How Are You Using On-LIne Networking?

Thanks to Principal Jonathan Martin for pointing me to this great video and these insightful questions!

Please think about how you are using online networking in ways beyond the merely social (i.e. Facebook). Are you using on-line networking at all to communicate with others who share your passions and hobbies and with whom you could share your own “good ideas.”

Advice for New Bloggers

On Wednesday I will be visiting Mr. Field's writing class to help them start blogs.  As experienced bloggers, what advice do you have for the class?

Thoughts on This Video?

This is an excerpt from Will Richardson's TED Talk from a few weeks ago.  What are your thoughts? Are there implications for education?

Today's Assignment - Friday, February 11, 2011

Let's create a Google Presentation on Cellphones in schools:

I started with the first slide - now it is your turn - Here is the link to the presentation.

Have fun!

With A Cellphone in School I Can...

Please add to the Google Doc on things that having a cellphone in school allows you to do.

Today's Assignment - Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Finish yesterday's assignment if you have not done so.

Today's assignment:

I heard on the radio this morning that there is discussion by some at the Massachusetts State House regarding banning cell phones in schools.

What would you say to your elected officials about this?

Please find some on-line resources and write a post about why you think this is either a good or bad idea.

Today's Class - Making a Voki

When and How Kids Should Learn to Type

I Will Give You My Trust

I Need My Teachers To Tweet

I Learned How To Write Without School

Sugata Mitra: Catalyst of Curiousity

Welcome Back! Let's Get Blogging!

Today I would like you to continue working to find your blogging voice. As we move forward, you will be blogging about topics and other blog posts that you are most passionate about. In the interim, I have a few posts that I thought you might find interesting. Check them out in the #bhschat stream on Twitter.  When you are finished please tweet out your post and use the #bhschat hashtag.

If you find something you like I encourage you to add the blog to your Google Reader stream.

Don't forget our blogging rubric will be utilized to assess your posts.

Looking At Your Digital Footprint

Please fill out the survey below before the end of class

Today's Assignment - January 31, 2011

Friday- January 28, 2011

Good Morning,

Sorry I can't be there today.  I am excited to be presenting at Educon this weekend and today I am visiting classrooms at Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia, the school that hosts Educon.
Mr. Sullivan has the names of a few students who have not gotten us the information requested on our first day of class.

Today, I would like you to watch the video below and work on your blog template.  In addition, I would like you to add some gadgets/widgets to your blog.




Click on the Design tab at the top of your blog and then click on add a gadget.  Please add the Blog Stats gadget and then add at least two more that you like.  You can check out my blog to see some of the gadgets I have for ideas.

Finally - Send one tweet to @bhsprincipal and I will create a Twitter list four our class.

Have a great weekend!

Today's Assignment

Step one: Create your own Blogger blog
Step two: Embed this video in a blog post
Step three: Answer the questions below on this video in a blog post and add any other thoughts you have on the video.

What are your thoughts on this? What do you agree or disagree with? What surprised you?

Opening Day Web 2.0 Semester 2

Welcome to Web 2.0!

Here are our Course Expectations

Today you need to:

1. Read the Course Expectations
2. Read this Blog Rubric 
3. Ask questions about the course expectations and blog rubric in the form below

Opening Day Web 2.0 Semester 2 (Part 2)

You also need to do the following:

1. Sign up for a GMail account
2. Sign up for a Twitter account
3. Fill out the form below

Give Me This Day My Daily Blog Post

It seems, I have been blogging less lately. There are a number of reasons that I can think of when I reflect on this fact.  The biggest reason for me is actually due to the amazing posts that I continue to read by the members of my PLN.  Just the Connected Principals Blog alone leaves my head-spinning due to the quality of the posts that my colleagues are writing.

Sometimes my competitive nature comes out and I feel like I need to write something amazingly insightful. Unfortunately, this coincides with my biggest bouts of blogger's block.  So I finally had a moment of clarity last night and remembered that the reflective nature of blogging is what I really enjoy. Hopefully, once in a while my thoughts will be useful to others as well.

So here I go...
... I commit to blog daily, even if it is just a few sentences.

Food For Thought

Trying Something New Today

Here is a link that gives further instructions if you need them.

Food For Thought

Our assignment for today:

There have been a number of blog posts and articles recently that I would like your thoughts on.  Please choose one of these and write a blog post on your blog or leave a comment here on the class blog.

 My Kids Are Illiterate. Most Likely, Yours Are Too - Will Richardson

Facebook Photos: Your Delete, Doesn't Mean Delete - Vicki Davis

A final option is to put down some thoughts on our school's transition to a 1:1 environment next year. What are the positives and negatives of this? What questions or comments do you have?

Have a great weekend!

Edutopia Opens The Virtual Door On Our Classroom

We have spent the better part of a month in our class blogging, commenting on blogs and trying to extend our Personal Learning Networks.  In the last couple of weeks, we have started to see some evidence of what these connections can do.

First, there have been comments from a few people on our class blogs. Then, there was the post on the Student PLN blog about what we have been doing to show students the power of a PLN.  Today, we hit it big with an article in Edutopia! The blog post on the Edutopia site is titled A Web 2.0 Class: Students Learn 21st Century Skills, Collaboration, and Digital Citizenship.  

There is nothing I could have said or done to create this first hand experience for our students and show them how connected they are to their world. The door has been opened for them and some people will be checking out their blogs and seeing what they have to say.  An opportunity has arisen for them to be heard. 

With all that is being discussed about education of late, I think we need to heart the thoughts of our students more than ever.  Who will accept the challenge? 

PLN's - A New Frontier For Our Students

I can't remember a better start to a school year!  Getting back into the classroom to teach our school's first Web 2.0 class has been a daily highlight.  It is so satisfying to help show students how to establish an on-line identity for the purpose of building a Personal Learning Network (PLN) and extending their learning on topics that they are passionate about.   Selfishly, I also embarked on this endeavor back into the classroom to learn from my students.  Thanks to their great insights, this week has been especially fruitful!

First, there is Akash who defined a PLN in one short paragraph in a blog post this week.  This is something I have struggled to do in five weeks!  He topped that off with a wonderfully honest post on why students cheat in our schools in another post.  This post to an article titled American Schools Lax on Cheating from the Washington Post.  Then there was Michelle who offered a post on how she feels about"Busy Work" in school.   These are just a few of the firsthand examples that have served as a reminder of the powerful addition that our students add to the equation when it comes to discussions that the adults in schools so often struggle with. Clearly a number of the students are starting to hit on one of our two major objectives for this course, establishing an on-line voice.

That leads me to the second major objective for the course which is building a PLN. For anyone who has undertaken this exciting task, you know there is nothing better than connecting with other people who share your passion on a particular topic.  During the last couple of weeks, my students have started to realize their connectedness as they have made connections with students from Van Meter, Iowa by sharing blog comments. Getting comments on a blog post is exciting, but getting them from students over 1,300 miles away is even better.

Topping the blog comment, in my opinion, is the Retweet. For those of you not familiar to Twitter, that is when someone confirms the quality of one of your tweets  by sending it on to all of their followers.  In the last two days, I have seen a couple of posts by BHS students retweeted! It was a proud moment! Check out the retweets below where Akash's post on cheating was retweeted by educators from South Africa, Iowa, Oregon, and Arlington. 

All of this and we are only midway through the first term. Opportunities to make connections with students from Monsignor Bonner & Archbishop Prendergast High School in Philadelphia and Cam High School in Anita, Iowa are available. But in reality, opportunities to connect with learners everywhere are a few keystrokes away.  You can set your own course and if you have something important to say, people will respond. That is what a PLN is all about! My PLN has allowed me to connect with passionate educators likeShannon Miller, Van Meter High School's extraordinary library/media specialist, and Bill Brannick,  the Principal at Bonner & Archbishop Prendergast High School in Philadelphia.  These two have also embarked on a similar journey at their own schools, showing students the power of a PLN and showing the world the power of student connections.  Keep checking in at The Student Connect PLN and see what are amazing students are up to.