blog 11

I read chapters 3 and 8.

I thought chapter 3 was fantastic. I'd have to learn all the technology Bledsoe mentions, but I'd be willing to try it out. I loved loved loved the first part about revision. The technology is the exciting part for the kids, but the idea of writing a story TOGETHER is simply brilliant. Kids are revising and they probably don't even know it. I believe this method of teaching revision could really work. Learning to revise on your own can be difficult and it's hard to see the point. Why would you want to change what you think is a pretty good piece of writing? But when kids are writing and collaborating together, they point out what works and what doesn't. It gets them thinking out loud and practicing these skills together so that it doesn't seem so pointless or monotonous. Nice.

Chapter 8 was pretty interesting as well. I would have never considered podcasting as a way of presenting speeches, but this seemed to work for these people. It makes perfect sense that JUST listening to your voice instead of giving a traditional speech would make you more conscious of learning how to hear inflections and tone and the "voice" of your speech. And once that's hammered out, a student would most likely be more comfortable in front of people making a traditional speech (I have no idea; I'm just hypothesizing).

If the reported impact on the student community was guaranteed, I'd recommend this to EVERYONE. I mean, getting students to interact with one another's work? And talking about it? And posting comments? Well, learning is taking place, and gee wilikers...that's what we're hoping for! AND students are motivated to learn and engage outside the classroom. I'm floored. And excited.

I'd like to try both these in my classroom. The possibilities these articles pose are fantastic and could seriously benefit our kids. What could be better?