Looking through some blogs that I normally follow (and some I don't) I have seen quite a few post by people offering tips to beginning bloggers. One I found via Free Tech 4 Teachers. Another I found via my Twitter account through Liz Davis and her blog. Since I am rather new to the idea of blogging I thought I would share some of the ideas that I felt have helped me. Most importantly though, once you have that one post everyone reads, more and more people will follow your blog. Thinking creatively is very important. Hope these help.
1.) Daily Post Focus - Have something you know you will want to post each day. Create a catchy title. These will most likely make people want to come back to your blog to see what your daily post is for that day. It gives you and your readers a purpose for your blog. Here are my daily focus topics.
2.) Tracking and Statistics - It is great to know who is visiting your site and from where. Feedjit is a great example. It helped me realize I needed to have Google Translate as an option on my blog because I realized I had people visiting from all over the world. It also helps you know what site brought people to your blog, as well as what sites people are leaving your blog too.
3.) Share and Quote - Share other bloggers that you follow through a Blogroll. Depending on the blog service you are using will determine how you can create a Blogroll. If you are sharing information from another blogger be sure to link to their page and/or quote their original information. Never claim what is not your own. It will be hard to make friends in the blogging world.
4.) Exposure - Get your name and blog out there. Join Twitter. If you are not on Twitter, here is why you should join. If you join Twitter, or are already on Twitter, Follow me. Post your blog on the Moving Forward Wiki and other Educational Wiki's. Claim your Blog on Technorati. Create Social Bookmarking accounts so that you can save links from your blog and create a network with other people. Join some Ning's and communicate and share with others who would be interested in reading your blog...that is what first got my blog some exposure. Share any network you belong to on your blog as well so that others can connect with you. Include an RSS reader as well so that people can subscribe to your blog. Feedburner is what I use and recommend.
5.) Tagging and Searching - Make sure that the tags for your blog post are relative and meaningful. Make sure that you include broad tags and specific tags so that it broadens their relevancy. Include a Search toolbar within your blog so that readers can easily find material within your blog that they might be looking for. Make your blog searchable by adding it to Google.
Do you have a blog? Share your blog with me. I am always looking for new blogs to follow and search through.
Have you enjoyed your visit to my blog? Let me know.
Hope that you find this information useful. Please share and spread the word!
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Friday, January 8, 2010
Friday Focus #3 - Online Sticky Notes Collaboration
What I consider to be one of the best Web 2.0 resources are the new Online Sticky Note Collaboration websites. There are four such websites that I have come across for Sticky Note Collaboration. The one I have used the most and like the most is Wallwisher. The others are Stixy, Pindax, and Lino. Below you will find a brief description of each as well as links to sample boards that you can visit and mess around on to see the similarities and differences in them.
I had an original Post on Wallwisher when I first started this Blog, in fact it was my first post. In that post you can read about how to set up an account and the benefits of using it in the classroom. I also have a link to a Wall that I created hoping to get ideas from readers. So if you have ideas, please share them on that Wall.
I like Wallwisher because it is easy to setup up an account, it is very user friendly (especially for those less tech savvy teachers.), and the creation of a URL that you determine makes it very easy to share. A teacher at my school used Wallwisher to ask her students about ideas for a technology project and I used it to survey the teachers at my school for their views on the Trimester schedule. I also realized that you could use it as a method of Peer Review. Students could post a link to their assignment and then it could be peer reviewed on Wallwisher.
Lino it has some features that Wallwisher does not have, but for advanced users Lino offers some great advantages and features. One of the similar features is NO EMAIL VERIFICATION! Lino uses the term Canvas instead of walls. What I don't like is that the Canvas is a limited Space. You know how much space you have, but it is limited. If you get a lot of Stickers, then it can be crowded. When you create a new canvas you give it a name, select the background, choose the Access to the canvas (Private, Semi Private, or Public) and then some other details (RSS, Email options).
Once you create the Canvas the Sticky Note options are rather easy to use and offer a lot of good features. You of course have your choice of color for your note and can even make a transparent one. You can attach images, video URLs from YouTube and Vimeo, as well as attach a file. Those are some of the features that Wallwisher is lacking better ability to do. There is a calendar built in to the Canvas as well as links to other canvas'. You can highlight new post to your canvas as well. I have created a generic canvas that you are welcome to visit and play around on to see its features. You can also visit a Canvas created by Lino that tells you how to use their site.. If you create a Canvas it can be embedded into a Blog or website as well. Within the Sticky Note you can add Tags, choose your font size, font color, an icon, a Due Date (could be useful for assignments), and send the Post in an email or to another user on Lino.
PinDax considers itself an Online Message Board. Creating an account is easy. A great thing is there is NO EMAIL VERIFICATION...but at the same time...no email is even required. Setting up your account is easy. There are plenty of options when joining PinDax. Your home screen gives you access your Boards, Groups, Profile, Polls, Favorites, Short URL's, Messages and then your Profile. One thing I do like is there is a constant sidebar with access to everything on your home screen.
When creating a New Board you provide a name and a description, choose the Look and Feel, Tools, Privacy, and Users. You can choose the font for your Post-Its (Handwritten, Business, or Typewriter) and the Color Scheme for the Board. There are tons of tools for the Post, to many to name here, but great features. You can even choose an expiration date for the Board. Within Privacy you can require a Password, Limit to a group of people, and make it searchable. You can then also select User Privileges.
When you have created a Board you get a endless Board. Moving through the Board is rather easy, but can be difficult if you get a lot of Post. Trying to explain how the board looks and what you can do is kind of difficult to do. I suggest visiting the Online Message Board I created for this Blog to get an idea of how it can be used.
With Stixy you create a Stixyboard. It has a lot of the same features as the others mentioned in this blog post. Sign up is easy and NO EMAIL VERIFICATION is required. Your login is your email address, so no Username creation is required either. I have created a sample Stixyboard for you to access and try out its features.
The features are fairly user friendly. You can add Post-its, pictures, files, or even a To Do Post-It. What I like about Stixy is that when you click to add a Post, it changes the color of the Stixyboard making it easy to know you are doing something different. The Post are considered adding a Widget, so it gives you quite a few options. Adding Photos, gives you quite a few features and adding a document is easy as well.
Wallwisher is still my favorite, but I think that is because I am most familiar with it. After doing the research for this Blog, I would have to say that Stixy is one that I could see myself using more in the future following by Lino and then Pindax.
What about you...which one(s) do you prefer? Which have you used in your professional life?
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I had an original Post on Wallwisher when I first started this Blog, in fact it was my first post. In that post you can read about how to set up an account and the benefits of using it in the classroom. I also have a link to a Wall that I created hoping to get ideas from readers. So if you have ideas, please share them on that Wall.
I like Wallwisher because it is easy to setup up an account, it is very user friendly (especially for those less tech savvy teachers.), and the creation of a URL that you determine makes it very easy to share. A teacher at my school used Wallwisher to ask her students about ideas for a technology project and I used it to survey the teachers at my school for their views on the Trimester schedule. I also realized that you could use it as a method of Peer Review. Students could post a link to their assignment and then it could be peer reviewed on Wallwisher.
Lino it has some features that Wallwisher does not have, but for advanced users Lino offers some great advantages and features. One of the similar features is NO EMAIL VERIFICATION! Lino uses the term Canvas instead of walls. What I don't like is that the Canvas is a limited Space. You know how much space you have, but it is limited. If you get a lot of Stickers, then it can be crowded. When you create a new canvas you give it a name, select the background, choose the Access to the canvas (Private, Semi Private, or Public) and then some other details (RSS, Email options).
Once you create the Canvas the Sticky Note options are rather easy to use and offer a lot of good features. You of course have your choice of color for your note and can even make a transparent one. You can attach images, video URLs from YouTube and Vimeo, as well as attach a file. Those are some of the features that Wallwisher is lacking better ability to do. There is a calendar built in to the Canvas as well as links to other canvas'. You can highlight new post to your canvas as well. I have created a generic canvas that you are welcome to visit and play around on to see its features. You can also visit a Canvas created by Lino that tells you how to use their site.. If you create a Canvas it can be embedded into a Blog or website as well. Within the Sticky Note you can add Tags, choose your font size, font color, an icon, a Due Date (could be useful for assignments), and send the Post in an email or to another user on Lino.
PinDax considers itself an Online Message Board. Creating an account is easy. A great thing is there is NO EMAIL VERIFICATION...but at the same time...no email is even required. Setting up your account is easy. There are plenty of options when joining PinDax. Your home screen gives you access your Boards, Groups, Profile, Polls, Favorites, Short URL's, Messages and then your Profile. One thing I do like is there is a constant sidebar with access to everything on your home screen.
When creating a New Board you provide a name and a description, choose the Look and Feel, Tools, Privacy, and Users. You can choose the font for your Post-Its (Handwritten, Business, or Typewriter) and the Color Scheme for the Board. There are tons of tools for the Post, to many to name here, but great features. You can even choose an expiration date for the Board. Within Privacy you can require a Password, Limit to a group of people, and make it searchable. You can then also select User Privileges.
When you have created a Board you get a endless Board. Moving through the Board is rather easy, but can be difficult if you get a lot of Post. Trying to explain how the board looks and what you can do is kind of difficult to do. I suggest visiting the Online Message Board I created for this Blog to get an idea of how it can be used.
With Stixy you create a Stixyboard. It has a lot of the same features as the others mentioned in this blog post. Sign up is easy and NO EMAIL VERIFICATION is required. Your login is your email address, so no Username creation is required either. I have created a sample Stixyboard for you to access and try out its features.
The features are fairly user friendly. You can add Post-its, pictures, files, or even a To Do Post-It. What I like about Stixy is that when you click to add a Post, it changes the color of the Stixyboard making it easy to know you are doing something different. The Post are considered adding a Widget, so it gives you quite a few options. Adding Photos, gives you quite a few features and adding a document is easy as well.
Wallwisher is still my favorite, but I think that is because I am most familiar with it. After doing the research for this Blog, I would have to say that Stixy is one that I could see myself using more in the future following by Lino and then Pindax.
What about you...which one(s) do you prefer? Which have you used in your professional life?
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Think Twice Thursday #1 - Education Humor
So what is the purpose behind Think Twice Thursday's? To share a resource, website, article, or blog that you should think twice about using, visiting, following, sharing, and/or subscribing too. So I start off this week posting about a blog that I voted for in the New Blog Category of the 2009 Edublog Awards. In education we can always count on some stressful times when it comes to testing, NCLB, RTI, technology integration, lesson planning, duties, coaching, and oh yeah.....teaching. So for many of us, humor can be a source of relief. But the best humor for me always has to deal with education.
Right now you could probably think of a situation in teaching, or something a student said or did that would make you laugh right now. That is one of the joys of teaching. Well This Week's Education Humor helps to organize many of our thoughts and experiences into a blog worth thinking twice about visiting, as well as sharing with your colleagues; I did.
What I like about the blog is all the connections to experiences in the classroom, experiences with administration, and experiences with students and parents. There are two categories that his post fall under that I have seen so far; School Stories and a Learning Laffs List. He also has cartoons titled "Schoolies" and "Mr Woodhead" that he has created and shares within his blog that are funny and worth printing and taping to your file cabinet, or pinning to a bulletin board.
Below is the first post I read when I visited for the first time. The post that got my attention. I am only copying and pasting it completely because as my reader I want you to see how clever and funny the post really are.
NEW EUPHEMISMS FOR BAD STUFF AT SCHOOL
Time-out - "An Isolated Reflection Interval"
Detention - "Post-instructional Behavioral Adjustment Period"
Course Failure - "Unrequested Course Re-registration"
Incomplete Course Grade - "An Unrequited Educational Encounter"
Suspension - "Mandatory Discontinued Attendance"
In-School Suspension - "Mandatory Academically Unassigned Attendance"
Absence - "A Non-school Learning Experience"
Truancy - "An Undocumented Non-school Learning Experience"
Seating Assignment Change - "An Intraclassroom Transfer"
Sent to the Principal - "Compulsory Administrative Consultation"
Retention - "Lateral Academic Advancement"
The author of the Blog also has a website that he has created, LearningLaffs, which I also recommend that you take some time and visit. It is where you can find an archive of everything on the blog as well as other list, cartoons, videos, and humor. You can also order collections of his cartoons as well as shirts. Maybe I can convince the Principal at my school to order some of these for our staff shirts?
So when times get tough, or you are just having one of those days, think twice about taking it out on your students, coworkers, or family, and get a dose of humor instead.
Time-out - "An Isolated Reflection Interval"
Detention - "Post-instructional Behavioral Adjustment Period"
Course Failure - "Unrequested Course Re-registration"
Incomplete Course Grade - "An Unrequited Educational Encounter"
Suspension - "Mandatory Discontinued Attendance"
In-School Suspension - "Mandatory Academically Unassigned Attendance"
Absence - "A Non-school Learning Experience"
Truancy - "An Undocumented Non-school Learning Experience"
Seating Assignment Change - "An Intraclassroom Transfer"
Sent to the Principal - "Compulsory Administrative Consultation"
Retention - "Lateral Academic Advancement"
The author of the Blog also has a website that he has created, LearningLaffs, which I also recommend that you take some time and visit. It is where you can find an archive of everything on the blog as well as other list, cartoons, videos, and humor. You can also order collections of his cartoons as well as shirts. Maybe I can convince the Principal at my school to order some of these for our staff shirts?
So when times get tough, or you are just having one of those days, think twice about taking it out on your students, coworkers, or family, and get a dose of humor instead.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Wiki Wednesday #1 - Moving Foward
A great Wiki, and probably one of the first websites I found when starting my new position as a Technology Integration Specialist is the Moving Forward Wiki by Dr. Scott McLeod. "The Moving Forward wiki houses a collection of resources to help presenters and change agents as they help move schools and universities forward into the 21st century." Dr. Scott McLeod is rather well known in the Education community for his work with the Did You Know; Shift Happens Videos with his partner Mr. Karl Fisch. If you have not seen them, I highly suggest that you view them. You can see them at a Wiki I created for Embedding Education Videos, or here, or here, the Shift Happens Wiki.
What I like about the Moving Forward Wiki is the amount of user submitted Blogs (General and Subject Specific), Podcast, Digital Story Telling, Web 2.0 Resources, and Wikis (Many which you will see shared on Wednesday's in the future). He also has sections on the Wiki dedicated to Parents, Students, Administrators, and Teachers. The idea behind the Moving Forward Wiki is to gather as many resources related to 21st Century education and store them in one central location.
Another neat feature of the Wiki is a list of Model Schools (United States and World). These are schools that are modeling themselves to be users 21st Century Education Tools. Each school is broken down in to different categories based on user submissions. What schools in your state or country are 21st Century Schools?
You can follow Dr. Scott McLeod and Mr. Karl Fisch on Twitter as well. Take some time, visit the Moving Forward Wiki, and support its purpose by submitting your own resources. As a visitor to this blog, and hopefully a visitor to the Moving Forward Wiki, what have you submitted? Or for that matter what can you submit? If you have submitted or do submit a resource to this Wiki, share with my readers what you shared by commenting on this post and linking to your resource so others know where to find it. I posted my Blog and have had several visitors reach my blog from the Moving Forward Wiki. What about you?
What I like about the Moving Forward Wiki is the amount of user submitted Blogs (General and Subject Specific), Podcast, Digital Story Telling, Web 2.0 Resources, and Wikis (Many which you will see shared on Wednesday's in the future). He also has sections on the Wiki dedicated to Parents, Students, Administrators, and Teachers. The idea behind the Moving Forward Wiki is to gather as many resources related to 21st Century education and store them in one central location.
Another neat feature of the Wiki is a list of Model Schools (United States and World). These are schools that are modeling themselves to be users 21st Century Education Tools. Each school is broken down in to different categories based on user submissions. What schools in your state or country are 21st Century Schools?
You can follow Dr. Scott McLeod and Mr. Karl Fisch on Twitter as well. Take some time, visit the Moving Forward Wiki, and support its purpose by submitting your own resources. As a visitor to this blog, and hopefully a visitor to the Moving Forward Wiki, what have you submitted? Or for that matter what can you submit? If you have submitted or do submit a resource to this Wiki, share with my readers what you shared by commenting on this post and linking to your resource so others know where to find it. I posted my Blog and have had several visitors reach my blog from the Moving Forward Wiki. What about you?
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Twitter Tuesday #1
Well, my recent blog post about Twitter being shared on Twitter created quite a buzz about my Blog and I am rather excited about the growth of my blog, my Twitter followers, and my growth professionally since that post (Is that a record for mentioning "Twitter," "blog," and "post" in ONE sentence?)
Well, here is my first official Tuesday Twitter Focus post. There are quite a few things that I want to touch on relating to Twitter that I have discovered:
The first is a group of teenagers on Twitter that I follow; TechXav. As their website boast, they are "a group of young and zealous teens, ranging from the age of 11-15." They provide some great Twitter post relating to all things technology, but at the same time, they have post that relate to Educational Technology. The kids are from Singapore and the United States...talk about Global Collaboration! What I like about reading their Blog is that I get a dose of humor, as well as information. If you don't follow them, or have not seen their website, I recommend doing so. One recent post is related to Twitter....Flocking.me. I want to give them credit for showcasing an interesting way to follow your friends on Twitter. It Flocking.me could be used to help separate your professional and personal followers on Twitter. I also think these teens are a great example of why we need to promote more technology in the classroom. Learn about them here.
Since I am fairly new to Twitter, I am sure some of you are as well. Shared on Twitter recently by some of the people that I follow: Web20Classroom and NMHS_Principal, is the The Twitter Guidebook. Might be worth checking out to help increase your knowledge about Twitter.
Shared on Twitter by ShellTerrell, a blog post discussing what you might call yourself on Twitter. A great link in the Blog Post is a way to find your Twitter Birthday. Let me know when your birthday is and we can throw a party....on Twitter of course. Mine by the way is October 2nd, 2009. Be sure to put it on your calendar. If you want to get me a gift, I am a sucker for Jelly Belly candies...but not the nasty ones like popcorn and licorice.
But the Blog Post in general brings up an interesting point/question. Do we have titles for Twitter Experts, Novices, or those that distringuish themselves on Twitter because of what they post? Then I thought, surely there is a Twitter Dictionary....and there is! Twictionary can help you give yourself a title, maybe someone you follow, or your tweets.
Maybe we should all create a Twitter Alias based on how we Tweet. Based on our Twitter Alias we can create a Twitter Assassin game. You must Tweet the person you are given before they tweet the person they are given....last one standing wins (prize to be determined later.) Of course I can read the news headline now "Teachers/Educators participate in Twitter Assassin game."
Have fun on Twitter....I sure have been!
Well, here is my first official Tuesday Twitter Focus post. There are quite a few things that I want to touch on relating to Twitter that I have discovered:
The first is a group of teenagers on Twitter that I follow; TechXav. As their website boast, they are "a group of young and zealous teens, ranging from the age of 11-15." They provide some great Twitter post relating to all things technology, but at the same time, they have post that relate to Educational Technology. The kids are from Singapore and the United States...talk about Global Collaboration! What I like about reading their Blog is that I get a dose of humor, as well as information. If you don't follow them, or have not seen their website, I recommend doing so. One recent post is related to Twitter....Flocking.me. I want to give them credit for showcasing an interesting way to follow your friends on Twitter. It Flocking.me could be used to help separate your professional and personal followers on Twitter. I also think these teens are a great example of why we need to promote more technology in the classroom. Learn about them here.
Since I am fairly new to Twitter, I am sure some of you are as well. Shared on Twitter recently by some of the people that I follow: Web20Classroom and NMHS_Principal, is the The Twitter Guidebook. Might be worth checking out to help increase your knowledge about Twitter.
Shared on Twitter by ShellTerrell, a blog post discussing what you might call yourself on Twitter. A great link in the Blog Post is a way to find your Twitter Birthday. Let me know when your birthday is and we can throw a party....on Twitter of course. Mine by the way is October 2nd, 2009. Be sure to put it on your calendar. If you want to get me a gift, I am a sucker for Jelly Belly candies...but not the nasty ones like popcorn and licorice.
But the Blog Post in general brings up an interesting point/question. Do we have titles for Twitter Experts, Novices, or those that distringuish themselves on Twitter because of what they post? Then I thought, surely there is a Twitter Dictionary....and there is! Twictionary can help you give yourself a title, maybe someone you follow, or your tweets.
Maybe we should all create a Twitter Alias based on how we Tweet. Based on our Twitter Alias we can create a Twitter Assassin game. You must Tweet the person you are given before they tweet the person they are given....last one standing wins (prize to be determined later.) Of course I can read the news headline now "Teachers/Educators participate in Twitter Assassin game."
Have fun on Twitter....I sure have been!
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