Chapter 2: Weblogs

Based on your reading and analysis of the selection, record
Four of the most critical things that you learned from the reading:
1.  From Richardson, "Just about every post in his blog has a link, which is a good blog practice."  It is what we teach kids about not plagarizing and giving credit to others work.
2.  "...blogging is a genre that engages students and adults in a process of thinking in words, not simply an accounting of the day's events or feelings."  I guess on Facebook it is just an account of what is going on in my life, not really true "thinking".  This will be a shift for kids when using blogging.
3.  "Knowledge Management and Articulation"  I found this section interesting.  One complaint has always been not enough knowledge about what other teams, deparments, grade levels are doing.  Maybe a school blog (if teachers were trained to utilize effectively) would be a great place to share ideas with each other.  Then teachers could practice with each other first before trying in the classroom with kids.
4.  Scaffolding blogging on p. 32 of Richardson.  I found the middle school section especially interesting to see where I should start and what I should expect from middle schoolers.
Three connections that you made between your teaching and the reading:
1.  The idea of sharing science project results on p. 27.  I'm thinking of using this with our Water Quality Testing Unit.  In the past I've had students write a "Letter to the Editor" but never really did anything with it.  Now I could have students blog about different tests, overall water quality, etc.
2. Connection (p. 31).  I'm constantly searching of how to make Earth Science connect to the life of an 8th grader or back to Life or Physical Science.  It would be interesting to see what connections students are making that I don't.
3. "Reading to write instead of writing to read."  My connection here is to my Life Science 7th graders.  At our last PD day I got an idea of a body systems debate from a colleague.  I like the idea of kids picking which body system is the most important and having to defend their position, but I dread the day of the actual debate.  Some kids not participating, some doing everything, not everyone engaged, wasting a day of class time, etc.  I'm thinking this could be a blog instead.??
Two connections to other reading (research) or learning you have had related to the topic of the
reading:
1. E-portfolios (p. 23).  We used to have 8th graders do this, but it fell by the wayside.  Some of it was due to time limitations and also resources as we burned a CD for each kid.
2.Meridith's Weblog (p. 19).  I wish I had this resource when I wrote my thesis.  It was a lot of running around trying to find obscure books on diatoms.  I had the e-mails of a few scientists in Colorado, England, Canada and Germany that helped, but I bet I would have a more organized way of keeping track of everything through my weblog. 
One question you have connected to your practice and your continued inquiry:
1. I'm just wondering how parents will react?  Will they be open to this?  How has this gone with other teachers in our district that have tried it?