Week 10 Blog and Gator

Clarence Fisher writes about how his students demonstrate learning. Find one of his stories and write about it.
I read an article written by Fisher, "Units as Mash- Ups" and thought wow. I really liked the point that he was trying to convey about units of study being woven together with many layers of learning. The content of a unit does not have to be taught in a chronological order, because not all learners comprehend the content in the same way. The idea of throwing in multiple ways to learn content, is very appealing. Offering students the opportunity to voice their thoughts and learn from one another through technological tools such as blogs, wiki, and podcasts is such a great way to build up students' interest in learning. Giving students the chance for individual reflections, creates another avenue of learning the content ( in a much more appealing way for most learners).

How are other teachers writing about what's happening in their classrooms?
Teachers are writing about what's happening in their classrooms through websites, chat rooms, scholarly articles, newsletters, wiki, blogs, podcasts, and many more sources. I think one of the popular sources for teachers to reflect about their classrooms is through personal web pages. At my school, we have personal web pages that are a way to post learning successes and keep parents informed about important news. I think that we can learn from others' web pages and adapt new ideas to try in our own classrooms.

There's a lot of buzz about "portfolio" out there. What's the big deal?
Portfolios have negative and positive connotations. To me, portfolios have a positive impact on students. Yes, standardized portfolios are frowned upon by classroom teachers and students that have to complete them. Luckily, less emphasis is put upon the scoring of portfolios this year, although students are required to have a working portfolio. Students need be aware of the different forms and purposes of writing. Requiring students to include different types of writing pieces in their portfolio (personal narrative, transactive piece, etc.), builds their writing skills and assists them in becoming better writers. Putting together a portfolio, helps students have more tools to use as they write.