What are some ideas you have for using wordle or a classroom blog? What is your district's policy on blogs? How would you safeguard your students as they use wordle or blogging?
You could use wordle in connection to doing a brainstorm with the writing process. This could coincide with their "web" portion of the brainstorming step. Blogs would be a great way to do discussion questions. This could especially be useful if a student is sick or on vacation and would still need to keep up with his or her homework. Since blogs can be accessed from anywhere on the globe, they would work quite well for that. Since I really don't teach in a school district, I am not sure what our policy is. I teach in a Wisconsin Evengalical Lutheran Synod (WELS) school. It is a private school. We just have a privacy policy that states that we need to get parental permission to use the students on the internet. To safeguard the students when using wordle, I would ask for their Word list before they create their wordle. Since it is such an easy process from going from Word to the wordle website, I would ask the students for their lists to be checked over before they are even allowed to open up the website. While blogging, I would have to make sure that I am present when they are at school and supervising them very closely. I would also give them very strict guidelines for using the blog. If the students would have their own pages, I would have them set it up so that they go directly to the needed pages. This will keep them from having to search all over the internet.
I can see using a wordle for a welcome back to school activity. I could also use it as a culminating activity at the end of my lab safety unit. Students could enter words that highlight safety rules in the lab. An extension might be to post these wordles outside of the classroom prior to parent/teacher conferences.
I will be searching tonight to discover my district's policy in regard to blogging.
All of our students take an internet test prior to using Distict equipment.
Students should be reminded as to proper usage of a blog or an unfiltered website.
One idea for using wordle is using it as an ice breaker. It's a great way for students to describe themselves to other students. It could also be used in a Reading class to create poems. A theme could be discussed and then synonyms and characteristics could be listed, creating a word art poem. Wordle would be great for incorporating technology into the art curriculum. Students could pick any topic and brainstorm and explore with words to create a vivid linguistic picture. They can learn how to change the font and color for individual tastes. Teachers can safeguard the usage of wordle by instructing the student to go to the "create" URL, so that they don't see the public gallery. Have the students use wordle in class so that you can manage their website content. If it is assigned outside of class, make sure the parents are aware of the assignment. The blog is a great way for students to journal their thoughts and reflections while incorporating technology into the classroom. To help safeguard the blog, students can have their own user names, so that each blog is attributed to a specific student. Teachers can check and approve the blog before posting. Again, if it's done at home, have parents check it over as well.
My 8th grade Language Arts students created a blog for a school newspaper:
http://thecherokeechronicle.wordpress.com
It was an exciting process for the kids, and the first "poster" was an EEN student. He was so proud! His mother even found the newspaper and posted a comment for his article.
The newspaper didn't become very popular throughout the school, which I attribute to lack of access to computers in the building. I just recently learned that a blog can be converted to a .pdf document. Having the capability to print the newspaper would have provided teachers with an avenue to create excitement for participation by their students.
Here's a site for conversion: http://labnol.blogspot.com/2007/07/save-any-blogger-blog-as-pdf-document.html
Long after we "published" our newspaper, I learned that any student work that teachers put on the web need to be grammatically correct. I knew enough not to post their photos or full names; parents who did subscribe would still like to see their student's name in "print", so I wouldn't have the kids use aliases. Here is my district's policy:
I enjoyed using Wordle as the icebreaking tool for our class today. I would like to have kids create a Google doc, gmail it to me, and then cut and paste all those words into a Wordle. We could create Wordles for "What I did this summer" (ho-hum!) or favorite TV shows or musicians, etc. They could also use their Wordle characteristics for writing and sending via gmail a letter to themselves to be read in the future (www.futureme.org).
I visualize using Wordle for an assignment of a description about a character in a video series that Advanced Spanish class views. I believe another possiblility would be to incorporate target vocabulary from a chapter to describe a friend, a character or the student him/herself. Our district is very protective about student identity, but since the students use their Spanish names for all their entries, they are protected automatically. The policy is not to have an open account available to the public, but with the Spanish names and their confidentiality and no use of surnames, we were able to publish the Voicethreads from the two previous years without any concern. In the school newsletter we even invited the public to view the Voicethread and explained how to access the site. I could see the use of pseudonyms for students in any class to assure anonymity. Kathy
I would like to use wordle as an introductory activity with my students with the focus upon adjectives, personality traits, and vocabulary building. Prior to the wordle activity, students will be given a list of adjectives and asked to select ten words that they feel describe themselves. As a class, we will go over the list and define any unfamiliar words. On a guide sheet, students will list their selected words and next to each word a brief explanation for the word's selection. Each student is also asked to circle three traits that they feel are their most important descriptors. When the students create their wordle documents, they will type the three circled traits two or more times. After the wordle is created and printed, each student will be asked to explain the trait selection and use their words to introduce themselves and their interests. These will be hung in the classroom and left up all year. Because of the work done prior to actually creating the documents, I will be able to monitor the student work and check spelling and appropriateness of the content. At this time our school district does not allow blogging. It is my understanding that a policy is being formulated and may possibly be allowed sometime this year. If and when blogging is allowed, I would follow the policy I always use when students are using technology. I am present, I am monitoring and moving around the work stations, and students have been reminded of appropriate technology work and consequences of misuse of internet or any technology.
I think the Wordle would be a great way to teach vocabulary to my students. They would have a great time creating different lists. Then they could present their lists to the class like we did telling about ourselves. The problem I see is the availablility to the improper language lists that you discussed. Our school district my have a problem with that aspect. I am not completely knowledgeable of our district's policy concerning blogging. If it were used in class in a closed setting like this blog, I think it would be a great way for students to journal, to comment on food products made, or helping each other with class projects.
Wordle could be used in my 8th grade US History class as a student "word collage" activity with adjectives used to describe a certain person, place or event. Students can then compare their wordles to discover common or unique answers. I would check with our building Technology Coordinator for school policy/parental notification/approval forms. Close supervision while blogging would be facilitated by having the class working in the school's computer lab, where all screens are more visible. Individual student contracts could be explained and signed as well. Wordle activities could also require an attached word list with alphabetized words since the wordle itself when crowded could be a hiding place for objectionable words.
Some ideas that I have as far as wordle goes is to use wordle in the beginning of the school year to tell their classmates what they did over the summer or things about themselves that they would like their classmates to know. For a LA class, when studying adjectives, you could give each student a noun and have them use wordle to describe that noun. As far as blogging goes, you could use it as a homework assignment where your students would respond to a question that you give related to something you were studying in class. For example, when studying geometry you could have your students do a little treasure hunt in their homes where they would have to find something in their home that was a cylinder, spere, cube, rectangular prism, etc. I don't know what our school policy is on blogging but I will ask and find out. Some concerns as far as keeping the students safe would be to first of all get parental permission to have the students use the blogs. Students would be required to sign a waiver saying that the things that write on the blogs or wordle would be according to the school's policy for what is acceptable. Consequences for not adhering to these rules would be enforced. Giving specific url's for the student's to type in would help alleviate some of the garbage that is put out there. Another idea would be to have the student's have their wordles previewed before putting it into a final copy.
I work at a private Catholic school and we have a privacy policy that unless we have the parental permission, we don't have any students on the Internet or use their names. What the students do at home is a different story as they have their parents' permission to go on any website they want.
Another issue is that our technology committee computer group has decided to block access to blogs. YouTube is blocked along with other websites that have questionable tags. I, however, can access TeacherTube which has several nice videos to show the class.
Wordle will be a nice addition to my curriculum for each grade. I am thinking about using Wordle as a "break-the-ice" return-from-summer project. I will also put their names according to each class on the computer lab wall which will be an exciting idea.
Regarding checking their work, the computers are in a circle around the edge of the room so I can see all of their screens. However, as I sit in the center of the room, I offer to spell out words they do not know how to spell and this helps with class participation.
I have links in documents that the students can access from Word so that they don't have to type in the complete URL address. They do not enter their names, addresses, or personal information on the Internet because we go over Internet rules and safety.
Some ideas for using wordle: First, I can’t wait to show teachers at school this site. Wordle can be used: As an introduction or icebreaker like we did today. OR use like we use “word walls,” using lists of concepts and/or vocabulary, perhaps making sure to repeat most important concepts and/or words so that they are a focus of the wordle. OR For book groups—wordles of character traits or book settings, then have students compare/discuss how they created the wordles—they would have to explain why did they choose the traits or specifics of the settings.
Using a blog, students can comment on class assignments, give pointers to other students, provide feeback to teachers. At our school, we used it as a format for book discussions where students had to respond to a teacher-generated prompt and also respond to other students’ comments. I was thinking of creating a wiki and embedding a blog, but maybe I can just continue to use blogs for our “LiteracyPlus” initiative.
I don’t know what our district policy is on blogs, but I think I heard that we aren’t supposed to create our own—that we need to go through “Downtown” and that someone there would create the blog for us. I don’t know if this is true, but I best find out before I expand our blogs. I just did it. What I found is that our students did not put their full names or other personal info on their profiles although several of them did put their real photos on. Everyone at school keeps repeating the mantra of “don’t give out personal info online” so they know it, at least at school. Who knows what they do at home! Explicit instruction about keeping themselves safe online has worked for us for the most part. Reviewing what students post and having the ability to delete student posts (after speaking to the student) are important strategies for teachers.
Wordles could easily be used for "listing" short facts about topics, such as authors, saints, science topics, etc. They could also be used as a type of book report, and in language arts, show examples of parts of speech (nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc.), synonyms and antonyms, etc.
I would love for the students to blog book reviews to get other kids reading or as a tool for a book discussion. Students or teachers could also create a blog informing parents about activities being done in their classroom or in the school. Comments or reactions to field trips or special programs would answer the old parent question of "what did you do in school today?" Posting projects would be great.
Which brings us to policy... I don't know of any diocesan policy about computer use. Each school writes their own policy. We have not yet addressed this issue in our school, because we have not used blogging. Students already have general Internet rules, but blogging is a new area. Since I'm a new learner/blogger, I don't know how secure blogging is. Can a blog site be set up that only allows the school parents and students to access it? How about the privacy issue in posting student work? Would we have to get releases from parents for a child to even post a comment?
Students composing a Wordle would be supervised in their classroom or in the computer lab. All would be proof-read and edited for vocabulary, spelling and content before a final printing. However, this would be in a controlled environment. If they then go to this website at home, which they will, our control is lost. They will, of course, check out the gallery as well. Parents would have to be informed about this website and its use. (But I wonder how many will take the time to check?) Just a note: our 8th Grade English teacher did one of these this past spring. She used the Wordle idea, but had the students use Word Art in Word instead. They had to keep the same font and style, but colors and directions/positions of words could be changed. The results were awesome, and in most cases, if they had their word list ready, it only took them one class period.
Jake and I have asked about our school's blogging policy and right now our principal has told us that we do not have a policy. However, if we come up with a way to use it and think about all of the ramifications and how to avoid the negative parts, she is willing to discuss it further with us.
After asking about my school's policy concerning blogging, as of right now, the school doesn't have a policy. If the logistics are worked out, concerning any negative aspects, a policy could be formed in the future.
You could use wordle in connection to doing a brainstorm with the writing process. This could coincide with their "web" portion of the brainstorming step. Blogs would be a great way to do discussion questions. This could especially be useful if a student is sick or on vacation and would still need to keep up with his or her homework. Since blogs can be accessed from anywhere on the globe, they would work quite well for that. Since I really don't teach in a school district, I am not sure what our policy is. I teach in a Wisconsin Evengalical Lutheran Synod (WELS) school. It is a private school. We just have a privacy policy that states that we need to get parental permission to use the students on the internet.
ReplyDeleteTo safeguard the students when using wordle, I would ask for their Word list before they create their wordle. Since it is such an easy process from going from Word to the wordle website, I would ask the students for their lists to be checked over before they are even allowed to open up the website.
While blogging, I would have to make sure that I am present when they are at school and supervising them very closely. I would also give them very strict guidelines for using the blog. If the students would have their own pages, I would have them set it up so that they go directly to the needed pages. This will keep them from having to search all over the internet.
I can see using a wordle for a welcome back to school activity.
ReplyDeleteI could also use it as a culminating activity at the end of my lab safety unit. Students could enter words that highlight safety rules in the lab.
An extension might be to post these wordles outside of the classroom prior to parent/teacher conferences.
I will be searching tonight to discover my district's policy in regard to blogging.
All of our students take an internet test prior to using Distict equipment.
Students should be reminded as to proper usage of a blog or an unfiltered website.
One idea for using wordle is using it as an ice breaker. It's a great way for students to describe themselves to other students. It could also be used in a Reading class to create poems. A theme could be discussed and then synonyms and characteristics could be listed, creating a word art poem. Wordle would be great for incorporating technology into the art curriculum. Students could pick any topic and brainstorm and explore with words to create a vivid linguistic picture. They can learn how to change the font and color for individual tastes.
ReplyDeleteTeachers can safeguard the usage of wordle by instructing the student to go to the "create" URL, so that they don't see the public gallery. Have the students use wordle in class so that you can manage their website content. If it is assigned outside of class, make sure the parents are aware of the assignment.
The blog is a great way for students to journal their thoughts and reflections while incorporating technology into the classroom. To help safeguard the blog, students can have their own user names, so that each blog is attributed to a specific student. Teachers can check and approve the blog before posting. Again, if it's done at home, have parents check it over as well.
My 8th grade Language Arts students created a blog for a school newspaper:
ReplyDeletehttp://thecherokeechronicle.wordpress.com
It was an exciting process for the kids, and the first "poster" was an EEN student. He was so proud! His mother even found the newspaper and posted a comment for his article.
The newspaper didn't become very popular throughout the school, which I attribute to lack of access to computers in the building. I just recently learned that a blog can be converted to a .pdf document. Having the capability to print the newspaper would have provided teachers with an avenue to create excitement for participation by their students.
Here's a site for conversion:
http://labnol.blogspot.com/2007/07/save-any-blogger-blog-as-pdf-document.html
Long after we "published" our newspaper, I learned that any student work that teachers put on the web need to be grammatically correct. I knew enough not to post their photos or full names; parents who did subscribe would still like to see their student's name in "print", so I wouldn't have the kids use aliases. Here is my district's policy:
http://www.madison.k12.wi.us/webpub/studentwork.htm
I enjoyed using Wordle as the icebreaking tool for our class today. I would like to have kids create a Google doc, gmail it to me, and then cut and paste all those words into a Wordle. We could create Wordles for "What I did this summer" (ho-hum!) or favorite TV shows or musicians, etc. They could also use their Wordle characteristics for writing and sending via gmail a letter to themselves to be read in the future (www.futureme.org).
I visualize using Wordle for an assignment of a description about a character in a video series that Advanced Spanish class views. I believe another possiblility would be to incorporate target vocabulary from a chapter to describe a friend, a character or the student him/herself.
ReplyDeleteOur district is very protective about student identity, but since the students use their Spanish names for all their entries, they are protected automatically. The policy is not to have an open account available to the public, but with the Spanish names and their confidentiality and no use of surnames, we were able to publish the Voicethreads from the two previous years without any concern. In the school newsletter we even invited the public to view the Voicethread and explained how to access the site.
I could see the use of pseudonyms for students in any class to assure anonymity.
Kathy
I would like to use wordle as an introductory activity with my students with the focus upon adjectives, personality traits, and vocabulary building. Prior to the wordle activity, students will be given a list of adjectives and asked to select ten words that they feel describe themselves. As a class, we will go over the list and define any unfamiliar words. On a guide sheet, students will list their selected words and next to each word a brief explanation for the word's selection. Each student is also asked to circle three traits that they feel are their most important descriptors. When the students create their wordle documents, they will type the three circled traits two or more times. After the wordle is created and printed, each student will be asked to explain the trait selection and use their words to introduce themselves and their interests. These will be hung in the classroom and left up all year. Because of the work done prior to actually creating the documents, I will be able to monitor the student work and check spelling and appropriateness of the content. At this time our school district does not allow blogging. It is my understanding that a policy is being formulated and may possibly be allowed sometime this year. If and when blogging is allowed, I would follow the policy I always use when students are using technology. I am present, I am monitoring and moving around the work stations, and students have been reminded of appropriate technology work and consequences of misuse of internet or any technology.
ReplyDeleteI think the Wordle would be a great way to teach vocabulary to my students. They would have a great time creating different lists. Then they could present their lists to the class like we did telling about ourselves. The problem I see is the availablility to the improper language lists that you discussed. Our school district my have a problem with that aspect.
ReplyDeleteI am not completely knowledgeable of our district's policy concerning blogging. If it were used in class in a closed setting like this blog, I think it would be a great way for students to journal, to comment on food products made, or helping each other with class projects.
Wordle could be used in my 8th grade US History class as a student "word collage" activity with adjectives used to describe a certain person, place or event. Students can then compare their wordles to discover common or unique answers.
ReplyDeleteI would check with our building Technology Coordinator for school policy/parental notification/approval forms.
Close supervision while blogging would be facilitated by having the class working in the school's computer lab, where all screens are more visible. Individual student contracts could be explained and signed as well.
Wordle activities could also require an attached word list with alphabetized words since the wordle itself when crowded could be a hiding place for objectionable words.
Some ideas that I have as far as wordle goes is to use wordle in the beginning of the school year to tell their classmates what they did over the summer or things about themselves that they would like their classmates to know. For a LA class, when studying adjectives, you could give each student a noun and have them use wordle to describe that noun.
ReplyDeleteAs far as blogging goes, you could use it as a homework assignment where your students would respond to a question that you give related to something you were studying in class. For example, when studying geometry you could have your students do a little treasure hunt in their homes where they would have to find something in their home that was a cylinder, spere, cube, rectangular prism, etc.
I don't know what our school policy is on blogging but I will ask and find out.
Some concerns as far as keeping the students safe would be to first of all get parental permission to have the students use the blogs. Students would be required to sign a waiver saying that the things that write on the blogs or wordle would be according to the school's policy for what is acceptable. Consequences for not adhering to these rules would be enforced. Giving specific url's for the student's to type in would help alleviate some of the garbage that is put out there. Another idea would be to have the student's have their wordles previewed before putting it into a final copy.
I work at a private Catholic school and we have a privacy policy that unless we have the parental permission, we don't have any students on the Internet or use their names. What the students do at home is a different story as they have their parents' permission to go on any website they want.
ReplyDeleteAnother issue is that our technology committee computer group has decided to block access to blogs. YouTube is blocked along with other websites that have questionable tags. I, however, can access TeacherTube which has several nice videos to show the class.
Wordle will be a nice addition to my curriculum for each grade. I am thinking about using Wordle as a "break-the-ice" return-from-summer project. I will also put their names according to each class on the computer lab wall which will be an exciting idea.
Regarding checking their work, the computers are in a circle around the edge of the room so I can see all of their screens. However, as I sit in the center of the room, I offer to spell out words they do not know how to spell and this helps with class participation.
I have links in documents that the students can access from Word so that they don't have to type in the complete URL address. They do not enter their names, addresses, or personal information on the Internet because we go over Internet rules and safety.
Some ideas for using wordle:
ReplyDeleteFirst, I can’t wait to show teachers at school this site.
Wordle can be used:
As an introduction or icebreaker like we did today. OR use like we use “word walls,” using lists of concepts and/or vocabulary, perhaps making sure to repeat most important concepts and/or words so that they are a focus of the wordle. OR For book groups—wordles of character traits or book settings, then have students compare/discuss how they created the wordles—they would have to explain why did they choose the traits or specifics of the settings.
Using a blog, students can comment on class assignments, give pointers to other students, provide feeback to teachers. At our school, we used it as a format for book discussions where students had to respond to a teacher-generated prompt and also respond to other students’ comments.
I was thinking of creating a wiki and embedding a blog, but maybe I can just continue to use blogs for our “LiteracyPlus” initiative.
I don’t know what our district policy is on blogs, but I think I heard that we aren’t supposed to create our own—that we need to go through “Downtown” and that someone there would create the blog for us. I don’t know if this is true, but I best find out before I expand our blogs. I just did it. What I found is that our students did not put their full names or other personal info on their profiles although several of them did put their real photos on. Everyone at school keeps repeating the mantra of “don’t give out personal info online” so they know it, at least at school. Who knows what they do at home!
Explicit instruction about keeping themselves safe online has worked for us for the most part. Reviewing what students post and having the ability to delete student posts (after speaking to the student) are important strategies for teachers.
Wordles could easily be used for "listing" short facts about topics, such as authors, saints, science topics, etc. They could also be used as a type of book report, and in language arts, show examples of parts of speech (nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc.), synonyms and antonyms, etc.
ReplyDeleteI would love for the students to blog book reviews to get other kids reading or as a tool for a book discussion. Students or teachers could also create a blog informing parents about activities being done in their classroom or in the school. Comments or reactions to field trips or special programs would answer the old parent question of "what did you do in school today?" Posting projects would be great.
Which brings us to policy... I don't know of any diocesan policy about computer use. Each school writes their own policy. We have not yet addressed this issue in our school, because we have not used blogging. Students already have general Internet rules, but blogging is a new area. Since I'm a new learner/blogger, I don't know how secure blogging is. Can a blog site be set up that only allows the school parents and students to access it? How about the privacy issue in posting student work? Would we have to get releases from parents for a child to even post a comment?
Students composing a Wordle would be supervised in their classroom or in the computer lab. All would be proof-read and edited for vocabulary, spelling and content before a final printing. However, this would be in a controlled environment. If they then go to this website at home, which they will, our control is lost. They will, of course, check out the gallery as well. Parents would have to be informed about this website and its use. (But I wonder how many will take the time to check?) Just a note: our 8th Grade English teacher did one of these this past spring. She used the Wordle idea, but had the students use Word Art in Word instead. They had to keep the same font and style, but colors and directions/positions of words could be changed. The results were awesome, and in most cases, if they had their word list ready, it only took them one class period.
Jake and I have asked about our school's blogging policy and right now our principal has told us that we do not have a policy. However, if we come up with a way to use it and think about all of the ramifications and how to avoid the negative parts, she is willing to discuss it further with us.
ReplyDeleteAfter asking about my school's policy concerning blogging, as of right now, the school doesn't have a policy. If the logistics are worked out, concerning any negative aspects, a policy could be formed in the future.
ReplyDelete