Walsh,+Jeannine

I am a reading specialist who coaches teachers and works one-on-one with students who need extra support. Therefore, the purpose of my blog is to serve as a communication tool, initially for teachers in my school and then for parents, students and administrators. My plan is to show the staff my own blog at one of our first faculty meetings. I will explain how we will be using it as a collaborative communication tool. The entire school staff is on our school improvement team along with a handful of parents and community members. We usually began the school year with four to five educational book selections for a kind of literature circle book club. I can use this opportunity to have teachers begin to use the blog as a collaborative reflection space for our readings. The blog will also include links to educational websites and blogs. I will post a monthly reading newsletter to inform teachers of upcoming assessment dates, district information and useful reading tips. I will also include book lists focusing on comprehension strategies and book titles that model effective writing skills. Once the teachers from the school improvement team feel comfortable using the blog I’d like to find one volunteer to let me work in their classroom with the students. If I can get just one teacher interested and we do additional staff development together more teachers may be willing to jump on board. Once these students from this “test” class are up and running and we have student work posted, I will then open it up to parents and administrators to view and respond to the students. Although we do reading week in April, since starting this class, I began posting the week long activities on my blog to not only get some practice but also post something that may be helpful to another teacher. I still feel that the true test is going to be convincing the teachers that blogging isn’t another new fad that is going to cut into their day. I have to find a way to show the teachers that it isn’t added work but a motivated way to get students to write in a meaningful way. Being new to blogging, wikis and podcasts I may only be one baby step ahead of those I’m trying to model for. This is something that I will share with the staff and see who is willing to learn with me. I feel that this class has given me so many resources already I will probably learn more and more each time I go back and read it over. I am hoping once one class is going strong more teachers will become interested and ask to learn more. My biggest hope is that the entire school will be blogging within two years. I’ll be mentioning and pushing this class to the entire staff. **Future Goals** I would love to be the first school in the district to use blogging as a way to foster partnerships with students across the globe, share student work and communicate our learning with parents. The most important future goal would be to open up the world to kids who don’t know much beyond their own backyard. The video “Did You Know” was very inspiring. What a way for me to open up our school based professional development on blogging. The link to “Learning to Avoid School Talk” was an extremely motivating way to get students to think about their reading. I will not only share this link with my staff but will try to motivate one of the fifth grade teachers to use music as one way to share out a book. I will also forward this link to our Social Studies curriculum development committee as another form of performance based assessment.
 * Deliverable #2**
 * Trials **
 * Tests **
 * Potential Missteps **
 * Potential Successes **
 * Comments **

Proposal addressed to the Superintendant of the Newport Public Schools and the Principal of Cranston Calvert School ** Today technology is a part of everyday life for students. They have grown up surrounded by cell phones, iPods and the internet while most of the teaching staff is less knowledgeable in computer literacy. Web 2.0 or the read/write web is deepening this gap between students and teachers. Pew Internet & American Life Project released a report in 2002 called The Digital Disconnect: The widening gap between Internet-savvy students and their schools. They have found that many schools and teachers have not yet recognized—much less responded to—the new ways students communicate and access information over the Internet. I propose to close this gap by introducing teachers in the district to the read/write web and implementing a school based blog at Cranston Calvert School. Blogs or Web logs are web pages containing items of information which are chronologically arranged. They can take the form of a public journal, summary of links, series of book reviews, a showcase of student work or a collection of lessons. It is a collaborative space where readers can post comments and get feedback which may offer support, suggestions or contributions of ideas. The Cranston Calvert School blog will not only introduce teachers to the read/write web but will also be used as a resource tool. Teachers will be able to find links to our reading curriculum (Making Meaning) and phonics program (SIPPS). They can share lessons or discuss grade level topics or themes. While the city council has continued to cut the school budget and the professional development of teachers is one item on the chopping block I feel that blogs may be our answer. Blogs are a way for the Newport School department to use one of its best assets - the teachers who are some of the most outstanding, knowledgeable and dedicated professionals I know. Cranston Calvert teachers can post successful lessons, share helpful links and discuss best teaching practices using the school based blog. This is also an opportunity for all the lead teachers in the district to use their skills and share their knowledge with not only our district but the worldwide community of teachers and learners. In her article, Blog on: Building Communication & Collaboration Among Staff and Students, Catherine Poling reports that blogging provides a means of ongoing communication with other group members that would not otherwise be available for an entire month until the next face-to-face meeting. The blog setting provides a forum for rich dialogue sorted by multiple topics, as well as an online sources of related materials. A Few exceptional blogs and some award winners that I would model the Cranston Calvert school blog after can be found at: [|http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/ an award winning teacher blog [|http://lewiselementary.org/ great all round blog that includes just about everything [|http://www.mpsomaha.org/willow/radio/index.html **Radio WillowWeb ** is a podcast for kids and by kids from the students at Willowdale Elementary School in Omaha, Nebraska. Each new show is called a //Willowcast //. Each Willowcast can be heard on WillowWeb as an mp3 digital audio file.  [|http://fwe2.motime.com/ is a blog from English Language learners in Portugal [|http://duckdiaries.edublogs.org/ is a blog that second graders created about a duck that built a nest on their playground. Three roadblocks that I foresee in implementing a school based blog are monetary concerns, safety issues, and teacher buy-in. I will briefly discuss each potential stumbling block and explain how I believe we can overcome these issues. Money is not a issue. The specific software that I would suggest using is either blogger.com or edublogs.org. Both sites are free and very easy to use. The matter of safety is one that I find the most important. Our students are using the internet regularly and stumbling upon inappropriate material, sites and links on a daily basis. I feel it is our job as teachers to educate them on how to navigate their way through the on-line information. Safekids.com has a student friendly list of rules for online safety that can be shared with parents, students and teachers. Initially our blog would be private where only staff can access the information. However, once the teachers felt comfortable using this technology we would open the blog up so everyone worldwide would have access to our ideas. Lastly, teacher buy-in will be the most challenging hurtle to overcome. The majority of teachers today, myself included, were not raised with technology everywhere you turn. It is changing so rapidly that it is scary and sometimes hard to keep up with the latest and greatest new gadget or tool. My hope is that by starting the blog slowly, with a school wide book club where teachers can post their thoughts, they will begin to feel comfortable using the blog and be willing to add their expertise and post regularly to the site. My hope is that teachers will see the benefit of using blogs and will be open to trying them in their own classroom with the students. We can then begin to build a collaborative school blog that is used as a model for the rest of the district. If all goes well I would like to move forward with other Web 2.0 tools such as wikis and RSS feeds. Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing your ideas on this proposal in the coming weeks. Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms by Will Richardson Blogging and RSS — The  “   What   ’   s It? ”  and   “   How To   ”   of Powerful New Web Tools for Educators //by Will Richardson //  Educational Blogging by Stephen Downes  [|**http://docs.google.com/View?docid=dgpppkm4_409hmx72ffn**]  Blog On: Building Communication & Collaboration Among Staff & Students by Catherine Poling http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/2a/19/40.pdf Pew Internet & American Life Project released a report in 2002 called The Digital Disconnect: The widening gap between Internet-savvy students and their schools [|http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/67/report_display.asp.
 * Deliverable #3
 * Description **
 * Service **
 * Filling a Need **
 * Evidence of Success **
 * Potential Roadblocks **
 * A Hope for the Future **
 * References **

cranstoncalvertschool.blogspot.com** My main goal for creating the school based blog is to introduce the faculty to the read/write web, specifically blogs and in turn have them create a collaborative school blog for students, parents and administrators. Unfortunately the only teacher at Cranston Calvert School that was familiar with web 2.0 was the library media specialist. Once school begins, she is willing to assist me in training and working with our peers to further develop this site. The final project was one that I felt would be the most beneficial to me and the staff. With a new reading program and new phonics program in place this year I did not want to overwhelm the teachers and risk losing them entirely by throwing a lot of new terms and technologies at them. With this in mind I wanted to give the staff a small taste of the resources covered in this class. ** Goals for the Cranston Calvert Blog ** Teachers will  ·  Learn what a blog is and share benefits of its use in education <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol"> ·  Create their own blog which will be added to the school blog <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol"> ·  Use pictures, video, and podcasts to enhance their individual blogs <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol"> ·  Post comments to peers blogs <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol"> ·  Post ideas and lesson plans to share on either blog <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol"> ·  Use the school blog as a reference, now and in the future <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol"> ·  Reflect on how this tool can be used with students in their own classroom <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol"> ·  Learn about podcasts and their value in education <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol"> ·  Use the school wiki at [|cranstoncalvertschool.pbwiki.com] to share lessons/ideas <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol"> ·  Learn what social bookmarking entails <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol"> ·  Understand the benefits of using the read/write web in the classroom <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"> Teachers will get an overview of the read/write web, blogs, podcasts wikis and social bookmarking. They will then search links, create their own blog, edit the school wiki and reflect on their practice in regards to this new technology. These activities aim to provide a foundation for understanding web 2.0 tools. After each activity teachers will be asked to post a quick write about that topic and to reflect on how each tool can assist them in their own classroom. Activity #1 - Please click on the comment button under the video, //Did you Know//, and post one quick thought you had while watching this video. Activity #2 - Please take a few minutes to look at some of the blogs linked in the left hand column under Our Blog List. After searching through a couple of these sites, add a comment or two about your thoughts or add a link to a new site that you may have found. We'll add it to our list. Activity #3 - Today you are each going to create your own blog. Once your peers have created their blogs please take the time to check them out and post a comment. Activity #4 - Think about how you could use podcasting with your students. Please share some of your thoughts and ideas under the comments section. Activity #5 - Click on the link and look for the edit button to try out our new wiki at [|cranstoncalvertschool.pbwiki.com] Activity #6 - When you have a few minutes take the time to browse one of these sites, and if you're feeling adventurous sign up for your own account. We begin each year with a professional development retreat at Alton Jones, I will present my final project (the school blog which can be found at cranstoncalvertschool.blogspot.com  ). The presentation will consist of dissecting the blog and then working on six activities which will give them an introduction to some of the Web 2.0 tools such as blogs, podcasts, wikis, and social bookmarks. My hope is that this blog will turn into a useful resource for teachers everywhere and also be a model for other schools in our district.
 * FINAL PROJECT
 * EDC921 Final **
 * Jeannine Walsh **
 * Introduction **
 * Activities **
 * Writing Assignments **
 * Implementation of project **