TOK Blogs. The Research begins...

So now that tennis season has ended and my TOK class is in full swing, my formal research has begun.

I'm having the students each host the blog for a week in an attempt to get them to record for me how people are responding on the blog. All of my expectations, including my "Blog Log", are found here.

Now that my students are thinking, writing, and recording for me... it all begins. Now we'll just see where it takes me.


In other classroom blogging news...
In 2 weeks or so, a new TOK blog will be set up for an international audience. Schools from Colorado, Chicago, Munich, Singapore, the UK, and Equador will be talking to each other. I'm still in the process of formalizing how that will look but I'll post more info. when I know.

Back for now...

This is the point where I would normally rant and rave about how I've been MIA on my personal blog and now it is the time where I will recommit and go forward with it on a consistent basis. Well we will see...

For now, I'm in the middle of the summer again... AI going strong... considering where I am in my research.

In terms of my question and research... I'm just now beginning the data collection phase. I have prepped my kids for how I'd like them to help me with data and I have my basic tools ready, I just need the time to finalize the forms and begin next week with my student hosting of the blog. This is all based on my classroom blog for my TOK class.

I am in a good place and looking forward to taking data but since I am not presenting at the Jan. Conference, I am not feeling the pressure to be in a different place. My data will take the year I can begin compiling in April/May.

As for the inquriy group, I'm not sure I need anything... I'd just like to hear where they are, both successes and failures.

What do we bring to the table?

Steph’s Morning Pages Prompt (tweaked and rebuilt by Renee)

How does your investment in your research question and the students’ background knowledge about your topic affect the research?


As I try to establish a confident, comfortable online community for my students, I need to consider this question…

1. What do I bring?

I know what I “bring to the table” as my TOK students like to point out. I realize that my investment in blogging and how I believe it can contribute to my students experience in TOK is strong. Does this make it easier or more difficult for my kids? I initially say that it is easier. I’m motivated and comfortable in that world and I would like to believe that this would rub off on my kids as I slowly nudge them towards being part of that community. My wonder though is, on some level, does this make it more difficult? Is it intimidating for some of them that I am pushing them in while I may not be aware of their own fears and trepidations of diving in? My hope is that I can just be more aware of this specific issue.

2. What about them?

What may be of greater importance is what they are walking in with. One assumption that I know I get caught with is that I assume that all students of this generation are computer-savvy. I assume they all text, blog, mySpace, eBay, IM, game, and surf the web with regularity. I know that this is a terrible assumption to make, which takes me back to the issue mentioned above about intimidation. What if they aren’t comfortable or confident? Worse… what if they have no interest or even a desire to stay out of that world? Where do I go from here? How do I motivate those students to try something new, build their skills and participate freely in a community that I believe can have a great impact on their overall understanding of the TOK class and curriculum? Or is this just another assumption that I’m missing?

Blogs in my classroom

So as I've ranted before, it is important for me (very important) to utilize technology and blogs in particular to assist my students in refining their critical thinking and TOK skills.

Now that AI has begun, I get to focus on that. As I listened to E. Jason talk about his plan for his AI research, I found my kindred spirit. We are interested in exploring the same issue. What is cool is that we are starting our explorations from completely opposite ends of the spectrum. To see what Jason is looking at in detail, check out the "CSUWP Advanced Institute" link under Other Posts to Check Out.

Both Jason and I are interested in getting kids to utilize blogs to increase their critical thinking but Jason presently approaches blogging from a limited perspective. He has kids only blog during specific units on focused topics. He wants to push them farther. I presently use my TOK blog as a holistic exercise to generate discussion during the year about a variety of topics, very rarely concentrated on specific issues in class. I wish to use it in a more focused manner. Both Jason and I have had success but it sounds like we need to meet in the middle.

So my teacher research just got better. Hopefully, I've found someone who can push me in a direction I need to go and along the way I will do the same for him.

The summer has begun...

I always say that good teachers don't have their summers off... so I'm trying to be a good teacher. As I have for the past 4 years, I'm involved with the CSU Writing Project. We are beginning this week and I'm already inspired to begin teaching again... though my "time off" right now is amazing and needed. The Summer Institute is getting me back to blogging, writing, and researching, all needs and desires I have right now. So the summer has begun... time off (kind of) but time involved in what I need and want.

Advanced Institute begins soon... another challenge on the way.

Wow... I'm still in shock.

I'm actually sitting at my computer at school writing this post.

My district FINALLY decided to unblock Blogger for educational purposes. They used my TOK blog as evidence for its usefulness and they finally agreed... so now you are free as PSD teachers to utilize it in your classroom... and please do. The more of us that stand up and show how we can properly use blogger for students and teachers alike, the more likely that they will see it as a step forward in our use of technology.

Thanks Bud, Krista, and whomever else helped fight the good fight.

The Lost Curiosity

So...

my favorite unit has begun... Evolution.

Not because I have any desire to indoctrinate my kids or because I want to see them change their views. I couldn't care less. What I'm after is the debate, the desire to dig deeper into the depths of knowledge and the language behind it all.

I just finished an activity that has kids rank the following concepts by how important they are to scientists... its amazing what they come up with.

(in no specific order)
1. Facts
2. Laws
3. Theories
4. Hypotheses

The view that kids have is that facts are the most important to scientists because they are "truths" such as "the sun rises in the east; life is carbon-based; we have 8 planets in our solar system (a nice debate in itself)". But the funny thing... who cares? What can scientists do with that information... nothing. They are just "confirmed observations".... no testing to be done, nothing to be explored... so to scientists, they are the least important.

Funny how language so often is misunderstood and misshapen by society and the media. That's why evolution is so fun... the debate, the curiosity...

"Mr. Malone, what is the big deal with Intelligent Design?"

I love that the kids wonder... the curiosity that is lost sometime during Junior High reappears. It was always there, its just often shadowed by hormones and what makes them cool. But bring up what everyone is arguing about and they suddenly pipe up. Not that they aren't interested otherwise... but how can I tap into that innate curiosity all the time?

Blog Survey

So I'm creating a survey for my TOK kids to figure out what works, in terms of our classroom blog, and what doesn't. It's a bad time of year with IB kids, Internal Assessments, External Exams, end of year burn out, so they aren't using the blog nearly as much as I would like to... so here is my question...

Many of my students tell me I should increase the requirements of how often they should be posting/commenting (1 or 2 x per week is the suggestion) and I initially agree. But here is my dilemna...

How do I motivate students to use the blog yet make it meaningful. I'm not interested in forcing students to post/comment but I know that external motivation may be what is needed. There is little doubt that those who used the blog understand the class better -- its all about language and the ability to justify knowledge claims -- so students who write and discuss more really work through the struggles and really get TOK and can utilize the skills. So what do I do...?

I'm in the process of getting their opinions... I guess that is the beginning of teacher research, but I'm assuming that there is an enormous amount of bias in that "qualitative" research. Sorry... its the scientist in me. Get rid of the variables... control... control... take data... analyze data... This is all an adjustment, but a good one. So back to my problem...

What do you think? Do I force students into blogging or do I find some other form of motivation? This class is not grade intensive and is meant to be a compliment to all of their other courses, not a huge burden, so I struggle with upping the requirements because the reality is that it will never be at the top of their priority list in terms of HW, etc. Nor do we want it to be. So how do you push students into being the best thinkers possible by tapping into an intrinsic motivational button that I can't seem to find in seniors at the tail end of high school...?

sorry... a bit frustrated, confused, yet super interested, curious, and motivated to figure it out.

Competition in Education

So I'm wondering...

What is the role of competition in education? I don't mean in the classroom. I feel that there is a time for it and a time when it is best left alone when it comes to my students.

What I'm wondering about is the role of competition between schools for students. Funding, now so tied to the amount of students in a building, is such an issue for all of us. Without the proper funding, we lose programs which leads to loss of opportunities for our students. In a district of choice, such as mine, this is a negative feedback system.

Less students --> less $$ --> less available programming --> less opportunity --> less students
And it continues... So what do we do?

I work in a school that I feel is constantly innovative and willing to bring in new ideas and programs (AIM, IB, Avid, etc) to meet the needs of students and to evolve with the ever-changing landscape of the world and education in particular. Because of this, our numbers remain high while other schools lose out and enter the vicious cycle that I'm talking about. Not that my school has all the answers. We are just one of many such schools in the district with a variety of options and programs making us unique. I'm all for continuing the changes that keep us strong, especially when it is what is best for students. But the effect of what I am seeing is cannabalistic. School pitted against school, pushing the limits of a healthy rivalry. Survival of the Fittest I guess. But how do we fix it?

We constantly fight for equity for all kids, which is why school-of-choice is so important, but does it lead to the very thing that we so badly are trying to battle, the inequality in opportunities for our students? Where do we go?

I have my initial opinions but I'm wondering what others have to say about it.

The Best Use of Classroom Blogs

As I'm sitting in the WP AI, I'm contemplating my own research ideas and its fitting that I'm blogging about it because that is exactly what I want to focus on. The last two years, I've had a classroom blog for my Theory of Knowledge course, an IB diploma programme course, focusing on Epistemology, studying the nature and scope of knowledge in our world (How do we know what we know?). It's been successful so far but I'm really trying to figure out how to get it to be meaningful and consistent. If I can pull it off, how successful could the same idea be for 9th grade Biology students. I'm not sure. I've got ideas all around me but I need to figure out what about the blog works for my kids and what doesn't. It's just a starting point, but I know its where I want to go.

The AI has begun...

Our first round of the Advanced Institute (CSU Writing Project) has begun.

A little idea that Cindy and Bud had on a plane last November has already manifested itself. We are sitting in Mugs downtown, creating new blogs, formulating ideas, and asking questions about what is happening in our classrooms and why. It's cool to get a bunch of past fellows back together to rebuild and renew the community that has inspired us.

We'll keep you posted.

Yes Bud... I'm Back

Because Bud pushes and pressures and makes me feel needed and wanted, I'm back to my blogging practices.... Actually, that's not quite true.

The CSUWP Advanced Institute has begun and since Cindy, Bud and I are running the show, I need to do what I ask our participants to do. The purpose (in short form) is to get teachers to utilize blogs and technology to help them create and pursue teacher research. So I am loving the fact that it will force me to come back online. It's not that I'm not here, it's that I'm still struggling with the "who cares about what I have to say" issue. But no more...

I will do as I ask others to do.
So...

Yes Bud... I'm Back.