Bud the Teacher

    Posting a new podcast tonight that’s a reflection and a brainstorm on some thoughts on writing across the curriculum.  The show’s also a request for information:  How are you creating classroom and school-wide environments that support writing  in every classroom?  If you’re not doing that, why not?

Link from the Show

Darren Kuropatwa’s Blog

      . . . because we’ve been doing lots of hard work here at my high school.  I’ve been grading lots of papers via Moodle, recording new podcasts for the Colorado State University Writing Project podcast feed, and working to prepare an inservice that I’m doing with some of my fellow writing project teachers.  Oh — and teaching propaganda techniques to my writing students. 
    We’ve also been talking a great deal about writing across the curriculum at my school.  It’s a subject that sometimes makes me uncomfortable.
    I know how essential it is that students become able and eager readers and writers, regardless of what they want to do after high school.  But since I’m a language arts teacher, the culture supports that writing occurs in my class. 
    My colleague, Jason, a science teacher in a neighboring school district, has his students do a ton of reading and writing.  But I think a lot of teachers consider his approach novel.  Of course, it’s easy to find excuses for why writing isn’t important in a particular subject area.
    But it is.  Writing is essential in all of them.  Cassandra has an interesting comment on the subject. 
   

Darren’s using some chat applets with the blogs that he uses in his math courses.  He’s got a post up walking us through some of what he’s finding interesting.  Well worth a read.
    What I noticed as I scrolled through the conversations taking place in Darren’s "classrooms" is that the students are using the chat features of the blogs to basically interact with their classmates at all hours of the day.  Darren’s really creating an online community — one that asks questions of each other, shares ideas, and learns together.
    Darren, who put the blogs together, is not the dominant voice in these digital spaces.  And that’s a good thing.  The students are beginning to drive.

    I’ve got a new favorite Coast to Coast.   
    (Don’t worry, George, you and Art will always have a warm place in my heart.)
    Ed Tech Coast to Coast, starring the Four Horsemen of the Ed Tech World, (and I mean that in the nicest possible way) is a solid show with interesting content.  I suspect that, if you read my blog, you’ve already discovered the podcast, but I do think the show is worth a plug.
    Their most recent podcast is about access to technology.  An interesting listen.  A couple of times when I was listening, I found myself shouting at my car speakers.  Mostly, though, I found myself nodding my head in agreement.  It’s worth a listen.
    Jim agrees with me, and raises a good point about Internet filters.  One of our neighboring school districts blocks Blogger with their filter.  That’s a problem, as I’m trying to use a group blog to help maintain and build a community of writers involving their school district.  Three teachers are eager to begin blogging — but can’t.  One does not have a computer at home and she is blocked from using the site at school.  For educational purposes.  Another wishes to get a class going on a blogging project, but isn’t sure if the district will permit him to do so. 
    I wrote an e-mail to the district’s CIO a few days ago asking about their filtering policies.  I have yet to receive a response.  I cannot locate a written policy on the district’s website.
    I’ll fill you in when I do.

    Via a really interesting conversation at BuzzMachine, I discovered the Directory of Open Access Journals.  Looks like a big collection of peer-reviewed content that is all available for no cost.  Anyone find it useful?  Despise it?

        I met today with the fine folks of last summer’s Colorado State University Writing Project Summer Institute.   It was nice to check in with everyone and see what they’ve been up to since our month of intensive professional development this summer. 
    Perhaps the best part of our meeting today was that I was given the opportunity to do some intensive blogvangelism.  I’m pleased to share that every member of our group created a blog and opened a Bloglines account.  We’ll be working to build a community over the year in order to keep track of the work that we’re doing in our different schools, cultures, and contexts. 
    Here’s the "script" for today’s presentation.  I hate days when I’m forced to go  through a process by someone who insists that we all are on the same screen at the same time — so I tried to do something better.  I think it worked.
    Check the comments for links to the new blogs.  I’ll post highlights over the next few weeks as a way to introduce you to these amazing teachers. 
    Several folks asked to participate in a "Blogging 103" workshop to be held at some future date. 
    Kool-Aid all around!

    Here’s an entry into the Blogging 101 category — the latest installment of my "On Writing" column for the Fort Collins Coloradoan. 

Blogging gives students real audiences

By Bud Hunt

Students today have access to a
huge network of writing and publishing tools via the Internet. And, to borrow a line from Martha Stewart,
that’s a good thing.

If you can send e-mail, and I am
guessing that many of you can, you can publish your writing online for the
world to see. This is great news for
students who wish to communicate their thoughts and ideas to others in their
communities or to students in other states or even half way across the world. It’s even better news for teachers, as we
know that there’s no better tool for improving writing than a real, non-teacher
audience for the students’ work. The
Internet, via weblogs or blogs, provides just such an opportunity.

According to Dave Winer, a blogger
since 1997, a blog is “the unedited voice of a person.” More specifically, a blog  is a collection
of posts written for online publication. Blogs and bloggers cover almost all possible topics, from hurricane
disaster relief to creative writing pieces to dealing with candy
addiction.

Blogs are more and more becoming
first stops for those looking for news or information on the Internet. In the classroom and at home, blogs are
tools that students can use in order grow as writers and responsible citizens
in the digital world. At school, blogs
are not yet essential curricular tools, but they will be. While schools are still learning where
blogging fits into the curriculum, students are flexing their digital muscles
after school.

There are
several free sites out there that you can use to start a blog. Perhaps the best known of these is
Blogger. After a five-minute
registration, you can post your writing directly to the Internet. Many students use free websites like
Myspace, Xanga, and LiveJournal to tell stories about their lives,
share musical influences, and write about and discuss just about every topic
that you could possibly think of. On
their blogs, students are talking about the war in Iraq, how to help in the
aftermath of Katrina, and who the cutest kids are in class.

To get
started, try reading some blogs to get a feel for the genre. Perhaps the best way to do this is to use a
search engine that specifically searches blog posts. Two useful ones are Technorati and Icerocket. Try searching for a topic that you are
interested in and see what others have to say.

The
Internet is a big place – there might be some content out there that you find
objectionable. However, the vast
majority of bloggers are interested in opinions and viewpoints and good
writing. They will welcome you as you
begin to comment on their blogs and, preferably, starting your own.

Blogging allows students to both
practice their writing and to have a connection to the real world that exists
outside of the classroom. Interested in
astronomy? Start writing about and
linking to interesting astronomy websites. Along the way, you’ll meet others interested in astronomy and begin to
have conversations with them about your passion for starts and supernovas. You’ll also be taking control of your
learning in a powerful way that was unavailable to students just ten years
ago.

Because they contain hyperlinks,
blogs are a great way to visualize and show in practice how ideas connect to each
other.

Parents have an essential
responsibility and privilege to stay up on what their students are writing and
thinking about. They should even be
regular readers of their child’s blog – both to learn about what learning is
going on but also to become a partner in that learning. Because blogs are
public, parents should also read to make sure that students are protecting
themselves by not sharing too much personal information online – phone numbers
and home addresses are probably a no-no. Families should sit down together to review family Internet policies and
privacy concerns.

Of course,
parents can and maybe should start their own blogs to provide a positive model
for writing with their children. Ask
your child if you need help getting started. They might just already know how. One estimate says that teenagers are responsible for more than half of
the sixteen million blogs current online.

That’s a
lot of writing.

Bud Hunt is a board member of the Colorado State University
Writing Project. He blogs at http://www.budtheteacher.com.

    Today’s podcast is a reflection on a writing assignment that I’m currently working through with my 10th grade writing course.  The project involves creating character sketches of fictitious students that might go to our school, and then using those characters to tell stories about our school, all in the pursuit of truth via fiction.  Sound confusing?  Well, yeah.  It is.  That’s why I’m reflecting on how it’s going.  Please share your thoughts, ideas, and concerns here!

Links mentioned in the podcast:

• Western writer’s character haunted his sleep — The Associated Press
• Snapshots: Writing through a Tragedy  by Hilary Hughes (Subscription to English Journal required to view)

  Originally uploaded by Bud the Teacher.

We lost the game, but the CSU Rams have a new fan.

Tracy’s posting writing from the annual New Orleans Writing Marathon, sponsored by the Southeastern Louisiana Writing Project.  Stop by and check out what’s posted so far.  If you’ve written at the retreat, head on over and share your work. 

    Stay tuned for a virtual New Orleans Writing Marathon, says Tracy.