1. I love the idea of an online education community and pln's! I think that the purpose and need of the PLN would have to change depending on the subject, but can be very successful. Due to the fact that I've never used either before, I'm curious about how the kids will respond. I can't imagine that they won't buy in, but it will take time and trials to get the right format and content to engage my students.
2. I really enjoyed reading the comments on the blogs I looked at. A concern I had with using blogs for my students was insuring that it was a safe zone for their comments. I didn't want any negative or bullying behaviors keeping kids from giving comments or questions. One comment focused on taking some time to develop group norms that were agreed on by all users. I also found that teachers of different subjects were aboe to take ideas from each other and tweak them to fit into their subject matter. This is an area I am weak in, so I found the idea sharing very helpful in planning.
3. The blogs I commented in are:
Amy's House
Ms. Lee's Thoughts
Wegs Online
Being Patty Joyce
Frogs, Chihuahuas, & Good Times
I share your concern about negative or bullying behaviors via comments. I think we may need to develop norms for contributing blogs for the whole school to have a consistency.
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ReplyDeleteI, too, am concerned with kids having negative things to say to others...not realizing that they may sound hurtful. I really want to talk to my students about this.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all the comments posted that blogs could become a way for students to make comments that are negative or hurtful. It will be very important to discuss with students what is and isn't acceptable behavior. We all have heard the horror stories of the bulleying behaviors surrounding the use of text messages, Facebook, MySpace, etc. which sometimes lead to devastating consequences.
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