Tag: blogging

Posted in Edublogs

Reflections

Posted on by Mrs. Ruiz

img_4855EduBlogsClub Prompt #26:

Prompt: Write a post reflecting on the last half year of blogging.

Here are some possible topics to help get you started:

  • Share your favorite posts that you’ve written and tell us what they mean to you.
  • Share your three favorite posts that others in the #edublogsclub have written and tell why you loved them.
  • What has been your biggest challenge during the last six months of blogging? Why?
  • What would you like to do differently over the next six months of blogging? Why?
  • What has been your proudest moment in blogging over the last six months? Why?
  • How do you feel that blogging about education has made you a better educator?

The prompt was originally posted in July of this year so I am still a bit behind, but I enjoy the opportunity to reflect.

Favorite posts? I enjoy writing all of them, so I can’t say I have a favorite really. Favorite posts from other EduBloggers? I am going to amend that one to be my favorite EduBloggers. I have followed the blogs of several of the other bloggers in the challenge. And while I enjoy reading all the posts, here are the EduBloggers that have not only stood out, but have continued to blog regularly:

Mandy Ellis, A Principal’s Decree
As an aspiring administrator, I really enjoy being able to read the blog of a blogging principal! While I know some principals do blog, they don’t with the frequency that teachers do. I enjoy reading Mandy’s perspective and seeing how she uses her blog as an administrator.

Alicia Abdul, Readers Be Advised
I really enjoy Alicia’s thoughtful and regular posts from her perspective and experiences as a librarian.

and my newest favorite read…

Kathleen Morris, Primary Tech
Kathleen may be the newest contributor to the EduBlogger account, but she is a wealth of information and a very nurturing support to EduBloggers. Her responses to my posts have really helped remind me how important engagement is. I tend to be a lurker when reading the posts of others (like on Mandy & Alicia’s blogs) and I really need to engage by leaving comments. Thanks for reminding me of the importance of that Kathleen! I even volunteered to be a mentor for the student EduBlogs challenge, I would love to have some student blogs to visit on the regular to leave comments on.

I am pretty sure I had signed up for the EduBlogsClub challenge before and not participated. I am so glad I did participate this year. I may have gotten VERY behind at some point, but I am enjoying the process of catching up. The prompts have me reflecting on my experiences and practices each time I write and that is so valuable.

While there aren’t many months left of this year’s challenge, I expect to finish it on time with the few other EduBloggers that have managed to go the distance. I plan on signing up for the EduBlogsClub challenge each time they offer it. I enjoy having the prompts and they way they get me to think about things. It has been very therapeutic!

Have you reflected on your own blogging? What did you realize? Share with me in the comments below. 🙂

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Posted in Edublogs

Giving Feedback

Posted on by Mrs. Ruiz

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EduBlogClub Prompt #10 was a catch up week and since I am already in catch up mode, here is Prompt #11:

Prompt: Write a post about giving feedback to students.

Some questions to jumpstart your thinking:

  • What is your favorite type of assignment upon which to comment? Why?
  • Do you have any tips to share on using rubrics, alternative assessments, or anything else related to feedback and grading work?
  • How do you balance constructive criticism and sensitive students?
  • How do students respond to your feedback? Do you have any thoughts about changes that could strengthen your feedback?
  • How do you give feedback “in the moment” during classroom activities? What are the most effective strategies you’ve used?

One of my favorite ways to give feedback when I was in the classroom was on a rubric. Given a specific task or project, I would develop a rubric and review it with my students. There were times I would even create the rubric with my students so we all had a clear understanding of what the assignment expectations were. I think making the rubric available beforehand (and even creating it with students) is a great way for students to prepare and be successful.

I would take the time to write notes on my students’ work and/or the rubric. My notes contained both praise for what they had done well (and I always found something they had done well) and feedback on what needed improvement. I would talk to the students individually as well, which of course took a good deal of time, so I had to be judicious on which assignments merited this sort of feedback.

If I had to do it over again, I would give audio feedback as well. I am currently in a doctoral program working toward my Ed.D in K-12 Educational Leadership. I recently was fortunate to have an expert in the field of online learning agree to be my content expert for my dissertation committee. I have been sending him parts of my work so far, and he has sent his feedback in the form of audio files, which are short little recordings no more than 5 or 6 minutes long. They are chock full of valuable feedback and in a way that makes immediate sense because I feel as if I am sitting down with him and he is telling me what he things of my work. It has been so powerful for me that I know if I were in the classroom again I would incorporate that into my feedback in some way. Especially with so much of the classroom being digital.

How do you give feedback to your students? What forms of feedback have you experienced that you have found powerful? Share your thoughts with me in the comments below! 🙂

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Posted in Edublogs

Popular Culture

Posted on by Mrs. Ruiz

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EduBlogsClub Prompt #9:

Prompt: Write a post about using popular culture in the classroom.

Some questions to jumpstart your thinking:

  • What kind of popular culture do you bring into the classroom? How do you use it?
  • Do you have any comic books or graphic novel favorites that you use for reading and textual analysis? Why do you choose those?
  • What are your favorite television shows or movies in your classes? Why do you find these helpful tools?
  • Do you have any favorite songs that you bring into your classroom? How have students responded to your music? Why do you bring in these pieces?

This December will mark 2 years since I left my elementary classroom to become a teacher on assignment in my district’s central office. There are several things I miss about working at a school site.  Two of the biggest ones are collaborating with other educators and working with students. Sure, I collaborate with a few other educators now and I work with students through periodic workshops, but neither is the same as being at school site with my own class. I am an aspiring administrator and I find myself looking forward to getting back to a school site in that capacity so I can engage with other educators and students in the ways I miss most.

One of the things I enjoyed about having my own class was getting to know my students and learning what they found interesting and cool. I always prided myself on staying up to date on pop culture, but there was always room for my students to educate me and I always enjoyed those conversations. Our day was so driven by standards and pacing guides that at one point I resurrected the concept of “Show & Tell.” I just wanted us to have some time one day a week at the end of the day to share our passions. It was wildly popular and it seemed like we never had time to hear from everyone in the detail they craved. In hindsight, I would make more time for that in my own classroom. It seems like a lot of teachers are making more time for that in their classrooms so that learning is more personalized and engaging. Genius Hour comes to mind. I had only heard of this after I left my classroom and it is something I would totally do if I was in the classroom again.

Now back to the topic at hand: pop culture! I always enjoyed playing music in my classroom. I enjoy a variety of genres, but not all are appropriate for the classroom so I kept that in mind. I am a longtime Pandora subscriber (and I am sure my students would tell me Spotify is where it’s at if I was in the classroom right now) and have always enjoyed the ability to create stations based on a musical genre, a musical artist or a particular song. I was thrilled to find that Pandora has stations specifically for children, and my go to station had always been Kidz Bop. I enjoyed playing music for my students so that I could introduce them to other musical genres and I would often mix up the stations to match the month’s national theme when possible. Over the years some students would make requests and I would always joke with them about how I am not DJ Ruiz and it was Pandora so I could not specifically play any given song (although now I think you can with an upgrade in the subscription). My playing music in the classroom also got a lot of conversations going about my students’ musical preferences. There was a heavy preference for rap (which I found surprising for grades 3-5, but clearly I was out of touch), which I know is one of those genres not fit for the classroom in many instances, but the conversations about what they were listening to was always lively and a great way to get to know my students a bit better.

What ways do you bring pop culture into your classroom? Share with me in the comments below! 🙂

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Posted in Edublogs

The Listicle

Posted on by Mrs. Ruiz

 

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EduBlogsClub Prompt #7:

Prompt: Write a listicle.

Some helpful notes:

  • Write about any topic at all that interests you
  • A list can be as short as 3 entries
  • Be helpful, make the list a resource your readers may want to bookmark and come back to
  • If you aren’t up for a list, write about lists, list keeping tools, or tools to embed lists
  • Marketing tests prove that putting a number in your title will often increase shares and clicks

Deciding what to make a listicle about was a challenge for me, but in the end I decided on making a short list on podcasts. My husband has been into podcasts for a a number of years and I only just warmed up to them about 2 years ago. I listen to all kinds of podcasts, but I thought the best ones to list for you here on my educator blog would be those I listen to for educational reasons.

  1. The Getting Smart Podcast “Where we unpack what is new and innovative about education” This podcast covers a variety of topics related to K-12 education. It consists of interviews with educators who specialize in different types of innovations in education.
  2. 10 Minute Teacher Podcast I have been a fan of Vicki Davis since I came across her on Twitter years ago. Her newest podcast is the 10-Minute Teacher Podcast and it strives to share innovative educational ideas with teachers in convenient 10 minute or less interviews with various types of educators. Its the perfect format for getting pitched ideas in a very brief amount of time. Perfect for busy teachers looking for new ideas.
  3. TED Radio Hour We all know TED Talks, and if you are anything like me, you just don’t have the time to sit down and watch full videos of them. One of my favorite podcasts is the TED Radio Hour because I get to take in amazing TED talks on a variety of subjects while driving, or working at my desk. While TED Talks are not always aimed at education, a great deal of them are and are incredibly powerful. This podcast is more than just the audio of TED Talks, but have a host who walks you through a topic and highlights a few TED Talks that all address the same issue. What’s cool is if there is a TED Talk on the show you want to hear in its entirety, you can easily access it online.

I have become a real podcast junkie over the last couple of years. I am always looking for podcasts on a variety of subjects. What are your favorite podcasts? Educational or otherwise? Share them with me in the comment section below! 🙂

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