Hi 8R and 8G!

Welcome back to Term 2, 2006. This term I am aiming for you to have at least 2 periods per week on computers to reflect on topics of interest, to practise writing and communication skills, to share your thoughts and to improve your learning. After you have read the following entries on "5 Good reasons to Blog" and "5 Rules for Blogging", you will set up your own BLOG, an on-line journal or diary. You will need to get parental permission to do this, so remember to take the note home, get it signed and returned to school ASAP.

Step 1: Go to www.blogger.com

Step 2: Click Start here or Learn more about it.

Step 3: Type in your username, password (twice) , name and e-mail account.

Step 4: Fill in a title and description for your blogging web page.

Step 5: Type an address for your blog.

Step 6: Read and Click to accept terms of service and then click next.

Step 7: Select a template (This is one of the fun parts) and then click Finish.

Step 7: Now you can start blogging! Type an entry, like you would write in a diary.

Step 8: Hit Post and Publish and in a few seconds you can View Web Page.

Step 9: Each lesson allocated for blogging you can return to your Blog page and add a diary entry on your thought for the day, respond to other's entries or reflect on some learning.

Blogging Rules to Remember

(1) Never publish your complete name and/or e-mail account - spam crawlers can get a hold of it and you will be inundated with unwanted messages forever!

(2) When responding to others have respect for their opinions - you wouldn't like someone bagging you on-line either!

(3) Make sure your language(no swearing) , tone (CAPITALS ARE LIKE SHOUTING!) and content are permissable.

(4) Don't publish any thoughts or personal information that you don't want in the public arena - You really are "out there" on the web.

(5) Using the internet is a privledge (What % of the world's population do you think has internet access?). Use it wisely and it can be a great tool for learning. Abuse it and (most likely) it will come back to "bite you in the bum".

5 Good reasons to Blog!

(1) Many people really enjoy blogging - even if you don't like writing in a diary, blogging is fast, you don't have to worry about neat hand writing, and it's just like chatting on-line!

(2) It's an easy way to get published on the web - you have a world wide audience!

(3) Everybody has an equal opportunity to publicly present their own thoughts and opinions (Everyone with a computer and internet access that is!)

(4)Blogs allow others to respond, providing feedback to the author. It might be friends, family, teachers or other students half way around the world!

(5)Reflective writing is an important key to improve your learning

March, 2006 we walked to the Wineglass Bay look-out in Freycinet National Park, Tasmania. 

Last day of Holidays.

I enjoyed today by myself (the kids were at a friend's place). I used the Day spa voucher I got for my birthday - very indulgent - and spent nearly an hour in the book shop! I think it makes me a better Mum and a better teacher to have some time alone, doing things for me. I bought an interesting book called "Thinking for Themselves" about developing strategies for reflective learning. The strategies Wilson and Jan suggest include concept mapping, questioning and self-questioning, negotiated learning, self-assessment and learning logs. It didn't mention learning blogs, but I think they are worth a try.

My First Time!

Well, that was quite easy to do! And quite fun choosing a template. A bit like scrapbooking, you can choose a colour and a theme that reflects your personality. Just follow the instructions from www.blogger.com and you too can start blogging.

The idea of this journal/diary is to try out some ideas before I give my students a go, some time later this year. With the new Victorian Essential Learning Standards there is greater emphasis on student thinking, and blogs look like a great way to encourage and assess the thinking that may (or may not) be going on.