In order to sort through the most influential posts I read this year, I had to sort through my starred and shared items in Google Reader, look at del.icio.us bookmarks and also blog posts I wrote about a particular post. This was extremely difficult. At times I had 25 tabs open trying to determine if one was more influential than another. I tried to choose posts that centered around my biggest learning throughout the year. When it comes down to it, my collective network is far more influential than any of these posts. Here are my top 5 influential posts:
Learning to be Myselfby Konrad Glogowski….a very nice piece of writing as usual on the “shifting roles of teachers”
The 4 slide Contest by Dan Meyer…a great idea that I reused in many ways both from a practical and design perspective
Why is digital citizenship an issue by Vicki Davis…this post as well as many others, sparked some great conversation and thinking about a still elusive topic
There’s been lots of discussion about whether one blogs for themselves or for others. I’m too lazy to find the hyperlinks but I know Miguel has argued he blogs for himself while others, is it you Dan? that argues you blog for an audience. For me it’s somewhere in the middle but certainly clicking Publish means anyone can read it.
I too often make the assumption that most of my audience is like me. Involved in education, interested in technology and change and all that stuff and live in North America. Probably for the most part that’s true. But when realize your Uncle Bill, a retired veterinarian, Jim, a radio disc jockey and Willem an technologist from the Netherlands, read your work, occasionally comment you begin to think more deeply about what you write. To ignore it would be presumptuous.
When I go to give a workshop, I usually begin with finding out as much as I can about the audience. What do they hope to gain from our time, what is their current level of understanding and so forth. Most good teachers work with where folks are at. I realize that with as my audience grows it becomes difficult to consider all perspectives but at the same time I think perhaps our readability ought to invite a broader, more diverse audience.
Now, also I realize it’s much easier for us to comment on a weblog in English than the other way around. So what about globalization? Should the whole world start posting in English so it’easier for everyone to comment? I’ve tried the translators from MS and Google on my weblog but after translation I could’nt understand my own posts anymore.
While I don’t think we can accommodate every reader who may speak another language, either literally or professionally, I’m thankful for readers like Willem, Uncle Bill and Jim who make me think more deeply about what I write that conversations can expand beyond the typical and more homogeneous members of my network.
I’ve written about commpost rating a couple of times. It’s my own made up term to calculate the ratio of posts to comments. Not comments on your blog but comments you make on others. You need some type of tracking software, in my case it’s CoComment which by the way has been working better as of late espescially in terms of my RSS feeds. How else do you track conversations you’re interested in? Don’t tell me you just leave a comment and then never return? Anyway….
So I started in January with this:
99/140 =0.71 Meaning I wrote more than I commented
August
155/107=1.45Getting better trying to reach my goal of 2 to 1.
Today
94/48=1.96
So as of August I’ve been commenting almost 2 times to every posts I make. Admittedly I’m boasting but in my discussions with teachers about sustainability and building networks, this practice is critical. You will never create a global audience but sitting on your hands and waiting for the world to drop in on your work. I can’t think of a short cut around this. If you want a friend, you have to be a friend. If you want a network, you have to be part of the network and commenting and contributing to other’s work is the best way.
I’m not sure how or what Stephen Downes uses to track his comments if he does at all, but I continually see his name in many conversations outside his own blog. He understands networks. I have an amazing network but it’s not by luck or chance. I’ve had to work at it. If I expect to get a response and support from my network, I’ve got to do the same for my network.
If you’re still wondering how to build a network, there aren’t many shortcuts. Start commenting….seriously. What is your commpost rating?
Kathy Cassidy’s grade one students tell what they are thankful for on this Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. Warning: cuteness alert!
If you’ve never used or heard of flixn, it enables you to record directly to the website and provides a embed code for you to place on your blog. No need to register just click record, stop and paste the code. I’d be thankful if you left a comment on her blog.
So these three edubloggers go into a bar with a laptop and camera and begin to broadcast around the world…..
Trust it to Will, Jakes and Dembo to cook up some fun and learning at the same time. The three met in alocal establishment in Chicago tonight and tested out UstreamTV. This free, live streaming site allows anyone to broadcast live to the world. I used it a few weeks ago to watch my daughter’s new puppy when we aren’t home. Easy to set up. The potential of a tool such as this is obviously much more powerful than watching puppies. Remember when people used to (they still do but let’s presume some progress) categorize blogs as cat diaries? I think we’re better at understanding the power of these new tools as learning tools.
I had a conversation today with a principal asking how to make the next steps in using technology. I mentioned Ustream TV as a connecting tool. Her eyes lit up. Mine did too.
As I read acouple of posts today about blocking content I realize I’m blessed to work with an IT department that understands its role very well. They want to provide a great service for teachers and students. This means considering these tools in the light of both security, performance but more importantly quality learning. As a rather brash advocate of these tools, I work with them and they with me on understanding the issues. Not matter what the issue it usually comes down to, “How can we make it work?” But I digress…
So back to the streaming video. Many are going to look at this and say, “big deal”. I look at this and my mind is whirling with possibilities. Classroom presentations, personal tv stations, unconference learning….you fill in the blank. Will, David and Steve asked the same question, “How can we make it work?” The 30+ participants asked similar questions. Mixed with some good fun, this was a good way to spend part of an evening. Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach claimed it was better than anything on TV. You can watch it all here.
I captured a couple of minutes of this. The fun part anyway. If you want to know the awkward way I did this, leave a comment and I’ll reveal my secret.
Last week I wrote about Konrad’s efforts to instill real learning from his blog he has for his students. I think that speaks for itself as to how a teacher should blog with his/her students. But I still have a hard time convincing teachers to blog for professional reasons. Statements like, “Why would I just blab my thoughts”, “Who would want to read about my experiences”, “What if I say something I shouldn’t”.
All valid points but I recently re-discovered Dan Meyer. Dan is a young teacher who, just like most teachers, is full of great ideas,insights and is willing to share. I like the fact that Dan is honest which means, be prepared to disagree with him at times. But what’s wrong with that? Although Dan is a math teacher, his understanding of design and media has rekindled my interests in his work. Why does he blog? What’s in it for him?
I’m Dan Meyer. Three Four years ago I lucked into a job I love. I’m a high school math teacher stationed outside Santa Cruz, CA, and I get better at this job every day I keep at it and keep pondering my wins and losses. This is a documentary of all the fun I’m having. My purpose here is practice not policy. I’m leaving NCLB and charter schools to the wonks and ‘wizes. (For the most part.) This blog goes out to the classroom grinders, to the teachers handling the tough classrooms. Let’s figure out how to make this job better and easier. So no ads. This is for the joy of working hard at one of the hardest jobs there is. As much as I hope this is valuable to other teachers, I hope most for input from the outside. Please leave comments. The input of good teachers has always been valuable to me.
I had two interesting and challenging experiences the last couple of days. Experiences that cause me to consider my approach to supporting teachers and students.
I met with a small group of high school teachers who wanted to learn more about Web 2.0 and what they might be able to use in their classrooms. I was fully prepared to spend the day showing demos, and working through the technical issues of setting up a blog, wiki or whatever they wanted.What happened instead is we spent the first part of the morning grappling with the big questions of why. Why would we post students online? Why does it feel like asking us to change means that our current practice is all wrong? If this is so important, why aren’t we given time to explore and make change? To be clear, this group of teachers was not simply complaining or naysaying. They just wanted to be convinced and sure that investing time to use these tools would pay dividends. I’ve been telling teachers lately that if they have any hesitation, they shouldn’t bother to blog or use any tool because all it will do is add to the many “binders of guilt” that sit on the shelf labeled, “things I should really do”.I’m not sure that all these questions were answered but I know we moved forward on some. At lunch time, I fired up twitter and posed the question regarding posting online. Thanks to my network I received several key responses that I shared with the group after lunch.
Again, not that those responses solved the conundrum but it clearly demonstrated that an online presence or network is a powerful thing. So we continued on and continued to deal with some tough questions but after providing some time for teachers to muddle on their own, they left the day feeling like they had some direction or purpose in using the tools. We’re moving forward in a positive way.I thank them for challenging me.
Thursday, I met with all our school administrators and shared our vision and focused on the idea of shifted learning. I showed Did you Know, used some of Ewan’svideos and ideas that focus on a shift in learning and challenged them to consider how learning is changing. In general they are a great bunch of leaders who truly want to make shifts that are good for kids but like many of us, are looking for a recipe, which although we know doesn’t exist, still want one. I challenged them to consider how they might support teachers and after some good discussion, felt like we have set the ground work for the work that lies ahead. The following are the slides I used with my notes embedded underneath…feel free to use this in whatever way you wish.
One school administrator approached me after and asked, “What is it we’re really trying to do?”He talked about an angst he feels about what he sees most kids doing with technology. Useless text messaging with the person right beside them, nothing seems to be interesting to them, jaded attitudes towards violence, and so on; all valid points. He was careful to say he didn’t want to appear to be out of touch but was truly concerned with kids who use technology in meaningless ways. I tried to share my feelings about our duty to .I’m glad he approached and challenged me and the kind of dialogue I had in these two instances does help us move forward. I’ve taught too many workshops where everyone comes happy and excited to be there and leaves happy and excited but never carry on with the ideas and never implement anything. They like new stuff but don’t deeply consider what the true impact of change might be.
I was further encouraged by spending time with two of our superintendents. Both men have been in education for over 30 years and recalled some of the reasons they got into education in the first place. As children of the 1960’s they were excited about the ideas of Summerhill and believed deeply in personalized learning. Somehow the system they entered took things into a more traditional model and my presentation triggered memories of the hope of what a quality, meaningful education can look like.
These conversations are what will matter. Allowing people to tell their stories, share their resistance and consider the change that’s necessary. I’m pretty good at telling my story and perspectives but at times forget that others need to tell theirs as well. Chris Lehman has written lately about not forgetting the value of our teachers. Another great conversation ensues. Again, this is not anything profound but once again, reminded me of the importance of those conversations. Conversations about change that lead to implementation.
I too often make the assumption that most of my audience is like me. Involved in education, interested in technology and change and all that stuff and live in North America. Probably for the most part that’s true. But when realize your Uncle Bill, a retired veterinarian, Jim, a radio disc jockey and 
All valid points but I recently re-discovered 
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