multi heads

I'm feeling a little pulled and need to try to organise my thoughts. I have just posted on my Gazzag blog reflections on my L1 class, and asking them to agree content for the next 3 weeks. This I can see as useful data toward the NRDC project.

Now i need to put my PRLI head on - how the network is working, how the move the project forward and what I and V. could/should be doing at the stage.

I guess it's understandable that others havn;t embrassed the blogging fully. There are only 3 other tutors that have posted anything so far. I sent an email to suggest sub-groups, b'cos it's a lot of work to click onto each inds blog and check/read their posts. This is where i am wondering if a single page blog on blogger would have been more useful as there would have been only one page for everyone to go to. I guess it's something to think about and whether it is too late to change or not.

One of the reasons we chose gazzag was the facility to add photos, which has just reminded me that i wanted to bring a camera and take pictures of my Ss working today - and i forgot. If this is my baby and I forgot - how can i expect others to????

I think the next network meeting has to be v. practical, with small groups discussing ideas and practical help for how to move forward. In terms of evidence, could it be anecdotal? the tutors reflection on the lesson/asking the learners for feedback? I don;t want to put practitioners off my asking them to collect a lot of things for their own small project.

I've also been thinking about action research as a cycle - we talked about at which stage we included the learner. What stage am I at? I'm already in the cycle, having thought about it, had a small practice, got feedback, thought of a new idea, tried it, reflected, etc. I guess the next question is - will i do the same thing again for the final 4 weeks after Xmas?

Creating Community With Blogs

The following link and text has been quoted from another blog, where (as described) I highlighted the text and selected 'blogthis' at the top of the page.

Creating Community With Blogs: "That blog has a “BlogThis!” button you can put into your web browser. This is important for my classes because I have the students share research. The “BlogThis!” button allows you to select a paragraph on the webpage and when you click on “BlogThis!” in the menu bar of your browser, it opens a window that is a mini-posting window; it contains the title of the page, the URL, and the text that you selected. The student can also write a note (why the information is useful) and then click on “post” to publish the information to his or her blog."

This is a new tool for me in blogger, but would be very useful for the students when researching for thier stress assignment. I need to research how this can be done with non-blog sites.

new class blogs

The students said they really enjoyed the class today and they spent a long time on their blogs. I think it will be good to have just a single blog, as they are less confident that the L2's in using the tehcnology and would need a lot of support to go onto ind. blogs. This way they can easily see and comment on each others' writing.
A big difference with this group is that they are thinking about accuracy. Accuracy was never an issue with the higher level group, and while they didn;t mention it neither did I. However, even the first task today using Mind Genius they were checking and commenting on each others' spellings (in a fun but supportive way). So we talked about this at the end and they want me and each other to check for errors.
A second difference is about what they can write. Some of the students were very hesitant about starting to write and found it difficult to know what to say. Once they had discussed with me what their ideas were they were then able to start. This was reflected in our feedback when i asked them if others could read and comment on their blogs. The class was divided, but it was agreed for now that only members would be able to comment, and it was those who had difficulty knowing what to write who were worried about their mistakes who didn;t want others accessing it.
This has definately given me something to think about in terms of using blogs with an E3 group. Much more support will be needed.

inspiration

our office has gone blogging crazy. i come back after 4 weeks away and everyone's at it! Beth has set up a single blog for her level 2 ESOL students, then Julia told me we had less than 8 weeks left with our L1 students so thought i;d better get blogging with them. So i ahve also set up a single page blog and hvae invited them all to join. This will be a different experience than with my L2's as they all had a blog each. The L1 class is quite small and i thought it would be interesting to compare.

Tina has also set up a blog and i have developed a social network for the action research network to register with as support for each other (and as a tool for data collection for the NRDC project)

I'm also considering setting one up with the ILT champs as a means of communication across college. It would also be a good way to share interesting links and articles.

hello

hello

this page has inspired me to try a similar activity with my new evening class - I'll keep you posted.

Tina