webgina's chat

LAUNCHED… my first class blog….

webgina — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 00:12:13 +0000

now, to just get the students to start writing….

Extra Resources

webgina — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 04:26:26 +0000

Time to work on embedding more items…

Here’s a little item that was too big to work as a sidebar widget–the text got all scrunched down and was impossible to read: Resources for English Students at E.P.I.E.:

(hmmmmm… i guess widgets can only go into widget boxes on the sidebar…)

Now… let’s try the Language Learning + Web 2.0 video…

Download Video: Posted by bcgstanley at TeacherTube.com.

… and another one on integrating technology into your lesson plans:

Download Video: Posted by rashida at TeacherTube.com.

more fun + games coming soon (still have to do the podcast!)

Passion + Week 4, Task #1

webgina — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 00:53:14 +0000

Both Paul + Konrad discuss a common phenomenon: being lost in the moment, or “flow” [says Konrad], or “passion-driven” inquiry [says Paul]. Anyone who has experienced being totally focused and immersed in their work, to such an extent that time stands still, knows how wonderfully, highly productive and satisfying this can be. I would love to help my students get deeply, passionately involved in their projects and language learning.

I really like Paul’s matrix. It helps me by giving me a list of sources, links, and options (sites for Creative Commons images, for example) and the podcasting tips have encouraged me to move this next step up to the top of my “To-Try List.” Paul also has a handy dandy scripted response for comments. This will be an important assist for my ESOL students who might not feel comfortable cold commenting on each other’s posts.

… my two cents… let’s keep the conversation rolling….

What kind of blogger are you?

webgina — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 23:55:37 +0000

… asked Carla and invited us to check out Vicky Davis’s slideshow on blogging styles.

I guess this would be a Meme Blog… since I’m inviting you all to respond to the query (and thereby providing me with an excuse for some interesting tags, more playing around with Technorati and Pageflakes, and a foray into hyperlinking)… I’ve gotten totally distracted from the actual workshop tasks but I really want to get caught up, get away from this Life Blog, and launch my classroom blogs (Feature Blog?) in the next few weeks…

Please tag your posts: Gina_Blog_Type_Question

More responses, more fiddling around

webgina — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 13:04:21 +0000

… It is a beautiful, sunny day outside… perfect to spend the day indoors banging away at this blog. My friend Jill reminds me that you need to make blogging a daily habit in order for it to be successful. She’s been at it a year… She is also much more self-disciplined then I am…

My mac mail account seems not to be accepting anymore email–nothing new has come in since 2pm yesterday, which is a bit odd… no doubt the two EVO groups have flooded the server… I’ve emptied the trash. I guess I’ll just have to weed thru some more of the stuff in my inbox. I’m down to 98 unopened emails–from 138 yesterday.

More fiddling: Let’s try embedding a photo… Part of the problem is that I rarely take photos, so don’t have anything particularly interesting to add…

… this should work with video clips too, I imagine… onwards + upwards… I’ll have to search for something more interesting than these photos of me!

Catching up on Comments: Blogging as a Teaching Tool, not just Blogging for the Sake of Blogging…

webgina — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 22:59:13 +0000

Hello all,

I’m finally getting around to answering the comments and queries. Thank you all who’ve offered constructive advice and encouragement. The Voki is behaving itself and no longer aggressively taking over the sidebar, Feevy seems to be working (although it won’t display my friend SandiaCala’s blog, but you can check out some of the others…), I checked out the tutorial on Widgetboxes, so that’ll be “coming soon”!

Daniela asked: “What are your favorite blogs to use with the students in class?”… The truth of the matter is I haven’t yet started blogging with my students. I’m still fiddling with the technology and thinking about what exactly I want to do. I want to use blogs as a useful tool to teach (English), and not get stuck in the technology for technology’s sake. I did talk to one of my classes about setting up some blogs and the response was overwhelmingly positive…

So, be patient a little longer and keep watching the site!

Vokis… [or would the plural be vokies?]

webgina — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 23:55:52 +0000

… a first play with Vokis. I haven’t been able to figure out how to embed a Voki into the sidebar but have a query into St. James of the Edublog Support Page… however, let’s multitask + use this opportunity to add some interesting tags to make sure Technorati is picking this up…

5 things the other participants don’t know about me…

webgina — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 03:44:11 +0000

Since this is meant to be a tagging exercise (as well as mildly entertaining), I’ll try to come up with some really strange entries to see how far and wide the tagging net will get cast….

1) I have a horse living in retirement in New Jersey.

2) I play on a co-ed soccer team in Manhattan and a women’s team on Long Island.

3) I love to bake but hate to cook.

4) I fantasize about moving to Chile.

5) The next language I want to learn is Korean.

… now, aren’t you glad you asked?

RSS … or the Key to the Magic Kingdom

webgina — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 03:49:16 +0000

RSS is that magic tool that I have been waiting for! I moved away from the Internet (and surfing) some years ago, and just never really got into blogging because I felt absolutely overwhelmed by all the stuff out there and found it simply too time consuming to wade through all the garbage for the nuggets that were actually of use or of interest to me.

RSS will tempt me back into the pool again by letting me set up links and feeds that are of specific interest and of use to me. An aggregator such as Google Reader will wrangle new material from these sites, blogs, and pages that I have selected and collect and send me updated stuff in a condensed form, rather than my having to manually go to all those sites and surf through everything to find new posts and material. I can then decide which material I want to read and what can get chucked–a HUGE time saver…. Now will it also do the laundry for me?

RSS is extremely important for educators, since students will be able to control and locate information that is germane, rather than endlessly plowing through useless stuff. Teachers can set up specific RSS feeds or link the class to each others’ sites. It is all about controlling the rate, content, and flow of information and using time efficiently. However, like all powerful tools, students need to be taught how to use RSS effectively.

Right now, for my own blogging use, I plan to use RSS to set up feeds from several blogs that I’ve begun following in the last few days, and, like all newly-converted, I plan to tell EVERYONE about RSS, since I’m sure half the people I know have no clue it exists!!!

Blog on baby!

introductions… scene 1, take 3

webgina — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 04:13:33 +0000

For those of you who’ve actually been checking the site out on a regular basis, this is the third design in as many days (and if you are one of those people who has been checking out this site on a regular basis… well… you are either related to me or you have too much time on your hands)

My fellow EVO Blogging Classmates who are struggling with the edublogs site: I highly recommend you check out the FAQs and the edublogs group forums. Complete strangers have answered my queries quickly and intelligently. A nice, friendly, and helpful community seems to be lurking behind these pages….

Stayed tuned… hopefully I’ll be through with this beginner’s phase and can get some student categories up soon.

Gina