Session+5


 * Below, you will see I have included a number links to the websites Hicks notes in Chapter 2.**


 * __ During Reading/While Reading __: As you read the chapter, please take the time to STOP YOUR READING and spend a few minutes to visit these links. This will help you more fully understand Hicks's discussion.**

[|**Blog Lines**] [|**Clipmarks**] [|**Delicious**] [|**Diigo**] [|**Edutopia**] [|**Google Reader**] [|**RSS in Plain English**] [|**Think Quest**] [|**Youth Voices**]
 * [|Zotero]**


 * __ After Reading __: Click on the EDIT button, and then directly following this set of directions, compose a written response that** **shares your new understandings and initial reactions to GOOGLE READER . In your response, you might consider telling us, how you would use (or are already using this) as a __personal resource?__ How could GOOGLE READER benefit your students as a __learning tool?__ In other words, what would they learn about their own reading process? writing processes? As well as what could they learn about themselves and the world?**
 * How would it benefit you as an __instructional tool__? How could you use it to model/teach reading? writing? the world?**
 * You decide what font color/style you wish to use. You can also decide How to organize and present your response. Just be sure to include your name, so we know who the author is. **


 * __ CLASS UNDERSTANDINGS AND REACTIONS TO GOOGLE READER __**

__Carrie's Response-- __ Again I feel very out of the loop when it comes to technology because the only site above I have heard of was "Delicious" and that was because my friend who was an undergrad at Niagara needed "friends" on her account for a class she was in. I never really explored the website or knew of the idea of "social bookmarking". Google Reader kind of scares me for the sole fact that I think Google will take over the world someday. They know everything about everyone and I have a feeling Google knows more about me then my own family does. Any ways...I like being able to see all the blogs that I am a subscriber too in one area. I am able to see who recently has posted in an organized fashion. I can directly find a person blogs and get a blurb of what they have written, I like that. I will use it as a personal resource for keeping update on everyone's blog and knowing what people are writing about in our class. I could use this in my classroom as a place for students to see updates to different blogs they belong too. I also like the "note" feature because my students could keep notes on the different sites they belong too. It also has "recommended" sites, which could be useful in a research project. This helps the writing process in the sense you are conferring with your peers and publishing your work on an online work space. As in the terms of this as instructional tool, I feel this could work, but with all these different modes of technology (-1-) I am feeling overwhelmed in the amounts out there. Hicks introduces many different websites and tools and I know he is saying not to use them all at once or even at all. But as instructors we have to be mindful that too much technology is a bad thing. For example, today I am posting on a Wiki, then I have to post later on a Blog, two different modes, and if we had a class RSS that I had to follow...this just seems overwhelming and I would get confused. As a teacher, for my classroom at least, I would select one mode of technology for my students to use and master (especially in a special ed classroom where focus can be an issue). (-1-) I know that creating a digital classroom is important in establishing a 21-century classroom, but we have to make sure we do not overwhelm our students as well.

(-1-) Yes, Carrie, I agree with you. With the advent of the technology age, a literate person is now required to learn how to read (and write) EXPONENTIALLY more frequently and more carefully. As a teacher of writing, this can be overwhelming because of the increased number of texts one might feel responsible to attend to. However, at the same time I see this as invigorating because we finally have the tools at our disposal for our students **//__to develop the habits of thinking through writing __//**that Writing Process Pedgagy (like the principles Hicks identifies in his first chapter) have been advocating for, for 30+ years! -- Dr. Jones

Meghan Mathers-Response
At first glance, the "Google Reader" homepage reminds me of my email program interface. I really appreciate the basic navigation tools on the left hand side of the screen to help guide my viewing. The concept of "Google Reader" is quite appealing. I would love to have one central location for all the blogs I post or follow, as well as a myriad of other websites that I find interesting.

Hicks (2009) states, "As teachers, we want our students to write on topics of their own choice, yet we know that they sometimes struggle to come up with ideas. By inviting them to set up an RSS aggregator, we are encouraging them to cut through some of the clutter on the Web, zeroing in on content that matters to them and can further their thinking" (p. 21). I couldn't agree more. **(-1-) **As stated in my RSS discussion post, I think these particular tools can be extremely beneficial to all students.. especially those with special needs. During my student teaching experience, many of my L.D. students struggled and experienced difficulties searching for ideas when they were asked to write. By inviting students to set up RSS readers, choose topics that are interesting to them to follow & then read those items to inspire their writing, we are guiding our students' inquiry.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">I think this would be a wonderful instructional tool. "By subscribing to an RSS feed, teachers and students can gather information that is relevant to their own inquiry in a way that is sometimes more useful then by searching alone" (Hicks, p. 24). While these forms of technologies do offer a number of advantages, we do have to be cautious when using technology. As Carrie stated in her post above, with the influx of all of these digital writing tools... many teachers feel the need to incorporate multiple tools in their writing workshop. When we "have students spread themselves across so many digital writing spaces... they become either confused or ambivalent to using the particular tools" (Hicks p. 48). ** (-2-) **<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">As teachers, we should have students craft a variety of modes using one particular writing tool.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**(-1-)** I am so glad you elaborated on your discussion post here Meghan. I agree, RSS has the potential to provide the essential scaffold to help our students who have identified with learning disabilities such as have severe difficulties with organizational abilities. At the same time, as well as those who have little to no background knowledge on the topic. -- Dr. Jones **(** <span style="color: #ff00ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-weight: normal;">**-2-)** Ah yes, here is the rub, isn't it. But what happens when the tool does not fit the purpose? I think what Hicks is saying that we need to know the tools well ourselves. Ultimately, just like we need to ask students to be flexible with their traditional habits of reading and writing texts, we must be prepared to help our students develop NEW literacy abilities (digital literacy comprehension/composition abilities and habits) to be able to easily move between the digital texts. And the way to be best prepared to make these curricular and instructional decisions is to spend time doing exactly what we are doing here. Would you agree? Or do you think I'm just being polyanna-ish? <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">-- Dr. Jones

<span style="color: #17318c; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Emily's Response: **
====<span style="color: #17318c; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">To be frank, Google reader is intimidating at first. Thankfully, the tutorial notes are extremely helpful. As likely predicted, I do not currently use Google Reader for personal use. Honestly, I am still attempting to understand how it works. Based on my limited experience with Google reader and Carrie and Meghan's response, I have a working purpose of the application? Anyway, I do notice that you can link all of your blogs to one age, which would be wonderful for quick reference and prompt feedback to posts. I also noticed you can search and link feeds for easy reference. Unfortunately, I feel I need someone to show me the major functions of Google Reader for the sole reason that there are many functions. I did however find Diigo a great tool for accessing information quickly and efficiently. I do plan on using Diigo personally, for my Writing Pieces project this semester. I especially like how Diigo supports Android. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">(-1-) ==== ====<span style="color: #17318c; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">As a learning tool, Google Reader could be used to enhance student knowledge base. As mentioned by Hicks (2009), RSS allow a constant stream of information, based on subscriptions. Students who used Google Reader would have huge access to information that could be used as Sustained Silent Reading or for writing assignments. I think incorporating the digital media of this RSS would help students practice filtering appropriate source material. It would also help students generate ideas during inquiry, hopefully providing students more thought time during the prewriting stage of the writing process. ==== ====<span style="color: #17318c; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Google Reader would be a fantastic instructional tool. As with newer media spaces, teachers and students are in constant need of adjustment, as "what constitutes literacy continues to change" (Hicks, 2009. p. 16). The diectic nature of new literacies offers the perfect opportunity to explore such new technology together (Leu, 1999). Initially, students and teachers could simply explore Google Reader and perhaps have a class account to do so. Teachers could then use Google Reader to link related topics to specific class blogs. I think the best instructional use of Google Reader is to teach students about the world, how technology can be used to aid in finding information, and how to effectively manage such a myriad of information available. ====

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">(-1-) This is really interesting Emily. Do you check the web using your phone rather than a computer? Is that why you think Diigo is easier?
<span style="color: #ea1071; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">﻿Jenna Lukasiewicz's Response-

When I clicked on Google reader I was surprised to see that it brought me to a page where both of the blogs I follow were on the same page. I wasn’t expecting for all of my information to be right there in one place already after looking at the other resources and being instructed on how you have to set them up. I felt confused as to how to use Google reader other than as a tool to have all of your blogs in one place. I agree with Emily, I would need to have someone sit down and explicitly teach me the different capabilities of Google reader in order to use it to its maximum ability. <span style="color: #ff00dc; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">(-1-) I really liked how it had all of my blogs in one place, which will definitely help once I begin my research for assignments to come. I really liked the recommended items section of Google reader but it made me wonder as to where those “recommendations” were coming from. I didn’t know if at some point in my history with Google, I had identified things that intrigued me? Or were they just random? I think this could be a successful section to this website if others could suggest items or sources to you, which could be very helpful to use in classroom as a learning tool. It reminds me of creating an RSS for your students, but instead having the ability to recommend a specific item to one student in particular (if that is how it works). I like how a student would be able to follow blogs and comment on others easily. Students are not only given an authentic audience but also //becoming// the authentic audience for their peers. Like Carrie, I feel very overwhelmed with the amount of information on the website. In order for me to successfully teach and model this to my students, it would take a lot of exploration on my own. I do like how this resource that is “infinitely searchable and the archives are accessible from any Internet-enabled computer” (Hicks, 2009, p. 31). I was shocked to see that each of my posts were right there at my finger tips. ====<span style="color: #ff00dc; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">(-2-) This would be extremely helpful for students to be able to revisit their writing from the past. This would allow them to “move to higher levels of thinking and academic writing by analyzing, synthesizing, and reflecting on information over time” (Hicks, 2009, p.31). ==== ====<span style="color: #ff00dc; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">(-3-) Since I am not very familiar with this resource, I am not completely positive in how I would use it to model the reading and writing process to my students. ==== ====<span style="color: #ff00dc; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">(-1-) Can you name one specific attribute Hicks discusses in his chapter that you would like to know how to use in your daily reading activities? ====

<span style="color: #ff00dc; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">(-2-) This is super cool, isn't it? Who knew it would be as easy at this to have all these sites available for viewing at once?
====<span style="color: #ff00dc; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">(-3-) This is EXACTLY why 618 students are asked to monitor their own use of a RSS as a part of their genre writing project. It is through this experiential learning that you will (hopefully) gain greater insight into how you would use it to model reading and writing processes. ==== <span style="color: #ff00dc; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">--Dr. Jones

<span style="color: #ff00dc; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">P.S. Thanks Jenna for posting your response! :-)
<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Heather's Response:

I agree with Carrie, Emily and Jenna that learning how to navigate through Google Reader appears to be a little bit intimidating at first. However, I think we often feel this way about unfamiliar technology and that you just have to explore and play around with it to learn it. I do not use an RSS (yet), but after looking into them I think it would be kind of interesting to try it. As Jenna noted, I was surprised to find that my blogs were already listed when I signed into Google Reader. Typically, I just rely on using bookmarks to go to sites that I visit often, but I think that this might be easier to have one place that I can sign on to and check everything. I find this helpful when I look at the Online Recruitment Website through BOCES because instead of looking for jobs at each school website they are all centrally linked to this cite. It seems to me that RSS is becoming more common and I like that you can access it from any computer or device. This seems like a very accessible tool that could become my next addiction! :)

I think that students could use Google Reader as a learner tool by linking appropriate sites and blogs that apply to their interests and topics of study in school. It seems that bookmarking and RSS are connected and can be utilized to collaborate during group projects. I like this idea of collaboratively sharing online resources and tagging articles for specific purposes. I think that RSS would allow students to always have access to a variety of reading materials, which they may skim or read for analysis purposes. Regardless of the purpose, RSS makes print instantly available and easy to reference in the future. It also encourages students to blog about what they are reading and experiencing. Students can embed different forms of media into their blogs, which is considered normal in today's literate world. RSS would be useful for helping students develop ideas to write about because they can explore different topics through various sites. There is plenty that might spark their interest on the internet because it is so engaging. I agree with Meghan that this would be extremely beneficial for students with LD who have a great deal of difficulty coming up with topics to write about. This new way of reading and writing is exciting for students and allows them to experiment with their interests and online voices through writing.

Google Reader would benefit me as an instructional tool by allowing me to connect all my students blogs onto my RSS for easy viewing. I could easily model how to use this site once I learned how to do it myself. I would want to discuss the proper etiquette that we mentioned before so students understand that this can be a fun tool, but it must be used appropriately as well. I also like the idea of knowing my students interests and being able to "tag" articles that might interest them. I think you can do that on here!?Most of all I agree with Hicks (2009) that "RSS gives writers a tool to stay focused and organized while still engaging in topics that matter to them" (p. 24). I feel that the motivating and organized nature of Google Reader encourages me to use it during writing workshop in the future.