I’ve been busy with learning my way around my new job, but EVERYONE is busy. Honestly, I have been doing more microblogging than before, and that’s taken time that I could have used to write a quick post here and there. (And yet, my colleagues on Plurk have actually SAVED me hours by offering quick answers to my often complicated questions. The collective knowledge of my network of online friends who are educational technology experts all over the world – my professional learning network, hereafter referred to as my PLN -   is amazing! And worthy of great awe on my part.

At any rate, in order to teach my new fifth and sixth grade students the importance of blogging and commenting (and how they are inherently related), I need to step up and walk the walk. So, here we go.

Yesterday’s challenge to myself and my students was to see if we could manage to get all of the network permissions in place to allow all students in my two computer labs to create their own personal avatars on Kidzui. We did get this accomplished – sort of. As I perused the results of yesterday’s class time after the students had left, I discovered that a few of students did not follow some specific directions that I had given for the set-up of their accounts. As I was very clear about how watchful I would be over their accounts and avatars’ behaviors, I had no qualms about promptly deleting those students’ accounts and avatars. Those students and I will talk briefly about this today, and they’ll have another opportunity to follow my specific directions. I will be very clear that additional instances of not following directions will be noted and considered when looking at other opportunities for students to interact with others online; yet, if this was a “one-off” (and possibly related to the 10-minute interruption to class for a scheduled tornado drill) then no other consequences will come of yesterday’s blip. (But I must note that more than 85% of the class was able to follow the directions, and they had the same interruption.)

Anyway, today they will navigate their way around the extensive world that Kidzui has provided. Some will dabble there this weekend, no doubt. It’s a pretty cool place!

But next week, we begin our investigation into the concept of student blogging. Due to MAP testing, we’re computer-less for three days, so I plan to use that time to do some rare teacher-directed reading of a variety of student blogs using the LCD projector. This will give us an opportunity to talk about the purpose of blogging, how it relates to their learning (even state standards, wink, nudge), and why reading/commenting on other students’ blogs is an important and awesome responsibility as a part of the process.

By Thursday, when we return to our lab, I hope to have the shell created that will become the home for their blogs. I’m still waffling between using a Glogster home page for each student on a class wiki space or a cleaner/simpler student blog space. Hopefully, my PLN will be able to help me sort that out this weekend!

In the meantime, please DO leave a comment if you have any advice, words of encouragement, or suggestions for student blogs that are currently up and running and open to comments from my awesome students!