Using Charlie Chaplin to Introduce Modernism

Descriptive Writing Exercise

Writers are photographers; only we construct our images with words. A great writing exercise is to take a photo and try to re-create it on the page. Use metaphor, simile, concrete language, and descriptive verbs to construct your image. Adjectives are all well and good, but remember that a well-chosen verb is worth five descriptive adjectives. Choose one of these three photos and see what you can come up with!

Blog Safety Tips

Would you look at me? Two blog posts in one day. No, this will not become normal behavior and yes, this is another assignment for INST 4015. So here goes:

Safety Tip #1: Protect your privacy by keeping personal information personal.

• I know, this seems like a no-brainer, but you would be surprised how many people tell, not only everything about themselves, but everything about everybody else as well. Of course, protecting privacy involves much more than jumping the "too much information" line, protecting your privacy means no phone numbers, no addresses, and for Heaven's sake, no social security numbers. Unless you're listing your business information, just steer clear of that particular minefield. If I'm going to create a blog for my students, I want to make sure that I protect them and myself from all those crazies out there.
• http://www.teach2learn.info/docs/presentations/Safebloggingpractices10-24-06.pdf

Safety Tip #2: Set up a robots text file.

• OK, this was a cool little tidbit that I was completely unaware of. Because I am a teacher and I will be using my blog as an extension of my classroom, I want to make completely sure that my students feel safe enough in my blog to participate. My students will be using their real names, so one way that I can make my blog a little more secure is by setting up a robots text file. Basically, this excludes our posts from appearing in search engine results. Seriously, google your own name and prepare to gasp in horror at all the information that is available on you. But hey, at least your blog posts won't be included.
• http://security.rit.edu/dsd/bestpractices/socialnetworks.html

Safety Tip #3:Change your password frequently.

• This is something that we hear all the time, but if you're like me, you never do it. The most likely place for a security breech is a compromised password. By changing your password often, it makes it much more difficult for a hacker to steal that information and thus gain full access to your personal information and your blog. Write it down in your planner, and at least twice a year change all of your passwords. Everybody's much safer that way.
• http://www.teach2learn.info/docs/presentations/Safebloggingpractices10-24-06.pdf

The Pedagogy of Blogs

I can't believe I'm writing a blog. Yes, for those who know me, this is a certain sign of the Apocalypse; however, as a future teacher it will be useful for me to at least be capable of managing a blog. So, here we go.

As part of an assignment for my INST 4015 class, we were asked to search through different educational blogs and then choose three that proved particularly helpful/inspirational. Because I'm a dutiful soul who's slightly paranoid about my grade, I searched through each blog that was listed on Blackboard. I liked a lot of what I saw, even if every single one of those blogs was created by an elementary school teacher. What's up with that? Despite the fact that those blogs are geared toward children and early adolescents, I got a lot of ideas for how I could use a blog in my own high school classroom.

I have to start with "The Almighty Bloggers" at classblogmeister.com, simply because these kids are from New Zealand and got to learn how to sail and kayak. Seriously? How cool is that? Living vicariously through these kids would be reason enough to follow their blog, but I actually found that I liked how the teacher used the blog to share with the parents and the students what's been happening in class. This is a great way to not only keep parents informed, but it's also a really easy way to keep the kiddies who are absent (because of a deadly illness, I'm sure) up to speed. How easy would it be to simply post on the blog what had been done in class? No more having to send a parent or a friend to pick up missed assignments; they'd all be online.

The other two blogs I decided to focus on were Mrs. H's "Top Dog Blog" and Mrs. Mueller's "Our Wonderful Blog". Mrs. H seems to use her blog to not only supply information for parents and students, but also to create a place for her students to respond and interact; in other words, the blog becomes an assignment. This could actually be a really cool idea for a high school class, because it's impossible to fit everything into one fifty minute class period. I want my students to be able to share and read each other's work, but we don't always have time to do so in class. As for Mrs. Mueller, while she also used her blog to post homework assignments and such, she also used it as a place to share resources with her students. She had a Book Recommendation list, as well as an entire unit on poetry. As an English teacher, I have to say it: how cool is that?