T’is a lonely moment in the blogosphere. I haven’t been tagged – I really don’t have a list of top blogs for the year – only been at this for three months and, with all the reading and the information that is swirling around, I’m still putting together what the next 3 weeks will look like before the final exams for my CPT class never mind my top 5 hopes for 2007!
While Reading Today
I’ve found some great information at Chris Betcher’s Virtual Staffroom. I’ll be using some of the information from the podcasts for sure!! I was interested in the conversations about groups that took place from Bud’s site and then continued to several other sites. Of course, I joined in. After first resisting the whole idea, I began to think that maybe there needs to be a wiki where bloggers can congergate for chatting. Then, I began to think about people having an avatar in the 2life world, meeting and chatting there or setting up further discussions. Creating a kind of educational discussion coffee shop where people could meet to discuss things. It trickled through my mind that a place like Tapped In might serve for this but I find it a bit difficult to get around. I guess, I am looking for ways to make contacts and get things rolling. I have done some podcasts with my class and I am looking at using wikis, blogs and other tools to enhance what I am doing in my grade 9 social. I’ve even begun to plan out the unit using these tools and working with the assessment ideas I was able to take from Darren. I’m also looking at how I might be able to use the podcasting idea with the work that needs to be done in the class. I like the wiki idea as it will allow me to see who is editing and when which will be valuable in the assessment portion. Probably one of the best ways I’ve seen of ensuring that all group members are actually contributing to the work in the project. The same can be done with the podcast, especially if the script is written on a wiki or uploaded to a blog for editing.
The Road Not Taken – because I can’t see it!
I would love to introduce my teachers to some international work with other schools and I’d be very interested in doing something with another class for a short period of time but I can’t find a road or a map or even figure out where to stop to ask. Any suggestions?
Another reason for a central place to meet – that could be found when googling “Educator blogs” or some such terms.
For now, I’d appreciate more than myslef linking to my site 
Oh, and any pointers from those who have done flatclassroom projects. I think it would be a great way to have the students experience student life outside of their own.
Upcoming events : I have several ideas for blogs so stay tuned – it might even be worth the price of admission!
Kelly
5 responses so far ↓
I am working on an idea to connect teachers that are interested in international collaboration. Until I get mine up and running, you can try mixxr. I think it’s http://www.mixxr.com, it allows teachers to create a profile and look for international teachers with whom to collaborate.
Create good content, and the links will come.
Chris Craft
http://www.nextgenlanguage.com
I wouldn’t worry…
“I haven’t been tagged – I really don’t have a list of top blogs for the year … never mind my top 5 hopes for 2007!”
Me neither. And I’ve been at this for a while.
There’s an aspect of blogging that is very much about the superficial. It’s best not to get caught up in that.
Also – though it’s tempting to want a central place to find things – the reality is that any central place you find on Google is very likely to have been bought and paid for.
Really, the only way to get specialized knowledge like that is to follow the network – write about what interests you and follow the links of anyone who happens to read of comment.
Also, look for things like discussion lists (do a search on Google groups and Yahoo groups) and websites that talk about online learning generally, and follow the links that are of interest to you.
Finally, I did a more precise Google search – for ‘international teachers blogging classroom’ – and came up with some good results, including:
Open Source Classroom
(NextGenTeachers wants to unite the international teachers out there)
http://opensource.christophercraft.com/
The Open Classroom
(International Collaboration: The Flat Classroom Project)
http://theopenclassroom.blogspot.com/
2006 | The Edublog Awards
http://incsub.org/awards/category/2006/
These may not be exactly what you want but they would certainly serve as entry points to the network of people working in this space.
Actually, I tagged you…
http://ideasandthoughts.org/2006/12/30/the-5-meme-thing/
Happy New Year.
Hi Kelly, just found your blog and am enjoying reading it. I found you via Dean Shareski and totally agree with Stephen Downes about superficiliaty and distractions (even though I did write a 5 thing post). Great to meet you.
Jo
Kelly,
I spent all of my winter break reading about all the tagging going on, and I did feel left out of the party as well. That comes with the territory of being a new blogger, I think. However, When I went back to school today, and received many warm greetings from the students (all unsolicited). I realized what is really important. Is being popular in the blogosphere what we should aspire to? Or, should we try to make a positive impact in the education of our students? This really is about students learning over anything else. It felt good to get back to school.
Maybe if I keep writing on my blog, I will meet more people with the same interests, ideas and beliefs as I have. Have a great new year!
Dave Sherman
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