link to newsletter

After many attempts to publish my newsletter to my blog, I am resigning to publish a link for your ease. Sorry for my inability to make it work.

Lori Day
Educ 422, section 37

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dck7z93j_4dw94t8fn&hl=en

Don't Feed the Trolls

For this weeks blog I chose to read the article "Don't Feed the Trolls" by Karen Work Richardson. This article outlines procedures for incorporating blogs into a classroom environment to enrich the learning experience. The term trolls is defined by Wikipedia as "a person who posts rude or offensive messages on the Internet, such as in online discussion forums, to disrupt discussion or to upset its participants." The author also quotes an AOL article by Timothy Campbell, who suggests that the only way to deal with trolls is to ignore them. There are many suggestions as to how to best lead the participants towards good behavior. Some guidelines make suggestions as to how best to word postings to lessen any misunderstanding. Other sites are more vague in how they deal with any offensive language. I found the article interesting in that the author feels that blogs are a good way to teach civil discourse, stating that in blogs the conversations are captured and this allows for reflection, unlike face-to-face conversations. I agree with the author when she states that both classroom interaction must embrace and demonstrate civil discourse. Her statement that "civil discourse forms the foundation of a democratic society" is very accurate. We are a society made up of different people with different opinions and our very strength is in recognizing these differences in a respectful manner.

Q1. What is a good first step in discussing civil discourse?
A1. According to the article, a good first step is to review the rules we already know. These rules regarding how to treat others are taught to us in the very beginning and the lessons continue throughout our lives.

Q2. What is the most important part of helping our students learn about civil discourse?
A1. The most important part of helping our students learn about civil discourse is in modeling the behavior ourselves. "As an adult, your conduct needs to be not merely acceptable but exemplary.” Our students will learn from our example.

Chatting it up online

"Chatting It Up Online" by Pamela Livingston. This article discussed the process of students participating in a live chat with an author. The article was interesting in that many people may not realize what opportunities there are for chatting on line with a "famous" person. I can see how this would interest the avid readers of this particular author. I can also see how this might spread interest to students who were not yet readers of this particular series. The advice regarding the set up was very informational and really would be helpful to others wanting to set up such as session for their students. It was also very helpful to have the issues outlined which were discovered during the preparation process, such as dealing with the light from windows and how the school network limited access.

Q1. What difficulties did you encounter during the preliminary process?

A1. The author outlined several issues concerning the school network, which they bypassed, testing the connection during the time of day the chat would take place, having the questions before the day of the chat, and even down to blocking the sun glaring on the screen.

Q2. What were the benefits to this type of encounter, versus writing a letter to the author?

A2. The benefits for the students were that their questions were answered very quickly, as opposed to waiting weeks for a return letter and also the boys were addressed by name, which involved them directly in the exchange.