Still Questioning

So, I still have all the questions I had in my post in April. I've been reading more blogs, but I'm still not sure why people want to blog. I guess they have something to say.

I did start another blog for my students to read about suggested summer novels to read Hyde's Summer Reading Program. As I finish each novel, I blog about it, and encourage my future students to email me about what they are reading. I've heard from about 10 out of 250 students. Not good.

It's summer. I don't have anything to say. I'm a reader. I absorb. I read nings, blogs, twitter, facebook, online newsletters, novels. My days are full of reading, yet I have no comments about what I read. Why is that? How do people have time to read all that and still have the energy to blog? I'm boggled! Or, maybe, bloggled.

I read so much that I haven't even had time to really develop my own web site Mrs. Miller's Language Arts. Does anyone have suggestions for my web site?

I really use a lot of technology in my curriculum. Maybe I should write about that. Next time. I'll sign off for now.

The WHY of it

Why is it that sooooo many teachers are into blogging? Why do I feel that it is something I should be doing? Is this because I'm a language arts teacher?

Why don't I use blogs with my students? I use wiki, ning, animoto, glogster...why not blogs? Could it be a time thing? Reading so many blogs? I have 165 students. That's a lot of reading. But, I read their reading responses on the wiki.

Why did I name my blog Teaching 2.0 Style? Did I think I would only blog about the uses of "technology" in my English classroom?

I read snippets of blogs that are posted by people I follow on twitter. How do bloggers become popular? Why do they become popular?

There is one person I follow on twitter and about all s/he does any more is plug her/his blog. I'm about ready to quit following him/her. Should I tell him/her? Would s/he be offended?

Is that a why? Like 'why should I bother?' I don't really know that person.

All this social networking stuff is pretty new to me. Less than a year. Several months less than a year. I feel overwhelmed? Why is that?

Teaching 2.0 Style

O.K. So, I'm going to try this again. I want to try using this blog to keep track of my ideas for using social media in my classroom, and integrating my curriculum with technology. I also want to use this to reflect on what went well and what didn't, and how to improve it for the next time I use it.

It's like the first time I tried to use google docs, I used a spread sheet and had the students log in to write down their favorite book, author etc. What I didn't know was that students could be writing on the same line at the same time. When I try this again, I will assign a line to each student. . . probably what ever their roster number is, just like for their computers.

I was very excited this morning to find that some one on the English Companion Ning had found a powerpoint with ideas and explanations for using wordle in the classroom. My idea is to have my students make a collage, scan it and then over lay the words that describes their interests. Then they will either post these to the wall or paste them onto their name tags. Probably post them to the wall.

Teaching 2.0 Style

O.k. so blogger lost my first and only post. I'm out of enthusiasm to re-post it. Maybe tomorrow. Blahhhhhhh