Mr. De La Cruz’s Action Plan Quest

I am thinking that I need to keep different blogs for different purposes. I would like to keep this blog for my own educational/professional use. This could be used for my own reflection about some of the courses that I have taken and steps that I will take to implement some the Read/Write Web 2.0 tools.

I would also like to set up another blog to use with another teacher’s class in my school ( since I don’t have my own ) which can be used by students to check the assignments, topics covered and any other information related to the course. This blog can also be used as a response site to a teacher’s prompt about what was learned during the week.

I would like to set up another blog for new teachers at my school to let them know about different resources available at my school and to contemplate about their teaching experience. Next school year, which I believe begins July 1, will be a new experience for the expected 20 to 25 new teachers arriving at my school. I am going to be facilitating their use of our existing technological resources and I think a “new teacher blog” would be a good tool to use.

I would like to set up a personal/family blog to keep track of important events in my life and to chronicle the life of my children. I wish my parents had had the same opportunity that I have now so that I could read about my early years.

I would like to set up another blog about my favorite sport ….

I am amazed at all the resources available! I wanted to keep listening and watching more of the sources listed under Activities but it would have taken me too long. I had to skip a few or listen/watch for only a few minutes; this Session has been very enlightening and perhaps more valuable than all the other ones because I am beginning to envision how much more meaningful this could be for our students.

I will have to come back and review some more resources very soon. I am very excited about the creation of podcasts and webcasts. The fact that at least a couple of teachers from this class are already using these tools (podcasts, blogs, webcasts etc.) is inspiring me and encouraging me to get my feet wet.

I listened to several short podcasts and watched a few clips. I was impressed by the podcasts created by elementary students in Room 208 and by another which was under the “Learn Out Loud” website.

I learned that it can be done by our students and I already know how beneficial it can. My school can benefit greatly from this type of technology but I wonder what the Administrators are going to think about it all.

Well, I was considering setting up a wiki for students first but I have been asked to help some of the new teachers (about 20-30) that might be arriving at my school during the 2007-2008 (3 weeks away) and I thought  a wiki might be a way for them to collaborate.

 I am going to try it out for a while and might even set up a blog for them.  I can post information about our network, ISIS, Math resources, Science resources, Computer repair etc.  Here is the link, http://drewteachers.pbwiki.com

Now, I am trying to figure out what to do? Should I do a blog for my students and have them keep some sort of reflective journal of what they are learning? or Should I set a wiki for them to collaborate and learn more effectively? or Should I do both?

Well, let me explore each one of these possibilities and determine what might be best for my particular situation.

First of all, I know for a fact that students at my school need to write more in every subject area. They do not write enough and if this isn’t happening then it means that we (teachers) are not providing opportunities for them to do so.

So, from this perspective, if a blog is going to be some sort of reflective journal then it is a win-win situation.

A Wiki can also give students a chance to write, reflect about their learning and collaborate with others. It might even have more unknown advantages which I have not explored. This seems like another win-win situation.

Maybe, I will set up both and give students more opportunities to participate in their own learning process.

 I am amazed at all the possible uses of RSS feeds; I could have never imagined all those ideas which if used correctly could very valuable in the classroom. 

The article titled, “RSS: A Quick Start Guide for Educators” had such a wealth of information that I am going to have to read it again.  I am interested in the idea of collecting the students’ reflections about what was learned in the week and reading all the content in the aggregator.

Hopefully, this will work and will be more efficient by not only reducing reading time but by organizing everything in one place. If all goes well, perhaps I can share this with the other teachers in my school because we need to be effective and efficient. 

I have seen a few educational blogs where students are responding to prompts but I have to try this myself very soon even if for a limited amount of time.  I have to work out a few details such as the generation of e-mail accounts for students and the use of the computer lab.

I believe these Read/Write Web 2.0 tools, if used appropriately can help us increase student achievement in my school.