Put Yourself On My Map: My PLN and The DEN Virtual Conference

On April 24, I will be the first speaker of the day for the Discovery Educator Spring Virtual Conference. This day will be filled with FREE virtual (and in-person) staff development events, all centered around making global connections. You can register here.

My session, on building your personal learning network, is called "Connections, Conversations, and Collaborations: Creating a Personal Learning Network That Works For You." I plan to share the many ways I've built up my PLN and also how I bring my PLN into my classroom where I get to give my students some truly unique experiences. I'll also show the many ways my PLN has come to my rescue in times of need and the few extraordinary career opportunities that have come my way. I want everyone to enjoy the benefits of having a strong PLN, so I'll be sharing lots of tips and tricks on building your own PLN, and nurturing it to maximize it's potential.

DEN Spring Virtual Conference 2010

View more documents from Lee Kolbert.

In order to keep the connection going beyond the day, I plan to ask everyone to add their location and some information to a Google Map. Serving as sort of a "guest book," the Google Map will be a great resource for those wanting to build their PLN even further with folks with whom they've spent the day with either in person or virtually. (Thank you to Wes Fryer for the conversation that led me to this great idea.)

So, while I was thinking of this idea, I said to myself, "Why didn't I think of this for my own PLN?" LOL

So, here I am now, asking you to add yourself to my PLN map. I would like to know more about you. Please add as much information as you are comfortable. Some things I'd like to know about you:

• Where are you from (leave your pin in your location).
• Leave a photo of yourself or your area.
• What do you do?
• Where can I find you online? Leave a link to your blog, Twitter, etc.
• ...anything else you'd like to leave, feel free to add.
  

I've even created a screen capture for you to show you how to do this if you are unsure.



So, here's the link to my PLN map to add your information. Then, please join us on April 24 and be prepared to add your information once again to the DEN Virtual Conference Google Guest Book map (it will be a different map). You can register for the Virtual Conference here. I hope to "see" you there!

An Open Letter To My Students' Parents

I sent this to my students' parents today as part of my weekly update. I am posting it here because I think other teachers might find some value in using some or all of the wording to motivate their students' parents to engage a bit more as well. What are your thoughts?

Dear Parents,

Sometimes, I get to witness some pretty exciting “Aha!” moments with the students. It’s a thrill for me to be present as they have these experiences. I’ve just assumed they bring these moments home to you but I’m often surprised when I ask the students if they share what we are doing in class and too many of them respond with “I forgot” or “I was busy.” I’m a parent too, so I KNOW that by the time they get home, there’s so much going on that it’s so easy to neglect these quick conversations where your child can be the expert. This is your child’s chance to shine (and control the conversation). It’s not too often that 9 and 10 year olds get to have that kind of power, but if you can let them have it for 15-20 minutes each day, you will be amazed at what you will not only learn about what’s happening in class, but also what is going on in your child’s head. Letting your child do this is a great way to help him/her build confidence and language skills as well.

If you ask your child what he did in school today, you may not get many answers, but you can arm yourself with information and be prepared. Nobody likes to be “grilled” with lots of questions thrown at them, but if you already know some of what’s happening, you can easily start a conversation with comments about what you already know.

Here’s how to begin:

1. Read our class blog (this is different than the kidblogs) and provides some insight into what we’ve been doing. My email signature has the link and you can also get there from EDLINE.

2. Read our Kidblogs. Your child is publishing there. You can send your child’s blog link to family and friends via email and ask them to comment on your child’s blog. YOU can comment on your child’s blog. By engaging in this type of online writing, your child is learning how to publish for an authentic audience in a safe, controlled manner. Are you reading his/her work? The link to the kidblog is also in my email signature and is also in EDLINE. Remember that nothing becomes public until I approve it. That includes posts by your child and comments by others.

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Kolbert

Ten Things Your Students Can Blog About Today

Yes, I have my class blog, but things got really exciting when my 4th grade students starting taking on their own blogs!

It's been six weeks now since my students began blogging on their own. I spent very little time showing them how to navigate the site and then they pretty much figured the rest out on their own. Some have figured out how to hyperlink & crosspost, some figured out how to upload audio files, embed video and even scan and embed their own graphics. At this point, I don't edit the students' blogposts and I do post with minor errors. I also don't publish any personal information or if the student-blogger has included a link to an inappropriate site/video or where the readers will be prompted to register or input their personal information on a form/petition.


If you read some of their posts, you can get a pretty good insight into what's going on in their heads. There's thoughts about upcoming testing, environmental causes, puzzles and more. Recently, some of the students are posting this question, "What should I blog about?"

Here are my top 10 easy topics about which students can blog:

1. Blogging can be like a journal. Why not choose a theme for your blog and update it every few days with what's happening? For example, your blog theme might be about your soccer team or theater group. You can update every time your team practices and/or has a game. You can pretend you are a sportscaster and report on the events of the game. Don't forget to pose a question to your readers to encourage comments.
   
   
2. Another theme example could be an upcoming event, like a party or religious event. Every few days, report on how the event is evolving. Once the event passes, it's ok to change your theme. Remember, it's YOUR blog. (Don't post pictures of your friends and if you post pictures of yourself, be sure you have your parent's permission. Also, if you take pictures from the Internet, check out this tutorial from teacher, John Howell, on how to correctly use images from Google.)
   
   
3. What happened in school recently? Did you do a science experiment that interested you or maybe didn't interest you? Blog about it! Be specific so that your readers understand what you did in school and how you felt about it. Don't forget to ask your readers if they've done something similar or if they have recommendations for you.
   
   
4. Did you just learn something new that you've been trying to do for a long time? Write about it. Don't forget to encourage your readers to contribute their thoughts too.
   
   
   
5. Are you interested in snakes or something else in nature? Why not make your blog about different types of snakes, birds, insects? Take a look at Santiago's post on The Black Necked Spitting Cobra. Don't forget to pose a question to the readers to encourage comments.
   
   
6. What's your favorite TV show? Create a "TV Review" blog. Each week, review your show. Post a summary of the show and your thoughts. Don't forget to ask your reader what they think too.
   
   
7. What book are you reading? Don't wait until you are finished to post about it. Write about it as you are reading it. Better yet, invite others to read it with you and maybe you can get a "book discussion" going on your blog.
   
   
8. Are you an avid reader? Take a look at Raegan's blogpost where she makes some recommendations for others.
   
   
9. Is there a cause you feel strongly about? Write a blog post about it and encourage others to do something about it.
   
   
10. Are you having trouble with something in school? Why not explain the problem you're having and ask for help on your blog. You may be surprised at who may respond and the help you'll receive.
    

Those are just a few of my suggestions. Do you have other ideas for student bloggers? Please leave other ideas in the comments. I'm looking forward to sharing them with my students.

Katie Talks About Blogging on PalmBreezeCAFE

Crossposted here.

Have you ever wanted to be on TV? Well, this wish came true for one of my students last week!

Katie G. won a guest appearance on PalmBreezeCAFE as part of our school carnival fund-raiser. It was a great pleasure having Katie on the set with me as my co-host for the segment below. She was the perfect on-air "talent." She arrived on time to have her make-up done (Thank you, Kay!) and was then whisked away for her personal tour of the studio (Thank you, Greg!). Not only did she get to host the segment with me, but also watch the other segments from inside the studio as well as, (and perhaps even more fun) from the control room where all the magic really happens.

So, what did we talk about on-air?

As our readers know, our class has been blogging, not only here at our class blog, but also over here at our kidblog site. The students are doing such a great job with their blogs. You can read their poems, essays, ideas and even some original plays they've written. They are also doing a wonderful job commenting on each other's posts.

For this reason, I was very excited to finally be able to share our kidblog site on PalmBreezeCAFE and who else to tell you about it, then one of my students herself?

Here Katie and I tell you all about it. Please leave a comment to let Katie know what you think of her debut. Also, if you are a teacher who is using Kidblog with your class, we'd love to read what your kids are writing, so please leave a comment with your URL.



You can see all PalmBreezeCAFE educational tech segments here on YouTube.

Thank you to everyone at TEN and PalmBreezeCAFE for making Katie and her mom feel so welcome. You guys totally ROCK!