Please use this button on your site for DigiLit Sunday posts
Today for DigiLit Sunday I have something on my mind about this internet PD community. I have tapped into so many teacher challenges this summer I run the risk of being overwhelmed. But instead I am fascinated and wonder what this may mean for my students and for the future of how we educate.
By participating in multiple online learning groups such as the Thinglink Teacher Challenge and Connected Learning (CLMOOC), I connect to other bloggers and find things that pique my interest. For example, Kim Douillard posted a weekly photo challenge in the CLMOOC Facebook group this week. Her blog site is Thinking through my Lens. I have a feeling Kim does not just use her phone for taking pictures, but that’s what I use. This week’s theme was #light. Just after I read her blog post, I took a walk outside to this amazing display of light.
Bayou morning photo by Margaret Simon
Did you say “Ah!”? Yeah, me too. That’s my world and sometimes I forget to appreciate it. So I uploaded my amazing bayou scene to Twitter and got this response from Carol Varsalona.
I will probably do this because I enjoy a challenge and especially one that makes me write. (Did I mention I am also doing Teachers Write camp with Kate Messner?)
So my Digital Learning question is this: How do we tap into student interests and create online learning environments for them to connect to and learn from? I teach gifted children. They have strong interest areas (obsessions, really). They are much more adept at computer skills than I am. Can we do this for them? Or is this being done and I don’t know about it? I did involve my students in the March Slice of Life Challenge put out by the Two (Six) Writing Teachers. They loved it. And for some, it was a deep learning experience.
Enter this conversation by leaving a comment. Should we have a Twitter chat or Google Hang out? I’ve never led one of those myself, but I’m willing to try.
Leave a link to your digilit post here.
Reflections on the Teche 
Margaret, thank you for being so inquisitive about how we can challenge our students while moving our learning forward. I also thank you for sharing my conversation with you. Because I am so committed to extending the writing experience as a collaborative share, I am also intrigued with your notion of allowing our students to feel the richness of an online community of writers. In light of the fact that our students are tech savvy, online communities seems to be the wave of the future. I know that there are teachers who are skyping and communicating via internet similar to the old fashion pen pal exchanges. Others are asking students to share blogs.
Moving toward a global share is an exciting venture in the Information Age. Therefore, I would be interested in discussing this point. I was toying with the idea of opening a REFLECT WITH ME edition for students interested in reflective writing. What do you think?
I look forward to your poetic words to accompany Bayou morning (that has the most amazing display of light).
Regards, Carol
Great idea for a student Reflect With Me edition. I’d definitely sign my kids up. One of the problems I run in to is network blocking. I can sometimes manage to get blog sites open. So far, they have not blocked kidblog which is the format I use with my students. Perhaps we could build a site there for student collaboration.
Margaret and Carol (I immediately followed Carol on Twitter after this ;-)), I think our kids would love this. They certainly love the idea of sharing blogs and Slices of Life. Keep me in mind if you start something! 🙂 BTW, I thought hosting a Twitter chat was pretty easy when using Tweetdeck!
I love light in my the photos I take and I like to see how it changes over the day. I am learning a lot from you Margaret but am unable right now to really dig in. Too much wedding. August brings some more time to ponder and write and engage. Thank you! I love how your share about digital literacies since I am such a beginner in this field and I love trying to learn more!
Ok, I am following both Margaret & Holly so we can continue conversations. #nyedchat (state chat that I am one of the moderators for) has been trying to reach more ed chats to collaborate on ideas. This idea of a Student Version of Reflect With Me should go to #NJNYCOL, the tri-state chat that trended on Twitter late spring. I could resurrect that open Twitter channel for our conversation. This week I am training teachers so I will not be able to discuss this until next week. Let’s explore the idea. In the meantime, I am collecting poem/picrtures for Summer Serenity virtual gallery so spread the word. I use Tweetdeck. Check out #NJNYCOL.
Hello Margaret, this question has been on my mind, especially for connecting Middle School eductators and students, so I created a conversation/collaboration site “Connect in the Middle” and a blog for writing prompts that we all create “Connect 2 Learn.” I created these for middle school educators [teachers, librarians, specialists, principals] to plan and collaborate together. The invitation is here: http://whatelse.edublogs.org/2014/07/09/clmooc-invitation-middle-school-educators/ and I’m writing another post today. What do you think? I love the idea of a chat and hangout as well. Great question.
[…] is the question for DigLit Sunday bloggers from Margaret Simon. Â And I’ve written an invitation to stay connected as Middle School educators here. This […]
Here is my Invitation to Connect for Middle School Educators Blog for this week: http://whatelse.edublogs.org/2014/07/13/clmooc-kd6-invitation/ I hope to see many of you join and help build something that taps into student interest and provides a way for students to be connected learners.
To everyone that’s commented so far…I am so glad to hear about these opportunities. I’ve been wondering the same things and thinking about how to incorporate these opportunities for elementary aged students. My own students love blogging and enjoyed connecting with others through Twitter, Weebly and their Kidblogs. It gets a little trickier with younger kids. The other thing I’ve been thinking about is how to bring these opportunities to teachers within my district. There is so much power in going through this process myself. Please keep me in the loop if you do a Google Hangout or Twitter Chat. Now, I’m off to follow those who I’m not following yet on Twitter. 🙂
After I showed my asst. principal our CLMOOC site, she actually asked the same question – how can we do that with our kids?