these areas.  The areas that I am unsure about are a strong sense of how I can help middle school students, and knowing what the line of being a friend and a teacher mentor is in the professional realm.  I’m sure that eventually these qualities will come to me, but for right now I know they are what concern me the most about teaching middle school students.  I have a tendency to be more of a friend figure because I want to be liked, but with students who are the ages of my sister it becomes a difficult challenge to differentiate the two. 

To overcome this obstacle, I can talk with my peers about their experiences.  One of the most important things I can do is to get the advice of the teachers I will be working with in the middle school.  In my opinion, experience is everything and is the best teacher.  I know that I learn best by experience and so my goal is to get as much experience as I can with this age group.  I also will try to get the most out of the readings and class discussions in order to help me prepare for teaching middle school.  

Middle School Goals... Much more than Academic

I think one of the most important learning goals for middle level students is for them to learn to accept themselves for who they are.  Middle schoolers are searching their own thoughts and ideas, as well as others to figure out who they are.  For the first time in their lives they are beginning to see that they don’t have to think what mom and dad think- they can think for themselves.  It is a scary time for them as a result.  They are also going through a trying time physically and emotionally.  Hormones are raging and nothing seems to fit the way that it used to when they were younger.  The sooner they see that it is ok to be themselves and be different, the sooner they will see what truly matters in their lives.

Another goal that I believe Middle school students should have is to learn to become organized.  Organization is a part of becoming an adult, which is stated in the text, “In the Middle.”  Nancie Atwell makes strong convictions that being in middle school is a small step into adulthood.  It is our job as teachers to help them through this rough time and show them what they need to know, and how to succeed during the rest of their lives.

In the middle school level, most foundational skills have been implemented.  There are more occasions than one would think where they are not there.  However, this allows for further understanding of the material and to also focus more on developing more as a whole person.  In the elementary classroom the emphasis is more on learning the foundational skills that are needed for the rest of their time in school.  Middle school is about diving into new water and becoming a new person, an individual. 

Posting Guidelines

Of the four pages we were given to look at that contained regulations for blogging, the five listed below are the ones that I find to be of most relevance.   The other guidelines were good to follow as well, but these were some that I thought our group should definitely follow to show professionalism online.

Guidelines for our class:

1.       Only post information that you can validate as fact, or support opinions with facts.  Factual information makes a stronger argument and allows for less misinterpretation.

2.      Make sure that posts are well written, grammatically and in content. This guideline is one that will show a blogger’s professionalism.  If a blog has a lot of errors, it shows the reader that the author does not care enough to correct mistakes.

3.      Before posting ask these questions:

a.       Would you want your family/friends/future employer to read this?

b.      What may happen if I do post this? Will there be repercussions?

c.       These questions can help an author decide whether he/she should be posting the information.  If anything bad can come of it, then it probably shouldn’t be posted.

4.  When posting, use pseudo names, or at least no more than first names.  Blogs are public, meaning that anyone and everyone can see them.  We need to protect the identity of people we are talking about in our blogs.  Plus, due to confidentiality, if we are talking about students we cannot post their names or pertinent information.

5.      Do NOT post any personal information in order to protect yourself and others around you.  This is just a common rule that should always be followed. It helps to create a safe posting environment for you and others who are close to you. 

First Post Do's and Don'ts

Well, I have blogged before, but never in the realm of a professional blog.  I'm looking forward to having the opportunity to share my thoughts, ideas, and opinions as well as receive feedback from others in the same field.  So join me in this new endeavor as I start a new style of blog.

In my opinion, there are two types of blogs: personal and professional.  Even though both should be monitored with precision, a professional blog should be just that, professional.  What that means to me is stating correct information and portraying  it in a way that could be used as an interview piece.  In class we were given different blogs to look at to find characteristics of strong and weak blogs.  I looked at four in depth and found that the blog titled History Tech was one of the most professional blogs that were listed.  I thought that it had valid sources and cited them well.  It was also very well written and to the point.  However, the author did not include proper citation, as far as where a person could find the source.  Another blog that I found to be a relatively professional was the one entitled Blogging in Education Today.  This blog is set up in a simplistic way with a format of briefly explaining and then continues  with a few links of examples for the reader.  What I did not like about it was that the explanations were very short and did not fully explain why that blog was best and etc...  The blogs with what I  believe to have the least amount of professionalism are Practical Theory and Hey Jude.  Although each had their strong points, for example Practical Theory talked about a specific school and Hey Jude talked about a specific student activities, both had grammatical errors and were set up more as a conversational piece.  Therefore, it came across to me as if they were put together with little thought and time.

In general, characteristics of a strong blog include one where sources were cited, explained, and the author gave reasons as to why it was important.  They were done in a way that was interesting, but that was also professional, i.e. no grammatical errors, at least some correct citation, and relevant information.  Blogs that had more weaknesses consisted of a lot of grammatical errors and were done as if they were more personal blogs asking colleagues what they thought.  There is nothing wrong with having a personal blog, or one that only your colleagues comment on, but I think those should be kept private and not for the whole world to see.  A blog is in part a representation of who you are and what your skills are in and out of the work place.  It could in fact be a first impression, which should be the exact reason why it should be well thought out and done in a professional matter, especially if it is open to the whole world.

Readers can expect a blog that is interesting, informative, and thought out.  I plan to explain my thoughts and ideas, but also to keep it short and to the point.  I am going to try and include bullet points whenever possible because I find it easier to read and follow.  If my blogs are longer, I apologize in advanced.  Readers can expect my blog to contain relevant information, with citations so that they can use the same sources I have used if they want further information.