Learning is Change

Another Take on Blogging Rules

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Like Jeanne Simpson, Karl Fisch, Anne Davis, and Darren Kuropatwa before me, I decided it was important to flesh out blogging rules for my classes. I took much guidance from these four fantastic resources, but because these limits will most affect my students, I believe that they should be the ones to establish the rules. I am quite pleased with what my students came up with, but I would like to get some input from the Greater Edusphere on our rules and how they were generated.
In order to prepare my students to fully explore classroom blogging guidelines, I started asking them some big questions.

  1. Choose one of the following to respond to in your writing (to be discussed as a whole class after 5-10 minutes of writing):
    • Why do you think that people act differently online then they do in real life?
    • How can we create a safe environment for everyone on our blogs besides setting up rules or guidelines?
    • What are the inherent risks of posting to a blog at least once a week?
  2. In groups of 2-3, explore the Discovery Blogging Rules websites and brainstorm your own rules ideas that fit into the following categories (to be used for creating our official Discovery Blogging Rules for 2006-2007):
    • Creating a blogging environment without fear (of insult, of reprisal, of dishonesty).
    • Creating a scholastic blogging environment.
    • Creating a blogging environment based upon protection (of personal information, of identity, of unique thoughts).
    • Creating a creative, non-restrictive, tolerant, and sensitive blogging environment.
  3. In groups of 2-3, write down approximately 5 Blogging rules that you think should be a part of the Discovery Blogging Rules.

We discussed and debated the student generated rules, especially those that further explored the concepts originally outlined in the four resources mentioned above or those that were noticeably absent from those four resources. Here are our results:

Discovery Blogging Rules
2006-2007
  1. I will not give out any information more personal than my first name or post pictures of myself.
  2. I will not plagiarize, instead I will expand on others’ ideas and give credit where it is due.
  3. I will use language appropriate for school.
  4. I will not insult my fellow students or their writing.
  5. I will only post pieces that I am comfortable with everyone seeing; other pieces I will keep as drafts.
  6. I will not be afraid to express my ideas, while not overgeneralizing or making derogatory/inflammatory remarks; any posts on controversial issues must be submitted to Mr. Wilkoff for consideration before they can be posted to my blog.
  7. I will use constructive/productive/purposeful criticism, supporting any idea, comment, or critique I have with evidence.
  8. I will take blogging seriously, posting only things that are meaningful and taking my time when I write.
  9. I will try to spell everything correctly.
  10. I will not use my blog posts or comments as a chat room. (No IM language.)
  11. I will not bully others in my blog posts or in my comments.
  12. I will never access another student’s account.
  13. I will be proactive in monitoring the comments that others leave on my blog, utilizing the comment blacklist if necessary.
  14. I will personalize my blog and keep my writing authentic, while taking responsibility for anything blogged in my name.
  15. I will not provoke other students in my blog posts or comments.
  16. I will use my blog as an extension of the classroom, and in doing so, I will leave anything that unsaid in the classroom unsaid on my blog.
  17. I will only post photos which are school appropriate and either uncopywrited or correctly cited.
  18. I will not spam.
  19. I will only post comments on posts that I have fully read, rather than just skimmed.
  20. I will not reveal anyone else’s identity in my comments or posts.

Infractions of these rules will lead to the following consequences in order of severity and number of offense:

  1. Letter of apology to those offended by the infraction (individual students, one core class, or whole blogging community), warning by teacher, and editing or deletion of offending post/comment.
  2. Letter of apology to those offended by the infraction (individual students, one core class, or whole blogging community), temporary loss of blogging privileges (duration of quarter), editing or deletion of offending post/comment.
  3. Letter of apology to those offended by the infraction (individual students, one core class, or whole blogging community), permanent loss of blogging privileges (duration of school year), editing or deletion of offending post/comment.

The process by which blog posts violating rules 3, 10, or posts of a controversial nature may be used:

    1. Students present the idea/draft for Mr. Wilkoff’s consideration.
    2. Mr. Wilkoff will either accept or reject the writing based upon its merit on a case by case basis.
    3. The student will post the piece of writing with this warning: “This piece of writing is authentic in its use of controversial language/topics.”
    4. Mr. Wilkoff will post a heading: “This blog post was accepted by Mr. Wilkoff for use as a Weekly Authentic despite its controversial nature.”

These rules have already started to work their magic. This past week, one student violated rule #18 (spamming). The letter of apology for this infraction, which has shown me that these rules are workable, is as follows:

Dear Mr. Wilkoff and Core 2,

I’m sorry for all the trouble I caused you last year on blogger and nation states, and I’m sorry for what I’ve done this year. It is not a good thing to get enjoyment out of annoying people, and saying mean things to them. I didn’t realize what a bad thing I was doing until Mr. Wilkoff talked about it on Friday. I really should get a life, instead of going home and getting on the computer to annoy and spam people. Psycodude will not bug you anymore. I will stick to my real account, and only post positive, nice comments. I don’t think any of you will forgive me, and that’s ok, but I really am sorry. Well, goodbye…forever.
Sincerely,
Psycodude (sorry, but I don’t want people to know who I am, and you wouldn’t either!)

I hope that my classes and I have added something to the discussion of blogging in the classroom. Please let me know if you have a better way of doing this, or if you think we have missed anything.

Language Theory Notes for 09.18.06

 
  • Interesting Animal Grammar Article
  • Animals do not have the capacity for generative grammar. They are committed to the behavioral form of learning language.
  • Another article described the genetic link of stuttering.
  • Metaphor as thought. (My contribution)
  • A grammar is the derivation of understanding (not meaning, not sense) from syntactical and contextual elements.
    • The process of continuous instinctual categorization of words and contextual evidence is responsible for understanding sentences.
  • A discreet combinatorial system is the ability to take a finite amount of rules and come up with an infinite amount of combinations.
    • The meaning derived is greater than the sum of its parts.
  • The universal grammar is present in every human, but it must be activated.
  • Language = mental dictionary + universal grammar.

Building Comment #1

 
When I read this piece for the fourth and fifth time, I really got it.

SoccerLover did a great job picking something that I could really connect to. She picked a representation of life through books that I find tantalizingly fulfilling. It did leave me with a few questions, though.

  • What do I think about it?
  • What does it mean to me?
  • Do I think this metaphor for a book is accurate or could I come up with a better one?

Ultimately, I decided to take the challenge that I thought that this post represented.

You read A Book.

Its words are an inviting whisper, a nearly unspoken calling of laughter and thought. This playful friend beckons you to get lost, without a worry for finding your way back. It is Pan and his flute. It is the harmless apple in the Garden. It is a million possibilities that never really narrow down because they always reach the furthest recesses of your mind. It is the beautiful dancer that hypnotizes you until you forget that you are watching anything, you are such a part of the moment. It is the playmate that leaves you at the bottom of the gorge, with only your wits as defense. It is the bug that crawls in your ear just before you sleep and won’t let you forget that it is there, for the buzzing. It is a hopeless cause of remembrance on every page, the whole of yourself mirrored back to you, disfigured yet satisfying.

09.18.06

Cores 1-4:

  1. Final Review of Blogging Rules.
  2. Psycodude’s Apology Letter.
  3. September 11th Memorial.

Core 1:

  1. Check “Synonyms and Antonyms” for Unit 7 in vocabulary book.
  2. Collect any “Word Stories” not turned in on Friday.
  3. Group Write-On: How many different types of writing are there?
  4. Group Discussion questions:
    • How are they different?
    • How do you have to approach them differently?
    • Why would someone choose to write in one genre rather than another one?
    • Why are some more popular than others?
    • Are there any more important than others?
    • Which are you most interested in? Why?
  5. Do a few Good Parts.

Core 2:

  1. Write-On: Which words are indicative of change? Which words are indicative of tradition?
  2. Listen to and watch the speeches by FDR and fill out the Speech Analysis Form.
    1. Address at Hyde Park, New York.
    2. Statement on Signing the Social Security Act.
  3. Compare and contrast FDR’s speech after the Pearl Harbor attacks with George W. Bush’s Speech after the 9/11 attacks.
  4. Discuss the speeches in terms of change and tradition.

Core 3:

  1. Check “Synonyms and Antonyms” for Unit 1 in vocabulary book.
  2. Collect any “Word Stories” not turned in on Friday.
  3. Write-On: What is an essay and why would anyone want to write one?
  4. Group Brainstorm: What is writing an essay like? What would you compare it to? (A walk in the park? Beating a dead horse? Painting a picture?
  5. Introduce my metaphor for an essay.

Core 4:

  1. Write-On: What is social change? What kind of social change do you believe is good and bad?
  2. Presentation of Change by self-selected group.
  3. How do our truths of change inform our understanding of social change?
  4. How do books, writing, and words influence social change.
  5. Do a few Good Parts.

Psycodude’s Apology

Dear Mr. Wilkoff and Core 2,

I’m sorry for all the trouble I caused you last year on blogger and nation states, and I’m sorry for what I’ve done this year. It is not a good thing to get enjoyment out of annoying people, and saying mean things to them. I didn’t realize what a bad thing I was doing until Mr. Wilkoff talked about it on Friday. I really should get a life, instead of going home and getting on the computer to annoy and spam people. Psycodude will not bug you anymore. I will stick to my real account, and only post positive, nice comments. I don’t think any of you will forgive me, and that’s ok, but I really am sorry. Well, goodbye…forever.

Sincerely,
Psycodude (sorry, but I don’t want people to know who I am, and you wouldn’t either!)

09.15.06

Cores 1-4:

  • Discuss Blog Spamming and Comment Blocking.

Core 1:

  1. Discuss-On: How can one word cause a story? (For example: Iraq, Trouble, Puke)
  2. In order to fully understand the power of some of these exacting vocabulary words, I would like us to think about the story that each one of them presents.What sorts of images does this word put into your mind? What sorts of actions does this word symbolize? Once you have a good idea of what your word story will be, please draw the images you see in your mind and write the story that the images suggest. Title your page with your single word, but this word does not have to appear anywhere in the story, so long as the entire story represents this word. This is a very interpretive exercise that will allow you to see just how powerful the suggestive nature of words can be.
  3. Present your word stories on the document camera.

Core 2:

  1. Share-On: Compare your Tradition and Change handouts and try to establish if there are any universal changes or traditions, felt by everyone. Write a few of these universal changes/traditions down.
  2. Discuss universal change/tradition as a whole class.
  3. Complete the anticipatory 1940s Information Web with no more than 2 other students. Try to come up with as many things that you absolutely know about the 1940s.
  4. Listen to and watch the speeches by FDR and fill out the Speech Analysis Form.
    1. Address at Hyde Park, New York.
    2. Statement on Signing the Social Security Act.
    3. Address to Congress Requesting a Declaration of War with Japan.
  5. Discuss the speeches in terms of change and tradition.

Core 3:

  1. Re-introduce taking AR tests. Model etiquette and process. Talk about “Goldilocks” books and reading ranges.
  2. Discuss-On: How can one word cause a story? (For example: Iraq, Trouble, Puke)
  3. In order to fully understand the power of some of these exacting vocabulary words, I would like us to think about the story that each one of them presents.What sorts of images does this word put into your mind? What sorts of actions does this word symbolize? Once you have a good idea of what your word story will be, please draw the images you see in your mind and write the story that the images suggest. Title your page with your single word, but this word does not have to appear anywhere in the story, so long as the entire story represents this word. This is a very interpretive exercise that will allow you to see just how powerful the suggestive nature of words can be.
  4. Present your word stories on the document camera.

Core 4:

  1. Discuss-On: Look at your sheet of brainstormed changes. What are the changes that were the hardest to go through? What makes some changes harder than others?
  2. Discuss 5 Truths of Change. Should we add a few others?
  3. With a partner, fill out the 5 Truths of Change handout. Discuss how these personal changes can relate to cultural/societal change.
  4. Ask for any final observations on change that would be important to discuss before we continue.
  5. On the back of your Truths of Change Handout, please respond to the following quote by Margaret Mead (How does it impact you, this class, or our study of change/persuasion):
“Never doubt that a small, highly committed group of individuals
can change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has.”

09.14.06

Cores 1+3:

  1. Discuss-on: How can words save your life?
  2. Re-introduce vocabulary books for full life-saving effect.
  3. Play Vocabulary Basketball with specific life saving sentences.
    • Get into three/four teams.
    • I will ask you questions about a vocabulary word about synonyms, antonyms, definitions, or parts of speech. You must answer the question and give a sentence that uses the word in life saving situation. For example, “Something within your heart valves is amiss; I must give you CPR now.”

Core 2:

  • When I was in late middle school and early high school, my friend Susie and I would e-mail back and forth our most profound ideas, claiming that with each e-mail we were becoming more intelligent and enlightened. Well, at the end of every e-mail we developed this habit of asking each other questions that had only one answer. It was yet another way of being intellectually elitist. We said things like (these are actual quotations from an e-mail sent on February 1, 1998):
  • What could be more brutal?
  • what could be more refreshing?
  • what could be more devastating?
  • what could be more absolute?
  • what could be more fabulous?
  • what could be more exciting?
  • what could be more brilliant what could be more clueless?
  • what could be more discriminating?
  • what could be more opportunistic?
  • what could be more sad?
  • what could be more amazing?

The answer to these questions was always nothing because what we were talking about were things like truth, change, tradition, hope, and love. As we get ready to go on our second exploration through change, I would like us to take this approach. I would like you to think about change and tradition and ask yourself what both of these are like. Ask yourself, “What could be more…” See which adjectives apply to which abstract concepts.

  • Once you have your list of “What could be more…” questions, I would like you to brainstorm what kinds of change and what kinds of tradition you are talking about in each question.
  • You can now begin thinking about how tradition and change interact with one another.
  • What causes people to change away from tradition?
  • What causes people to fear change away from tradition?
  • Do tradition and change always have to be at odds?
  • What are the absolute truths about change and tradition?

Core 4:

  1. Introduce Brainstorming: We are going to use a lot of paper and markers and ideas today. Today is going to be about producing the most ideas. We will worry about the best ideas later. You see, volume has its advantages sometimes. When you produce ideas voluminously, there is this thing that happens in your mind. You stop seeing boundaries and you start making connections. When you are constantly worried about getting a right answer, it is hard to see what isn’t obvious. We need to be able to say things that are divergent, that are connected but not not the same. Get into groups of four or five. Make sure that you are with people who you can work well with and not those who will distract you.
  • Brainstorm ideas about change and white down ALL responses.
    • What ideas come to mind when you think about change?
    • What kinds of things change? What is it about them that changes?
    • How do you know when something has changed? What evidence do you look for to determine whether a change has occurred?
  • Categorize the ideas that were written down, putting them into groups and giving each group a title.
    • How could you categorize these ideas into groups?
    • What could you call each group? Why?
    • Do all of your changes fall into groups? Might some of them belong in more than one group?
    • Is there a different way you might categorize your ideas? What other categories might you use?
    • What are some of the characteristics of change, based on the ideas you have written?
  • Brainstorm a list of things that do not change.
    • What are some things that do not change? What are some things that always seem the same or always happen the same way?
    • What evidence or proof do you have that these things do not change?
    • How might you group the things that do not change? What can you call each of these groups?
    • How are the groups of things that do not change similar to or different from the groups of things that do change?
    • Think about the following ideas whether they show change: routines or habits, rules and regulations, table manners, laws, customs of cultures. Explain your answers. If they show change, where would they fit into your categories of changes? If they do not, where would they fit into your categories of things that do not change?
  • Make generalizations about change.
    • A generalization is something that is always or almost always true. What generalizations can you make about change? Use your examples and categories to guide your thinking, and write several statements that are generalizations about change.
  • The Five Generalizations/Truths of change.
    • Change is linked to time.
      • How is change linked to time?
      • Are all changes linked to time in the same way?
      • How do some of the changes you listed relate to time?
    • Change may be positive or negative.
      • What is progress?
      • Does change always represent progress?
      • How might a change be thought of as both positive and negative?
    • Change may be perceived as orderly or random.
      • Can we predict change?
      • Select specific changes from your list, and describe which aspects of them can be predicted and which are unpredictable.
      • Even when we know a change will take place, can we always predict exactly how things will turn out?
    • Change is everywhere.
      • Does change apply to all areas of our world?
      • What are some specific changes which are universal, or happen everywhere, and some specific changes that may apply to only a small area at a given time?
    • Change may happen naturally or be caused by people.
      • What causes change?
      • What influence do people have over changes in nature?
      • What influence does nature have over the changes people intended?

09.13.06

I was at home sick today.

Here are the sub plans that I left.