Social Bookmarking

Today I've been playing around with del.icio.us, a social bookmarking site. I've added this to my blog and have spent many hours adding my old bookmarks from several different computers and browsers. A social bookmarking tool like del.icio.us would be an excellent web 2.0 tool to use in the classroom. Teachers could share their del.icio.us page with their classes and allow students to see the sites they have bookmarked for an individual lesson or unit. A teacher could also create a del.icio.us account for each class and allow students to update the links for the account. Of course, if a teacher was going to do this, there would have to be conversations about digital citizenship and posting only links that are acceptable for school use. I am confident that had I done this with my sophomores or seniors last year, we could have built up a significant list of resources for our class. This link could also be included on a teacher web page.

Tools for the Classroom

I realize that it has been awhile since my last post. I've been busy with my new position and have learned many new things in the past few months. My mind has been spinning with all of the different ways I could have used technology in my classroom had I only had time to learn about the different tools. In the coming days, I will be posting about some of the different tools I have come across. Some of the tools I will be writing about include social bookmarking; using SKYPE for videoconferencing; Google Earth; Street View in Google Maps; and resources for Reader's Workshop in the elementary classroom.

Class Blogs

While reading Will Richardson's book Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, I came across a reference to a blog post by Drs. Fernette and Brock Eide, authors of the book The Mislabeled Child. In their post Brain of the Blogger, they state that blogs can promote critical and analytical thinking. As I was reading both the book and the blog post, I began to think of the many ways I could have used blogs with my English classes. What a great way for my students to continue a class discussion on Native Son beyond the walls of the traditional classroom. If I had included something like this and encouraged my students to use it, they may not have created a Facebook page with the intent of sharing ideas before their literary response journals were due. Also, the more I think about the idea of using blogs with my students, the more I realize I could have cut down on the amount of paper crossing my desk (and saved a few trees). That doesn't mean that my grading load would have decreased, but instead of carrying home two or three tote bags full of student work to be assessed, I could have used an RSS feed to subscribe to their blogs and receive notification of their updates via Google Reader. I could read all of their posts, comment on those I chose to, and then assign a grade based on the quality of those posts. As a teacher I could still manage these blogs to a certain extent. I could still have due dates, require students to comment on their classmates' posts, and even give them specific topics for their posts. While reading Timothy Findley's The Wars with my 12IB class, I could have had the students discuss Findley's use of the elements of earth, air, fire, and water for each of the five books within the novel -- or consider the work as a whole. A blog would be a great way for a student to express his or her opinion on the author's writing style and require them to support it with examples from the text, plus it would allow their classmates to read and comment on the posts. Students could also link outside resources, possibly critical essays, to their posts.

I know that some of my former colleagues would comment on the digital divide and the fact that not all of our students had access to a computer at home. However, our students had access to the computers in the library and in my classroom. If computers are a concern, then a teacher needs to build computer lab time into the class schedule -- whether it is once a week or several times a month. Teachers can determine how often they want to require their students to post.

I trained my students to use my class website as a resource for class handouts, link to online resources, and access to the online gradebook. Some of them came to depend upon the site so much that when one of them began her college poetry class, she emailed me when she couldn't find my poetry materials on my page (I had turned off the link). I am confident I could have trained them to use blogs as more than just a social networking tool. If you are looking for a new way to engage your students, I recommend you try class blogs.

Welcome to Kozak's Corner!

I am a high school English teacher who has recently left the classroom to pursue a position in the department of educational technology. In my new position as a tech integration coach, I support thirteen schools --nine elementary, two junior high, and two high schools. My focus has shifted away from American Literature and English 12 International Baccalaureate to learning about new software, hardware, and curriculum materials (i.e. Everyday Math) to better support the teachers in my schools.

My life has changed dramatically since I left the classroom seven weeks ago -- no papers to grade (YEAH!!!) or books I HAVE to read. I have had time to read for pleasure, something that for the past eleven years was lacking in my life from late August until June. During winter break I was like an addict and read as many books as possible, because I knew that I wouldn't have time to read for pleasure until school was out. I must admit that I am finding it difficult to read The Kite Runner without marking my book, making notes for class discussion, or thinking about what other pieces of literature or film I could pair it with for use in my classes.

This new position has given me free time in the evenings and on weekends to do other things and "play" with technology. I plan to use this blog as a place to post links to useful sites and helpful tips for teachers.