Wilson,+Jane




DELIVERABLE #2 My original plan to integrate an edublog into an existing classroom lesson was to have students post their computer projects on the Internet as an e-portfolio and comment on each others. At this point I do not think that a blog is the vehicle for this. Therefore, the lesson I wish to incorporate into my Grade 8 Computer Class Blog is that of a weekly reflection and comments. This year, among other goals, my school district has a universal goal to improve writing scores on the CMTs (Connecticut Mastery Test). My principal has adopted this goal as a building goal. Thus all of the teachers, regardless of subject area, need to have a writing goal for the year to ultimately help improve writing scores. We have been given information developed by Language Arts teachers to help guide our expectations of the students. As a computer teacher I have adapted this writing goal and intend to use our class blog to offer increased writing opportunities for my eighth grade students. Students will write a response to a blog post. Each week I will post a situation that the students address. The first week I will ask for comments on my posting, but after that I will want them to comment against my posting and then comment on at least two other students’ responses. In the beginning I will designate who each student will respond to, using a round-robin system. If that goes well, I am hopeful they will comment on others of their choice. The comments should be eighth grade quality and offer further information to move the conversation along. Although they may offer constructive criticism there will be no put-downs. At least once I will request that the students to write a compliment to two other students in the class about their postings or work they have done on a computer project. Assessment of student work will be based on whether assignment was completed on time and according to the guidelines. A rubric will be applied to the writing of the comments. We will review the postings as a class as a way of acknowledging the reflections or ideas of the students. Each week the reflection will be different. Some will be based on the week’s activities. Others will be opportunities for the students to write their thoughts on a topic that is somehow related to computers or technology. The students may be requested to summarize a lesson, compare and contrast different products that we use, or designate what software/ technique might be more appropriate in a given situation. Motivated students may alter the path of a conversation and bring up new topics. Students can offer suggestions for commenting and possible topics for blog conversations. Since we have headsets, the students have the ability to record their comments. If they choose or if they do not have computer access at home, they may hand-write their comments, The students will be given several days to post their comments to our blog.
 * Curriculum and Standards**
 * Student -Centeredness or Objective**
 * Instructional Design**

DELIVERABLE #3

Tamara Weinberg and I work in the same school and have joined forces to present a proposal to our administrators. In our setting a visual format works best, so we have created a slideshow for this purpose. It will be available on our school network later so the staff may go back to it for resources. Based on our readings and experimentation with the new technologies offered with Web 2.0, we feel that many teachers in our school could benefit from using blogs. In order for our administrators to feel comfortable with this new technology, we have prepared this presentation to explain what a blog is and how it can be used in education. We would like to propose using a school-wide blog to help our staff become familiar with the practice of blogging and its potential for instruction. This first blog will be a Technology Committee vehicle for communication amongst committee members as well as an area for all staff to consult postings and make comments with their input about technology, suggestions, concerns and uses. media type="custom" key="2810443" width="143" height="156" //If you are having trouble viewing the slideshow, the PowerPoint version is available here: //