Thing 4

I was talking with my son about RSS (which is totally new to me) and he felt that it could be overwhelming. I was thinking about that and realize that I tend to put too many sites in my "Favorites" and have discovered that often I don't revisit many of them. So, the idea of sorting out sites that you really want to keep up with and those you may occasionally want to visit, will be an important feature when I begin to add to my folders.

Thing 3

As I think about how I would use a blog with my students I can see the benefits of parents being able to see ongoing work of their children and being able to have conversations about it. It has also got to help with the parent/child/school relationship and the supportive aspect of that triangle. Anyway, having students publish in a blog and indicating writing goals that will be stressed in future writings is something I can see me using in my classroom.

Thing 2

After creating my own blog and then checking out other blogs, I can see I have a lot to learn. It was interesting to see the variety of ways blogs can be used. They can be informational or conversational, but to each his own. I need to really think about what type of blog I could use with my students. I am a resource teacher, but do lots of writing with my students. They get so excited when their pieces are published in book form for others to read. I can't imagine how excited about writing they would be if they knew their pieces would be part of a website. I think that's the direction I will be going first.

Thing 1 and Thing 2

After going through Thing 1 I was just thinking how great these ideas fit in with differentiation. Students investigating subjects at their own interest levels and asking their own questions about things to satisfy their curiosity is a way of assuring proper pacing. I can imagine the motivation of students greatly increasing when they know they have more opportunities to feel in control of their progress and the direction in which their interest takes them. Right now in completing Thing 2 I feel a sense of pride that I am doing something I never thought I could do. I will be eager to continue through the 23 things and share these with my colleagues in the fall.