Why aren't you trying any of these "15 Things For All Teachers to Try"?

I love this latest drawing from Sylvia Duckworth, inspired by Austin Gagnier (@Austin_Gagnier8).  If only some would  try even one of these things.  It would be a step in the right direction. A seat on the right bus.  A paddle on the right waka.

They are all such powerful and useful things to do I wonder why some teachers are not.  And maybe it is that they don't get why.  Or maybe their school curriculum has been overcrowded with other things to do.  Or maybe they do not have enough devices in their classroom. Or maybe they are afraid.  Or maybe they do not have the support of the leadership of the school.
What is your reason for not doing any one of these things?  I would love to hear.

Googling: Embedding a blog into your site

A couple of people have asked recently how to embed their blog into their site, so I have made this youtube tutorial of two different ways to do this.


If you want to see other tutorials, have a look in my youtube channel.  My videos are made in the traditional Flipping way - warts and all, so I hope they are of use to you.

Upping the ante

With "Connected Educator Month" coming up, it is timely for me to increase my blog output.  The month-long event is a prompt to remind me how much I learn from blogging and to get onto it.  It  is such a useful learning strategy to reflect on what I have learned, and where I am going and sometimes just cogitate.

I sometimes feel that blogging is my outlet for venting frustrations as well but then I remember I should be politically circumspect.  In my work, it pays not to get too "out there" with your political stance - it could get you into trouble as Mr Whale Oil (Cameron Slater) has found out.  I suppose he has made his money in the meantime though.

Blogging is also a way for me to connect with other educators.  Isolation has been one of the barriers I have suffered from (and also enjoyed) in the past. Not just geographically.   My social self is underdeveloped.  I am always the person who stands on the outside of the crowd, the last to be chosen for sports sides, the most likely to not have a date for the ball.  (Despite all that I have a happy marriage (the second of two, in fact),  lifelong friends and a great career.)

Blogging gives me an added dimension.  I have a voice.  It is not restricted by social mores.  So, over the next month, I am going to put myself out there more often, more regularly and more directly.  My goal is to blog once a day over connected educator month, at the end of the day.  With something to say, or not.  Getting on this bus and going for a ride.

Let'e see what comes out of it.

Why do people blog?

Blogging is in the news!  

What a storm over the weekend following the release of Nicky Hagar's book.  After a conversation with a colleague about blogging last week, I had a few thoughts.  The conversation was around why she kept her blog private.  I was thinking that blogs should be about putting yourself out there.            

• Expressing who you are and what you think.  
• Putting your personality into print, and pictures, and videos and as Allanah King  says it, putting Bling in Your Blog so people will know what identifies you from others.  
• Connecting with the world.  
• Putting your opinions on the line.  
• Putting yourself up for critiquing.  
• Not being aftraid of making mistakes.  
• Learning from your mistakes. 
• Asking for feedback from the world.  
• Blogging is kind of like the news with your opinion attached. (I suppose all news is really just that, with someones opinion attached.)  
• A blog can get you feedback.  
• It can help you learn - how to read and write are just two of the ways.  
• It can help you formulate your opinions.  
• It can help you change your mind.

Over the weekend I began to think there were a number of occasions when it would be good to keep your blog private.

Firstly for privacy reasons.  No, I mean that, maybe you dont want people to recognise you and come and hunt you down or stalk you for anything you might have said that they disagree with.
Secondly for reason of private reflection.  Reflection is how we learn from our experiences and also sometimes we want to keep those experiences (and reflections) private.  For example, maybe someone has been an a...hole at work.  And you just need reflection time and thought to get over it.  Or you may want to take it further and you dont want to prejudice your options.
Thirdly, maybe you are trying to grow an idea or a community, and you don't want people to see the tender seedling of your idea/ community at its young and vulnerable stage, before it has grown into a massive oak tree of an idea.
Fourthly, blogging can be just like an eportfolio which can be a showcase, process or accountability.  Maybe you just show the bits of it that you want to, to the relevant people.
Fifthly, I guess that blogging can be like a private journal - but does that make it a blog?  Stephen Downes says that a blog has always been more than just a online version of a private journal.  Blogging is after all short for Weblogging.  So shouldn't it be out there, on the web?

Once again, I ask you graciously for feedback.


Reference
Downes, S. (2004) Educational Blogging

Copyright

There's a new round of interesting challenges flooding Facebook at the moment.  It involves sharing an artist's name and the recipient (or liker of your post) has to find a work on Google by that artist and put it up on facebook and the first person who likes that artwork, receives another artist's name to continue the game. I guess its kind of like a chain letter.
I like lots of different art, so was tempted to join in, and then realised the difficulty in getting permission to use the images so pulled out.  What a plonker they probably think I am.  But it really is a dilemma.  How can I go round espousing the responsibilities of digital citizens if I don't play by the same rules?
The images on facebook are sometimes directly from the artist and usually require specific permission.  Sometimes they have been copied - and then who owns the rights?  Is it the original artist who may or may not have given permission or is it the copier who may have used it and adjusted it in some way?
And then there is the issue of all the shared jokes and stories.  Are we allowed to share them?  What a can of worms!
Creative Commons, I hear you all saying.  But these copyright-free or otherwise images do not often contain the very art that you desire.  I also need to learn a lot more about how long after death copyright is still an issue.
A hint that I can give about searching for suitable images: Make sure you search images using google Search Tools that give you appropriate permissions.

And when you find an image that suits you, check again on the image details, by visiting the page the image is sourced from.  You may find that all rights are reserved, like in this one.

It is not as straight forward as you would hope.  Dammit!