standing at the edge of a blog

When I score free shirts from a conference, I always feel full of product and cotton. And with every new app I find and use, I feel myself filling up with potential and passwords.

But the more and more I blog, I find myself feeling a bit icky and insecure. Every post I create and every post I read from other bloggers leaves me feeling a bit confused about my place and purpose.

I am learning to blog like some people learn how to swim: reticent, toe-swishing, and tentative; standing at the edge of the pool posing more questions of doubt than affirmations of confidence.

I wonder:

Can I post more than one comment on one post?

Is comment-based conversation between blogger and commenter permitted in a blog?

Does finding an error in a comment I just posted and then submitting a revision allowed?

What if the revision does not replace the first comment, but shows up in near-duplicate fashion?

How do you deftly promote your blog without coming off as self-promoting?

Then there are other questions:

Do blog headlines follow the headline rules for journalism?

How important are hyperlinks in a blog post?

Is a blogger's authority on any topic determined by the number of hyperlinks included?

Does a blog URL heighten importance or professionalism: kenrodoff.com vs. kenrodoff.blogspot.com?

And one more:

Why the hell are the voices out in front of tech integration in education so far removed from actual classroom teaching?

keep teachers out of the pool

The simple premise: Create a product that focuses on the day in the life of a Classrooms for the Future Coach. Work with the members of your Intermediate Unit.

The IU-23 glitch: Being the largest IU, we were required to split into two groups.

The IU-23 solution: Team up by gender.

The result for the men:





The result for the women will be added here shortly, but I'm just so gosh-darn curious to post what my group created.

learning shoud be fun...right?

blogging question: can a blogger comment on someone's blog and then turn around and use that comment as an original post is his blog?

Or is that self-plagiarizing?

Damn the answer and full posting ahead!

Taylor states that, when it comes to learning technology:

the “technology leaders” are going to have to let us play with the technology. Learning is fun. If the leaders of the technology “inservices” hadn’t forgotten that, maybe the teachers would want to learn. Hell, even the kids might like it.

And she writes this in response to my previous post. So now I'd like to present my comment, placed on her blog (which you should read):

Point of clarification (I feel so Grand Jury-ish whenever I state that phrase!):

I don’t have a problem with the fact that 70% of posts by teachers in an on-line chat room were off-topic; in fact, I’ve spent 13 years in a classroom where I found myself, the teacher!, going off-topic (the horror! please don’t tell my administrators).

And I agree with you that we are no longer setting or upholding a firm agenda and that students, regardless of age, learn in different and varied ways. In fact, as educators, it is our job to celebrate and encourage varied forms of learning.

I was an off-task student. And posting this comment right now is off-task to the meeting I am attending (but it’s not off task to my learning style!).

What bothered me about The Day After Warlick was the chiding by the rep from PA’s Dept. of Ed. She claimed we were unprofessional. She stated we should be the “leaders” of appropriate and ethical behavior. She railed against us by comparing us to a group from the previous week that kept the same chat directly linked to the presentation.

What I found amusing was that when I began to reflect on the presentation and our next-day reprimand, I realized I had engaged in a lot of thoughtful reflection and processing about Mr. Warlick’s message (even before PDE expressed disappointment in us).

Additionally, I began to reflect on the ‘how’ and ‘why’ we are using tech tools. I’m no ’sage on a stage’; if anything, I’m more of a ’sage against the machine’, but I surely would not release students in a classroom environment w/out allowing them to develop a list of appropriate behaviors.

Or…better yet and perhaps more to the point of my post…if Mr. Warlick and PDE wanted experimentation for its sake alone, then, well, perhaps the day-after diatribe was a cheap, Tommy Boy 2×4 slap in the face. I would never do that to my students, or my teachers.

If I want them to play in the sandbox, then I have to expect that some of them are going to get dirty, throw sand, and even kick over a castle or two. The joy of the sandbox is when some of the kids create, share, explore, and collaborate in a meaningful way; especially those that entered with a ‘this-is-a-waste-of-my-time’ attitude.

I love playing w/ technology. I run workshop after workshop after bleepin’ workshop and play, play, play all day I say…

But then I ask teachers to reflect on the how, why, and where these tools may fit into their classes.

They pause. They consider. They think about their diverse student population.

And when they do that, I know they’re ready to move from play to apply.

And if they’re really good teachers, their application will come off as play. Their students will play, but damn, they’ll really start learning in ways that matter.

Thanks for making me think.

teachers caught in the act

DATELINE: Harrisburg, PA
Early Monday evening at the Harrisubrg Hilton, 200 teachers engaged in off-task behavior during a multi-media presentation by internationally recognized tech-ed guru, David Warlick.

At the beginning of the presentation, Mr. Warlick invited the Classrooms for the Future Coaches to engage in a real-time discussion using a tool called AjaxChat. From the beginning, the dialog was mired in innocuous and trivial matters that strayed far from the presentation topic. By the end of the hour long presentation, over 1000 messages had been posted.

After analyzing the entries, Mr. Warlick reported early Tuesday morning that only 300 posts pertained to the topic while an astounding 700+ posts were meaningless to the purpose of the gathering.

Mr. Warlick noted that one person was responsible for over 200 of the 1000 posts and not one of those entries had any relevance to education, technology, or integration.

Commentary:
So 200 teachers in Pennsylvania were reprimanded for not using the AjaxChat in an educationally appropriate manner. In truth, I added to the off-task behavior, but this is not surprising for anyone that knows me. In elementary school, I more often than not watched from inside my classroom as my peers enjoyed recess.

But here's my problem with last night, as interesting, informative, and thought-provoking as David Warlick's presentation was: it missed the front-loading of appropriate on-line behavior that is CRUCIAL for students, regardless of age.

I am not trying to excuse the posts, but I will state that the AjaxChatter afforded all of us the much-needed opportunity to reflect on how we will integrate a new tool for learning.

I have had CFF teachers want to use a wiki. They believe it will be a great tool. They sign-up, set-up, and invite their students in with Enthusiasm2.0. And a day later, I receive an email that says the following:

"I am upset that a student posted a picture that is inappropriate. What else can a student do on this space that I won't like?"

My answer: A lot!

But then I tell teachers that they missed an important step. In their desire to use new tools for learning, they over-looked the same activity that accompanies their first day of class: rules, procedures, and expectations.

However, we are accountable for those students. We are responsible for teachers that implement without laying down the foundation for ethical and social responsibility in a web2.0 environment.

And we sure need to take a long look in the mirror, for we are the Coaches and the models, but as Mr. Warlick forgot, teachers sure are bad students.

Words vs. Numbers

224 = Today. Tomorrow. Forever.

WOMBAT = waste of money, brains, and time

WOMBAT + 224 = x

Where we hope x does not equal the current state of education.

A teacherly play

The Scene:
A large ballroom, classic middle-american design; beige & taupe colors permeate the walls, the neurotic carpeting, and even the seat cushions. Eight person tables cover the landscape, each filled with more than the recommended seating size. The people are educators from all over Pennsylvania, converted from the classroom into miracle workers. They all have computers out; loaded, charged, ready to surf at a moment's notice.

The Player:
Ken - a Classrooms for the Future coach with a hint of ADD, evident by his new-found use of AjaxChat and a massive inability to stay focused in large group settings. He is at an uncomfortable age; parent, husband, and questioner. He asks large questions about technology, education, and effectiveness. He is mired in questions, drowning in them and he can share them in impromptu fashion.

The Questions:

1. What does a classroom look like today?
2. What does an effective teacher look like today?
3. Are there any more non-negotiables in a classroom?
4. What does creativity look like and why is it so valuable?

Curtain rises. Enter stage left. Dim the lights. Spotlight on...?

keeping a theme alive

Who are you most like in this wonderfully large chunk of space called Panblogea?

If ever a test existed that accurately captured my current ire and irascibility, this is it!

Thanks to yet another mysterious blogger afraid of self-identification for tuning me in to this test. Although, in reality, I stumbled upon her blog so giving her credit for showing me the way is a mild fallacy. Actually, I finally found this blog after clicking around from blog to blog.

6 Blogs of Separation...so to speak.

Take the test here. And perhaps, like me,