Sunday, June 22, 2008

Thing #4 Commenting is Important

I have typically been just a blog lurker, on the outside just peeking in from time to time. Thank goodness for the other 10% of bloggers who have kept the machine going. Without the ability to comment, blogs would be one dimensional, like watching t.v. or listening to the radio. Blogging allows readers the opportunity to have conversations, learn from one another, and to build relationships. This sense of community and interaction is only possible when readers are willing to comment. 

My favorite article was ProBlogger's 10 Techniques to Get More Comments on Your Blog the suggestions provided were not dissimilar to normal, everyday communication skills that one one should use in  ftf (face-to-face) conversation. The author instructs bloggers to "Invite comments, ask questions, be humble and gracious." A comment I found very interesting about blogging is to leave open ended comments for your readers to reflect and comment on. Most of my favorite blogs are written by experts in the field of education, particularly technology in elementary schools. It can be very intimidating to comment on a blog that seems to be perfectly written and appears to "have all the answers". Writing blogs in an open-ended fashion is a skill that takes time and practice to master, but I think allowing collaboration and creativity among your readers is a benefit well worth working towards.
Brown's Thoughts  The Ten Commandments of Blog Commenting pointed out that one should contribute often, leaving comments that add value to the discussion. I think this is important not only for the sake of the blog itself, but also for developing one's own blogging style. The more you blog, the more confidently you contribute, the better you will become at it.

The five 23 Things blogs I have chosen to read and comment on throughout this experience are:
1. Technocricket, because the blogger, Debbie Bailey is a fellow ETF and I think I can learn alot from reading her posts.
2. TLC Crickets Corner, another technology facilitator I'd like to learn from.
3. A W.M.C. View seems like a neat person I would like to get to know better.
4. Coach D's Corner
5. mborden
The two other of my choice are:
6. Moving at the Speed of Creativity by Wes Fryer because he is a leader in Web2.0 in the classroom. I may change my mind on using this blog just because it is so well known I may not be up to commenting on it just yet.... We'll see.
7. The Blue Skunk - by Doug Johnson, returning to my librarian roots.
8. Dogs Training Blog - I left a response to a question about house breaking an 8 wk old Lhasa Apso. 

Comments by me have include:
I've added words of agreement or interest to my fellow 23 Thingsters' blogs. I responded to a post about making yourself hard to replace on your campus.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Thing #3 Registering

Well, I'm going to go ahead and post this entry, maybe I'll come back and edit it later.... I registered my blog through  Zoomerang Tuesday night but I still haven't received the "Welcome Letter". Is it a computer generated letter or does a real live person send it?

Should I be offended? Am I not really welcomed after all? I really should work on these self-esteem issues.....

Blogging is a great way to broadcast your ideas to a large body of people at once. I love the fact that you can just put it out there and not worry whether or not you included everyone or if you remembered the attachment as with email. The responsibility is on the reader to get the information, but they can always go back through the archives and re-get it if necessary. I think blogging would be a great tool for a principal to use for weekly agendas and keeping teachers informed in general. I can use a blog in a similar way with my assigned schools. I think it is very beneficial for  teachers to know of developments in technology as they happen.

Thing #2 Creating an Avatar

Creating avatars is fun, it reminds me of playing paper dolls when I was a little girl. I'm going to Cancun in a couple of weeks, that is why my avatar is wearing a swimsuit and standing in front of the Mayan ruins. I tried to limit how much time I spent picking out clothes, hair, background, etc. for my avatar, (I'm working on Habit #2). In enjoyed the process, and thought it was fairly easy to do, don't be surprised if I change it often. I wonder if there is a sunburned skin tone for when I get back from Mexico. 

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Thing #1 Habits of Highly Effective Learners

Hi Friends,
Some of you reading this remember me from my Librarian days. When I first heard about Learning 2.0 and the 23 things, I thought it sounded really interesting and I wanted to know more about it. So, here I am trying to catch up and looking forward to learning with you all.
When I was a little girl my grandma called me "Nosy Rosy", obviously my curiosity was undervalued:) I love learning new things, especially about people. Habit #6, "Using technology to your advantage" is definitely a strength of mine. These days I don't know what I would do without my laptop and the Internet or podcasts w/ RSS. Back when I was a kid I actually enjoyed watching PBS documentaries and, brace yourselves, this is going to shock some of you, when I first became a librarian, I couldn't believe all the videos we had! I actually took stacks of SVE videos home to watch just because ...... I think habit #6 needs to be broadened to "Using multimedia to your advantage". 
The habit I really need to work on though is habit #1 "Setting and Defining Learning Goals". I tend to go about learning in a haphazard kind of way and when I've learned just enough to answer one or two questions, I move on to another topic. I think I would find a lot of gratification in deep knowledge of topics, but I need to set and define learning goals and then commit to achieving them.
I think now it is appropriate for me to set a learning goal and so my current learning goal is to complete the 23 things.
This is going to be fun stuff!!!