Waldron,+Abigail

My blog addresses the following CT Content Standards:
 * D2**

// Students will apply information from a variety of sources and formats using evaluative criteria to interpret ,analyze, organize and synthesize both print and non-print material // // Students will use appropriate information and technology to create written, visual, oral and multimedia products to communicate ideas, information or conclusions to others. // **Technology** //Students will use// // operate and use computers and other technologies as tools for productivity, problem solving and learning across the content areas. // //Students will//// demonstrate the responsible, legal and ethical use of information resources, computers and other technologies. //
 * Information Processing**
 * Application **
 * Responsible Use **

I’ve renamed my blog “Wamogo LMC Weekly” (same address http://ourbooksite.blogspot.com/) I think it will be a good place to post information about the library, update booklists and list assignments for teachers working in the library with their classes. I’d like to create updated links for classes, research projects and a favorites section for teachers and students to contribute. I don’t have a regular schedule of classes so my blog would be available on the library’s website and updated weekly. The biggest problem right now is that that blog sites are blocked. In the near future, I will be working on that! Currently, there are no blogs at our school. However, I’ve learned that many teachers are looking forward to having the opportunity to use blogs in their classes. This blog may be a good place for both students and teachers to practice blogging. I would encourage students to comment and to post. I would like to teach from this blog to show students what acceptable responses look like. I would work in conjunction with staff on postings regarding current research projects. Including student input on the postings would be critical to the success of the blog. A book club section will include current reading lists as well as student postings on their recommendations. Student Library Advisory Board activities willl be posted as well. I think this may be a great place to get new ideas from students about the activities they would like to see in the LMC. I don’t do formal assessments in the library, but I would be able to use a response rubric to show students what makes a good response.

I am writing to request that the district consider allowing the use of blogs in our schools for educational purposes.A blog is a web authoring tool, organized in chronological order of postings, that that allows many people to collaborate and participate on a site. A blog can serve endless purposes in education. It can be a place to hold online discussions for classes. It can be used as a newsletter or an information center for courses. Students, staff and parents can contribute to blog discussions, as permitted by the blog security settings. An informative and concise demonstration of a blog can be seen at this link []. Blogs could be easily utilized in our school setting. Using blogs in school will help both staff and students communicate more effectively. Staff members will have a way to communicate more information, in a variety of formats that can be easily connected to our teacher webpages. Teachers can readily post information to students and parents on the blog. Assignments and multimedia supports can easily be made available to students. Students would be able to interact with teachers and classmates, while in or out of school. Differentiated instruction can be facilitated through a blog, by including additional links, audio and video files. Using blogs relates directly to all aspects of the Connecticut Frameworks for Information and Technology Literacy Skills. The Framework includes the following areas: Definition and Identification of Information Needs, Information Strategies, Information Processing, Application, Technology Use, Responsible Use and Assessment. [] I would use a blog in the library setting to update students and the community on recent acquisitions, and write posts about class projects ongoing in the library. Students and staff could respond to a book club posting, or ask questions about available technology and resources for projects. I would also like to host an exchange of teacher ideas for information literacy infused lessons that worked in their courses. This information would be kept on the blog and teachers could receive comments and questions from other staff members. A blog would be an efficient way for me to communicate to the Library Advisory Board regarding upcoming events and to get student feedback. Currently the school is working on improving CMT and CAPT reading and writing response scores. Use of blogs would enhance the students’ opportunities to practice these skills through collaborative participation in class discussions and posts. In “A Call to Support 21st Century Writing,” (a report from the National Council of Teachers of English) the Kathleen Blake Yancey writes that //  This is a call to action, a call to research and articulate new composition, a call  to help our students compose often, compose well, and through these composings, become the citizen writers of our country, the citizen writers of our world, and the writers of our future. //  Blogs motivate students to write and participate more actively in their learning. The Pew Internet and American Life Project estimates that 85% of teens ages 12-17 engage in some type of personal written communication online. Pew also reports that 78% of teens believe that in-class writing time, using computer based writing tools would improve their writing. There are many great examples of blogs created for education.
 * D3**

> []. Mrs. Cassidy’s grade 1 class highlights their activities through video, includes reading samples through audio clips and posts photos of the events. She uses Skype and class created videos to share their experiences with schools in other states and countries. > > > > The Fisch Bowl ( []) is a Staff Development Blog from Arapahoe High School in Colorado. Karl Fisch writes articles regarding such important topics as “Is it okay to be a technologically illiterate teacher?” He also includes clips from professional development at his school and comments written about his postings. > > Things that need to be considered in making a decision about blogs includes the safety of our students online, the cost of the program, teacher training and the ultimate impact on our school culture. Blogs are used safely at schools. The implementation of blogs at our school would necessitate a structured approach to security settings and expectations for student online behavior. In choosing a program to launch blogging at our school, considerations of levels of security and moderation are of prime importance. Security measures include settings which would only allow members to contribute. Students would use given usernames which would make their participation anonymous to outside viewers. Comments may also be moderated by a teacher before they are published, so that inappropriate comments do not appear on the blog. Teaching students about appropriate blogging would become an important part of the curriculum. This is a life-long skill that students are practicing at this point in their personal lives. It is imperative that they be taught appropriate blogging skills and online presence to prepare them for their education and future careers. > > Most blogging programs are free. Paying an additional nominal fee allows the users to have more security options. I would like to explore these additional features in order to set up the safest blogging environment for our students. Blogs would be used in conjunction with our current webpages. Blogs can easily manage video and audio clips, which is a support that teachers are looking for. Currently our website does not have the storage space for teachers to upload their larger files. I would like to investigate Edublogs and Blogmeister as possibilities for our school blogs. Many schools use these types of blogs and I have found that both offer appropriate levels of security and moderation for student use. > Teacher training could occur through professional development held at our school. Many teachers have at least some experience using blogs. We need time to explore blogs with teachers and this could be done in collaboration with each other, without cost to the district. The impact that this will have on our school culture will be enormous. Staff and student s will have improved communication and students will have access to a variety of tools to help in their learning. I believe that blogs are a tool that we cannot afford to block from use. I would love to see students and staff creating more multimedia materials to be posted on blogs and share with other schools. I think that blogs will motivate our students to improve the quality of their writing. Students will become more active learners and staff will demonstrate greater knowledge of the application of technology in learning. Please consider this request to open up a new opportunity for our school to support the development of skills that our students will need to be successful learners in the future. **Final Project:**
 * One fantastic elementary school blog is Mrs. Cassidy’s Classroom blog
 * Mrs. Thornton’s Science class blog [] is a good example of a high school teacher’s blog. This blog includes exam review, assignments and a list of links for students to use.
 * Principals use blogs as well. The following is a link to a Naragansett RI Elementary School Principal ( []). The blog acts as a newsletter for school activities and updates about the school.
 * Imagine having professional development ongoing throughout the year.

My final project is a wiki for use in the library media center. This is the site that I will upload videos and other multimedia used by teachers. I've also included student links for subject areas and a blog aggregator for staff development. IStaff members would have access to this wiki to add their own links, videos and RSS feeds. The Library Media Center wiki would serve as a community wiki for staff and students to use as a research and reading resource. I've added examples of Web 2.0 resources such as Voicethread and Screencasting, to share information and to show teachers what these tools do. My wiki link is here: []