Blogging

ST: New Literacies in Action

After reading the selection on blogging in Kist's "The Socially Networked Classroom" (pg.54-61), Kist poses some interesting questions. Here are my responses:

1. How does keeping a blog help improve your learning (or not improve it)?

   I have found that I am more excited about my professional blog than my personal one. I had a hard time coming up with topics and things to write about, though at times I would think to myself "this would be a great entry!" My professional blog allows me to reflect on what I've read or experienced. I find this useful because it forces me to think about experiences and evaluate them more thoroughly than "on the fly" when driving in the car. I also find it a great way to organize my resources in one location. I no longer have to wonder under what bookmark tab or what other teacher's site that information was located on. It's a great record of my learning and thoughts for the year. 

2. Have you encountered someone who has not followed blogging etiquette? Explain the situation and how you handled it.

I have not experienced this. I think most students, when told what is expected of them, and knowing that it will be easy to trace comments back to them, will follow etiquette. However, if the situation arises, in most cases you can erase offensive comments to your blog. If it was a student, I might explain how that information will never be erased, and it could be found by a future employer. I would also explain that when we converse with other people, we are allowed to have differences of opinion.

3. What are the differences and similarities between a blog you publish for your family and one you publish for your learning? 

One that I publish for my family will be more about me and may contain more trivial things. It might have personal stories, or poetry and thoughts about my day. It would contain pictures from my personal library. A blog for work would contain more work related entries, videos, and comments. It would be a resource for me and other teachers, with personal reflections on articles, but not really much personally about me, unless it was about a lesson plan. Both blogs would contain pictures, movies, links, comments, and have the goal of documenting my thoughts and interactions and looking for commentary.

Spoofs, Mashups, and Trailers

I love these creative videos that show people using technology in interesting ways! Just another way we are interacting with text and using technology to interact with those texts! 

It is amazing that through You Tube, these videos can be shared worldwide, and with the ease of the embed code, these videos can be shared though Facebook via my friends or though this blog to you!


Here is a video that spoofs the "Facebook" movie trailer by making a trailer for a "You Tube" movie.





Here is a video that combines two unlikely ideas: Jane Austen and "Fight Club." The juxtaposition makes it too funny!





Here is a video that is a 'trailer' for a movie based on the hit game "Oregon Trail". It adds to the plot of the game, but makes enough references that if you've played the game, it will bring back memories!