Blogging Information; Marketing Strategy to Come
My apologies for not sharing sooner, it has been an overwhelming week for me at my new teaching position. Up BEYOND what is a reasonable hour each night and up early. The good news is I am making headway into understanding this new "classroom" and will therefore be able to resume my blogging quest.
Let me shed some insight.I am now a teacher with AllPrep Academies and Early Colleges. The founder of this school, Tim King began with a vision 9 years ago that all students were not getting their needs met through the traditional educational models. While some or many of you may be familiar with other schools of this nature, this is the first one I am aware of in Oregon. Online education is nothing new for the college level students and for some highschools, but I am not sure about elementary and middle school. Anyway.... AllPrep is a state charter school and we offer Hybrid on line education for grades K-12 (K-3 uses a curriculum that is not based on line.) Each student is assigned a teacher who grades student work, offers support to the families maintains daily contact view many options (phone, email, odyssyware/classroom messaging) as well as going into the home two times a month ( each visit lasting 1.5 hours) bringing individualized lessons based on student need as indicated by grades the teacher sees through the online curriculum (Odyssyware) and comments what is communicated by student inbetween home visits/tutor sessions. Students are also able to join classroom sessions related to classes such as geomety/algebra, etc. offered by a different teacher within AllPrep who is has expertise in those areas by participating in a Wimba classroom. As teachers, we also have the autonomy to add other components to our "classroom" of our own design to enhance the online curriculum. School field trips designed by a coordinator are also available for students in the school and attendance is by choice and dependent upon topic and grade level applicability. As a state school, students are still responsible for passing the Oaks Testing at determined grade level and subjects.
I have just begun to journey out to students' homes and have already been impressed by the possibilties that this type of "school" offers. One of my students has a kidney disease that makes attending school in the traditional challenging due to fatigue and incontinence. Another is an 18 year parent who made different choices while in highschool, but is now highly motivated to earn her H.S. diploma, not a GED but again, a traditional school would be difficult due to childcare issues and beyond (her husband in Iraq) and limited support. I could go on and on. Allprep provides any student that needs one, a laptop (they must provide their own internet access). We have school counselors assigned to groups of teachers to help with additional issues and credit issues for this high school student, principles, SPED coordinators, etc. If you can't tell I am excited to be a part of this.
I felt it was relevent to share all of this as this class on blogging is about so much more than how blogging can be used in education, but how we truly are changing and defining new ways to reach students so that learning is available and accessible to all. In order for a student to put effort into learning, they must first believe that they are capable of learning. Many traditional settings have limited how a student with different interests, challenges, skills and personas are accepted or accomodated for by administrators, teachers and peers. With the emergence of all of the techonology available to us, these types of schools are now a possibility and can reach out to students who may otherwise be written off, or discounted, or forgotten about. The home visits truly add that personal touch, that human connection to the student that I would truly miss. I feel like my connections with my students, though limited by face to face, are truly going to be so much deeper. They will be my student for as long as they remain in the school ("looping") and the chance to have that one on one time is invaluable. I have much to learn in this new job (the technical stuff), but where I feel most comfortable is in building my relationships with my students and their families and supporting them in their educational goals/journey. The technical stuff will come.
So here is an article that I found relating to ethics in blogging. I actually included it here by highlighting, etc. not just copying and typing in. So some progress on my part. I need to find a video to include next time to practice that skill and next the whole marketing concept.
Happy Saturday to all enjoy the link
Blogging from the Classroom, Teachers Seek Influence, Risk Trouble - US News and World Report
Saturday, January 16, 2010
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Thanks for providing that article. I think the principal was right to ask Silva-Brown to use less profanity if students were reading his blog. But if I wanted to blog and vent my frustrations with colorful language, I would try to remain anonymous. Teachers have a very hard time because they are supposed to be on their best behavior even when they are not at work. I remember reading about a teacher who was fired after posting a picture of herself on vacation with some friends. They were touring a winery and drinking beer. Former Teacher Sues For Being Fired For Facebook Pics. One of the teachers in the article you posted wrote about drinking heavily and wasn't disciplined. Obviously there is no universal standard and some teachers can write about drinking or use swear words and retain their jobs and others cannot.
ReplyDelete"Although generally dismissed by school administrators as "faculty bathroom graffiti," teacher blogs, including those that are written anonymously, are becoming essential reading for anyone who wants to look beyond standardized test score reports to see what's really going on in schools."
ReplyDeleteIn one of the other classes this quarter, someone mentioned his dissatisfaction with the testing practices demanded by the state. This seems a great topic for teacher-peers to share their experiences and frustrations with the "system." But there is clearly a risk of exposure, if one's anonymity is compromised.