http://elgg.educationbridges.net/paulallison/weblog/669.html

http://paulrallison.livejournal.com/4955.html


On this run in the beautiful Bronx, I talk about something that feels too far out there to talk about in normal conversation with teachers: the need for new discipline, a new field of study... let's call it Web Science. In this first-draft rant about the topic, I try to remember why it is important to me to be asking this question even though it has little impact on my work with students right now. Still, it's about seeing what can be accomplished with students who -- almost by happenstance -- end up taking my elective class every year for three or four years, and this compared with students who dip in and out of the "technology elective" maybe twice in their high school careers. It's about skills and habits of mind and work. My focus on this question also comes from my sense that we do in fact have a body of knowledge for students to learn and theory about why it is important for them to learn these things. What I need to follow this up with is a piece of writing where I bring together some thoughs from Will Richardson and Clarence Fisher, David Warlick, Stephen Downes, and Mark Bernstein and others -- Henry Jenkins -- who are talking about this new field of inquiry. Tim Berners-Lee is creating a new field of study called Web Science. Perhaps I'm not alone out on this branch, thinking that "integrating technology" needs to be rethought

http://elgg.educationbridges.net/paulallison/weblog/668.html

http://paulrallison.livejournal.com/5197.html


Each Friday at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Lee Barber and her 8th graders from the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia include my students in live webcast. This is only or third time doing this, and there are a few kinks to work out, but notice the engagements of these boys!

http://elgg.educationbridges.net/paulallison/weblog/700.html

http://paulrallison.livejournal.com/5394.html


Webcasting is taking hold in my 8th grade classroom. The students come to class looking forward to getting on the mike. Today I asked them to print out their most recent blog post that was to be made up of stories that answer the question: "What's it like to be a ___ year old boy/girl in NYC in 2006?" The students had a lot of fun talking to their peers in Virginia. I'm thankful to Lee Babar in Virginia who has helped invited us to join this weekly webcast, Spacecast, which can be heard at 10:30 a.m. on Fridays. We are also joined by Madeline Brownstone's students in Queens. Listen in on Fridays at WorldBridges.net.

http://elgg.educationbridges.net/paulallison/weblog/701.html

http://paulrallison.livejournal.com/5645.html


Webcasting is taking hold in my 8th grade classroom. The students come to class looking forward to getting on the mike. Today I asked them to print out their most recent blog post that was to be made up of stories that answer the question: "What's it like to be a ___ year old boy/girl in NYC in 2006?" The students had a lot of fun talking to their peers in Virginia. I'm thankful to Lee Babar in Virginia who has invited us to join this weekly webcast, Spacecast, which can be heard at 10:30 a.m. on Fridays. We are also joined by Madeline Brownstone's students in Queens. Listen in on Fridays at WorldBridges.net

http://elgg.educationbridges.net/paulallison/weblog/738.html

http://paulrallison.livejournal.com/6115.html


This is a bit of a rant. I want to find ways for Writing Project teachers to be constructively critical of our work, not just celebratory.

http://elgg.educationbridges.net/paulallison/weblog/760.html

http://paulrallison.livejournal.com/6365.html


It may not be overly dramatic, but I'm enjoying these moments in my classroom, when I can go around and interview students, simply asking them, "What are you doing?" This was recorded on a Monday at the beginning of a regular week -- when there are no planned vacations or breaks... just four straight days of blogging. What I'm finding exciting this year is the ways I've found to allow students to find their own subject matter around which to read, write, find images, and listen to and create podcasts.

Just before break (Thanksgiving break) I had each student print the Activity button so they could confront how much or how little they had actually done and give me useful feedback. I printed a sheet based on the How Am I Doing questions. Each student had the printout and the questions and I asked them to write the answers to the questions on the printout.

The feedback was fabulous and answered a lot of my questions about what was going on in the class. Many students wondered how to "do it" - many were disappointed about getting no comments. Today I sat the whole class around the LCD and together, using the Responding to Blogs and Podcasts sheet that I had printed for each person, we found and responded to a post. The questions were great and on task. Then the students were sent to do the same. Today, no one was allowed to respond to anyone in our own class. Here is a sample response:

omg...i love guitar hero! it is like awesome! this is so cool! i never thought anybody would like guitar hero! i honestly think this is best video game EVERR! i have played guitar hero on hard and i am struggling on expert. anyway, thanks for posting this blog! rock on dude!
xxx at  ERHS, NYC on Wednesday, 29 November 2006, 14:16 UTC #  

I have deleted the student's name but this is indicative of the breakthrough we had today in the class. Someone else walked out and said to me in passing- "this is so interesting can we do it some more?"

BUT for me the best part is today we talked about typos in a post and looking first at the content and then suggesting that someone do some editing. We talked about judgement and not stereotyping. At first look, we found the post from Mr. O'Neal so we talked about was it "weird" and how do we figure it out - someone suggested reading it to see what he had to say- then someone suggested checking out his profile. Most of all, we had the opportunity to talk about how this was their life- how they would be doing college work online, how they would be finding friends in college online, how they would be networking for jobs online. I think they get it!! and best of all, they are really thinking and pushing what they already know into new places! Tomorrow may be hard, but today was great!