Halliburton

url: http://budtheteacher.typepad.com/bud_the_teacher/2007/10/ib-tok-blogging.html?cid=88269364#comment-88269364

My friend and colleague Jason is beginning some new blogging work with his students.  You might be interested, particularly if you teach IB Theory of Knowledge.  (One great thing about the IB Diploma pPogramme is that all students must take an epistemology course.  I wish that everyone took a class about how we know what we know. Here's more info on IB's course.)  Here's a bit of info:

I'm having the students each host the blog for a week in an attempt to get them to record for me how people are responding on the blog. All of my expectations, including my "Blog Log", are found here.

Now that my students are thinking, writing, and recording for me... it all begins.  Now we'll just see where it takes me.

 

My response:

I'm all about the blogging in class. I'm still a student and one of my professors had us use Blogspot.com for all of our creative pieces and we had to comment on other student's pieces as well. I would definitely use this tool for my future students. It would be interesting to see what kind of stuff they would put up on a screen for the world to see. People love the prospect of being published and now we can all experience it.

Posted by: Charish halliburton | October 31, 2007 at 11:47 AM

URL:  https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=19732346&postID=2429547957665685470

 This 200 YARD spider web has etymologists from around the world a buzz after a biologist for the park posted a photo of it, on ... you guessed it.. the Web!

The park manager says that she

"just wishes the entomologists would check out the spider web in person instead of arguing about it over the Internet."

The Web won't stick around long because most of the spiders will be dead soon -- but rangers report that:

"you can literally hear the screech of millions of mosquitoes caught in those webs."Entymologists are trying to figure out if the spiders are constructed by "social cobweb spiders" or just webs that spiders connected.
What we can learn from this:

1) Sometimes you have to see it in person.

It is one thing to observe on the Internet, and another to see it in person. In person observations, are more meaningful. Many people have "observed" my classroom through the Internet, but they are only seeing a small part of what happens. I've had one researcher observe my classroom and to me, only she truly understands the model I use and that it is not as neat and tidy as some seem to think.

My response:

This is very true. Hearing about something special or seeing a photo about it, isn't nearly has life altering as getting right into the thick of it.

When educators talk about being hands on, they've really got to try it with their students. Whether it be with field-trips, experiments, or even guest speakers.

When I was in elementary school in Indiana, I remembered the difference between talking about frontier life and actually taking a trip to Fort Wayne. For ourselves, we saw actors who portrayed butter churners, blacksmiths and so on. It may not have been acting, but it sure was better than reading it out of a textbook.

No matter what subject you teach, I think you have to be prepared to show students the "bigger picture" about your lesson plans. I've also recognized that the internet is a good tool to get students active involved in the world around them.

As for myself, I'm afraid I won't be going anywhere near a spiderweb that huge. I'm fine with a photograph.

Charish Halliburton
English Education Student

9/07/2007 12:13 PM

 URL: http://armandod.typepad.com/the_growing_pains_of_a_ci/2006/10/the_first_steps.html

The First Steps Part 2

The other day the students were given a treasure hunt to complete around the Academy. The purpose was two-fold. Firstly it gave the Year 7 students a chance to discover places in the school they perhaps did not know existed. Secondly it was a chance for students to practice some of the collaborative skills they had been developing and develop their sense of responsibility by moving round the school in an orderly manner.

The task was completed quite well. We deliberately kept students away from most of the other learning sessions going on in the school, however some teachers complained that Year 7's running around caused a disruption because they were out of lessons.

The Principal at first wanted us to cancel the activity, with the second Year half, but then realised that this was part of the learning process. Students were given the opportunity to reflect on their actions at the end and group facilitators who had been observing discussed with individuals their behaviour.

Myself and all the staff facilitating the programme think it was worthwhile. At this stage, I don't know if all the staff in the Academy would agree!

My Response:

Treasure hunts are such a good idea. When teachers are concered about children's social growth, this sounds like it helps kids get over their fears of working with others and helps take a fun approach to learning. As a child, I enjoyed playing around with clues and riddles all in search for something mysterious. A little fun goes a long way towards learning. I'll bet the students really appreciated it.

Posted by: Charish Halliburton | August 30, 2007 at 06:17 PM