Today's “mid week update” is a follow up this week's post about Blogging in (and out of) the Classroom. I just came across this web article about teacher Buzz Garwood, who is putting technology to great use in his 6th grade classroom, and I wanted to share it with my readers. Here is a (abbreviated)Â link to the web post: http://tinyurl.com/oabd28, and here is a nice excerpt from it:
“The class makes extensive use of computers. Garwood said he asks students at the beginning of the year to become authorities in some area to write their own blogs on subjects that may include cooking, NASCAR, shopping or video games. They post a weekly blog entry on the classroom's Web site and then have another student edit it, offering comments about content and cleaning up grammar.”
The article explains how Mr. Garwood has succeeded at getting some donations of technological equipment, and various ways in which tech has been successfully integrated into the educational process. Congratulations to Mr. Garwood and his students for their great work!
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Hi Kelly,
Thank for the information. A wiki is something I would like to try in the future. Technology is amazing teaching tool.
Hi Scott –
A blog can be a great way for students to write about a researched topic. Another interesting approach is a wiki, which can be a littel more web-site like and you may the tools easier to set up. A great, free blog to get your started is http://www.blogger.com, and http://www.wetpaint.com is a good, free wiki tool. I have a few posts about these topics on http://www.EmergingEdTech.com (use the Category listing to access these easily). You might also find http://www.classroom20.com to be a good resource for learning more (scroll down and look for ‘Blog’ or ‘Wiki’ in the listing of forums by tool type) – this site is full of dialogue from other teachers using these tools.
Good luck!
I have been researching about blogs and trying to finds ways to incorporate them into my classroom. I teach 8th grade Social Studies your blog has given me some great ideas on how to incorporate blogs into my classroom. I would like my students to create their own blog about something from History and become an expert on the topic. Do you feel this would be a valuable way to use a blog in my classroom? I am new with blogs. I am just looking for ways to infuse it into my classroom.
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My pleasure Buzz – and thank you for the feedback, and your great work. Practical applications of technology, with real impact for students, are what my blog is ultimately all about, so success stories like yours are really inspiring!
Speaking of life-changing… A company called Parallax let me review one of their robot building kit called Boe-Bot. I put one of my GATE students and a buddy on the project. They have spent countless hours at lunch and after school building this thing. They are loving the challenge. My GATEr told me just today that sometimes the project is frustrating in– in a good way. What a great way to describe the experience. They’ve both laughed and cheered when the robot did what they programmed it to do, and been upset when the robot didn’t. But never once have they thrown the towel in. They keep coming back, always trying to solve the next problem. I love how technology has lit a fire in these two boys.
By the way, thank you so much for your blog! I’ve added it to my blog roll. It’s a real encouragement to see someone like you offer help to educators and bringing awareness to the community.
Thanks again,
Buzz Garwood
As someone who runs a hands-on learning workshop for future computer geeks, I can tell you how important donations are to our survival.
Getting hardware to work on and with is important to what I am trying to do where I go to school but if I had the option / ability of having people show up and give hands on demonstrations as to how technology works I would be(to use Buzz Garwood’s words) “giddy”.
Technology can be an amazing tool. But having the knowledge to get the most out of that tech can be life-changing.
Having someone with real world knowledge explain how technology can be manipulated to create some amazing tools can spark an interest that changes their lives.
I have been lucky enough to share my limited knowledge with others and have seen it spark into a wildfire! I agree with Buzz, get technology into schools any way possible. I think his getting the techies themselves in for “show and tell” was more important though and is often overlooked.
I do not remember the first time I saw a Windows PC, but I remember when I saw Steve Ballmer tell me how Windows Vista was going to change the world. He may have been wrong about Vista, but man I have never second thought my career decision since that day.
Hi Kelly,
I found your blog today and feel like I’ve found a kindred spirit. I, too, share your passion for ed tech! I couldn’t help but comment on this post that talks about little ol’ me.
I’d like to share with you an article I wrote for Ed Tech Magazine’s blog that just recently got published, about interactive whiteboards. Maybe you and your readership will find it relevant to the “great conversation” that is ed tech. Here’s a link to my blog post at Ed Tech Magazine’s website…
http://www.edtechmag.com/k12/events/updates/make-the-most-of-your-interactive-whiteboard.html
Here’s a link to my blog: http://www.thisweekinedtech.com
So nice finding you! Maybe we can collaborate on something sometime! Keep up the good work on your blog! I know, it’s a labor of love, and it’s cool to find someone who shares my enthusiasm!
Buzz Garwood