April 18:

Wow, I surely got behind on blogging. Right before break things were crazy since it was the end of the marking period. Then we were off for about 10 days. This week I've been playing catch up with everyone, checking their individual progress, so no time to blog about class and no time to research blogging. One interesting thing I found about blogging for exprienced traditional journalers - while they may like trying their hand at another form of communication, they may abandon and go back to their comfort zone -pen and paper. Kim decided to go back to her journal, and if it means more regular entries, I'm all for it.

Day 37:

Was able to help out a couple of my students with their projects in small ways, but hopefully will help take them to the next step. Tried out Randy Pausch's advice about not being afraid to ask for what you want. He writes, "Ask those questions. Just ask them. More often thand you'd suspect, the answer you'll get is, 'Sure.'" Clarissa needed lots of coupons. So when I was at my regular Wawa coffee stop yesterday I asked if I might be able to have the inserts of coupons from the Sunday papers that don't get sold before they get picked up by the newspaper distributor. While it wasn't something the manager on duty at the time could do herself, as she would not be in teh store at that time, she said "Sure." And arranged for the midnight manager to collect the inswerts which she would have ready Monday AM. And guess what? She did as she said and there was a nice full bag of coupons to bring Clarissa today. Also, as I knew Kim's progress was hinged upon a letter from the principal substantiating her race as a school project that was insured, and because I knew she hadn't received the letter yet, when I saw the principal today, I just asked if he could prepare it asap as she needed this before she moved forward. He said "Sure" and by 9th period today she had the letter in her hands. The lesson is this: people can be great; our reluctance sometimes prevents us for asking for their help and so we just don't give them enough opportunities to show it.

Day 36:

Spending some time getting caught up on everyone's journals/blogs. Most are staying up to date. had to talk with a few about journaling every day. I am having some problems getting my comments to post on some of their pages. Either a message comes up that process has been aborted or the comment, while it looks like it published, never finds its way there. Somethihng technical I will have to figure out. I seemed to have less trouble accomplishing this task from my laptop at home.

Day 35:

Used today to catch up on blog viewing and commenting of the students in my class. They are to be reflecting in their journals on The Last Lecture as Pausch's words relate to their projects.

Day 34:

Kids have a lot of energy today - feeling their creative juices flowing. Evan is moving along with setting up his "assistanceship" at Springfield Elementary - that is exciting.

Day 33:

Not much to say today. This is a sign-out day, so I only have 2 students here. They are blogging as I speak(type). Daniele did her first flash mob today. Apparently didn't go so well, as there were too many other activities going on around her. But she did say her phone interview went very well. Kim showed me the certificate of insurance she needed from the board office to be able to host her 5k run. That is super exciting news.

Day 32 (Thursday):

Visited Gabby Arenge's blog about her African Peace Project : http://gabriellearenge.blogspot.com/. I really like the way she is using her blog in many ways. She is definitely using hers as an effective forum to record and document;She includes artifacts of her process/experiences. Also demonstrated in her entries are efforts at planning. But what I like best, and think will resonate most for her later, are her reflections on what she has done, is doing, and will do in Africa. As can be expected from such an prolific journaler, Gabby's ideas are expressed both thoroughly and honestly. I can hear her actual voice in her writing, and that is a very engaging characteristic for an audience of a blog, I would think.

Day 31:

Today was a sign-out day. All seems to be good right now. Kim got the insurance ok from the board office. Daniele is officially having a flash mob on Friday. Clarissa went out today on her first shopping trip with coupons. Hopefully she will come in tomorrow with tales of glory.

Day 30 (Tuesday March 20):

Discussed The Last Lecture today. Interesting to consider points brought up in the book from a teenager/student's perspective instead of just my adult/teacher/parent's. John had a really interesting theory of why kids today can't seem to cope, related to overinflated self-esteem. Raised a whole lot of discussion and theorizing. Students could see some ideas related more to their projects in this section.

Day 29:

Heard a lot from students today, both good and bad, in terms of their progress. On Friday, John had our first outside interview, scheduled with a church in Mt. Laurel. Last minute it got cancelled. Now he is just waiting for an e-mail response regarding postponing. Daniele came in with great news. She made contact with Flashmob America, a huge pr group who does big flashmobs for promos. Their pr person said she might be able to get Daniele an interview. She also got news from our principal about possibly doing a flash mob in school. However, Clarissa and Kim are both facing project-stopping obstacles that need to be overcome for them to move forward. I helped Kim make some headway on accomplishing the next but crucial step in making her 5K happen. And Clarissa, in voicing all the problems she uncovered this weekend with her extreme couponing endeavors, made clear that while she had these many problems, she learned a lot about the process - what needs to happen for her attempts to get stuff for free to work

On the blogging front, I happened across a blog written by a high school friend (when I wasn't even looking). And as it turns out, this isn't the only one he has done, all as part of graduate courses he was taking. I think I have been living with my head in the sand, not realizing how commonplace this forum for communication is. Pretty cool stuff!

Day 28:

Discussed Part III of The Last Lecture today. I was impressed with the introspection and reflection the students demonstrated in their consideration of what they read. It was good to see that they were able to make connections between the book and their projects.

Day 27 (Wednesday, March 14):

Evan and I had our first mentor meeting. Only Kim signed out. The rest worked on independent research.

Day 26 (Tuesday, March 13):

Had an impromptu guest speaker, Gabby Arenge, today. At the end of class on Monday, I told my students they needed to check out my blog entry about losing motivation. Most confirmed my suspicion - that they were also experiencing a similar lack of drive and passion. Thus, the guest speaker, to let them know that she, a previous WISE student, had gotten to this same stage. She reassured them that it was normal to have some difficulty sustaining the same level of interest. We discussed ways to mix it up and to re-energize - mainly, getting out into the field. Thanks, Gabby!

Updated Evan about his request to change project and/or mentor. I will be his mentor and his project has been tweaked a bit so he can continue with his interest in music but take a different approach to his subject. Check his blog for details.

Day 25:

I don't have a lot to say today about student projects as they are working independently right now. As far as blogging, the one thing I have experienced is a lack of consistent motivation on my part. Maybe that is true because I am not getting any comments which would mean that I have an audience. It is difficult to research and write about your experiences when no one will read - no one cares. So lesson #1: Blogging is a form of writing. For writing you are more fulfilled when you have a purpose and an audience. For writing you are more fulfilled when you get feedback about your ideas. Hence, unless a blog is on a topic in which people are interested, there will be no audience or feedback. I wonder if my students' are feeling this same malaise.

Day 24:

Well, I just realized I haven't kept up my end of the bargain this week...no entry since Monday. We've been really busy during class this week, catching up with oral progress reports that we would have done on MOnday if half the class wasn't out on field trips and beginning The Last Lecture. Also, only 20 or so minute classes, with testing. I'm done with excuses now.

Progress reports went well. As expected, some are having difficulties, the obstacles that can be expected when trying to make things happen exactly the way they want them to, and for some it is smooth sailing. I think we were able to help each other in some ways. But, inevitably, one of the biggest life lessons these students learn is to adjust, troubleshoot, and compromise.

Day 20:

So more about blogging as almost a new medium for communicating - I thought I really needed to back up a step to research the origins of blogging and, of course, a basic resource reared its ugly head, and I grabbed it - Wikipedia:

Article titled "Blog" from Wiki:

From this article it appears as though our class community of bloggers is known as an online community (from the source: "An online community is a virtual community that exists online and whose members enable its existence through taking part in membership ritual," in our case journaling about class/project experiences) and the way we are using it is kind of hybrid of two known types: personal blog and corporate/organizational blog. Our purpose is not to influence or persuade; it is more to inform and document.

As for class and progress: only half the students were here today as there were two field trips (when we were going to take some class time to check in with each others' projects by looking at each others' blogs). So I think we will have to move to later in the week.

Day 19:

Well, I'm really excited that a representative from Wise Services has viewed and commented on a post on my blog. I think this format for journals could be the wave of the future. I wonder how many other school are utilizing the internet in this way. Maybe I'll be able to go to their conference in March and find out.

Students are busy at work. Daniele is moving forward on her survey and is finding that her teachers are more than willing to help her. Clarissa said she was really disappointed at the lack of sources and knowledge afforded her in her visit to the local public library yesterday. I suggested to her that heading to the main county branch will provide much more than the local branch. Tomorrow is another sign out day. Maybe a few more will have plans to venture out for some field work.

Day 18:

Nothing new to comment on today otehr than the fact that today was first sign-out day and only Clarissa took advantage to go to the Burlington County Library. I suggested to the rest for them to consider how these days can and should be used for field work. This prompted Daniele to decide that she could use this period to go out to study halls to distribute her survey.

Day 17:

Just responded to a request from the WISE organization for information about exciting things we are doing in this class. I explained how the entire class is experimenting with the use of blogs as formal journals for the class. As I was writing about this, reflecting on and then explaining the benefits I'm seeing already, I became even more excited about how this format is going to benefit everyone in their journeys of self-discovery. Yippee!! And the resulting presentations are going to be amazing.

Day 16:

I found a really phenomenal article that provides answers to some of my essential questions and ones I hadn't even thought of yet: Writing for Friends and Family:
The Interpersonal Nature of Blogs

Michael A. Stefanone
Department of Communication
University at Buffalo

Chyng-Yang Jang
Department of Communication
University of Texas, Arlington



These researchers assert that blogging actually benefits interpersonal relationships as suggested in the following abstract of the article:
"This research explores variables related to the use of personal-journal style blogs for interpersonal goals. A random sample of bloggers completed surveys exploring how the combination of extraversion and self-disclosure affect strong tie network size, which in turn serves as motivation to use blogs as an alternative communication channel. Bloggers who exhibit both extraversion and self-disclosure traits tend to maintain larger strong-tie social networks and are more likely to appropriate blogs to support those relationships. Age, gender, and education have no relationship to network size, blog content, or the use of blogs as a relationship maintenance tool. These results contribute to the continuing discussion about the impact that the Internet and its tools are having on relationships by suggesting that, rather than promoting isolation, computer-mediated communication tools such as blogs often function to enhance existing relationships."

Day 15:

Ok, I have to admit, I'm exhausted so this post is going to be brief. Next week is the first one in which students can sign out 9th period for research. This is always a very beneficial thing when they use the time in planned ways, rather than flying by the seat of their pants. I hope I'm going to see plans on getting out into the field for research on those days!

Day 14:

Interesting article on why people blog (the article I've been trying to post).

Hopefully 3rd time is a charm!
Ok, that is wonderful...thanks to Daniele and Kim for helping me through the process of both attaching the hyperlink and editing the post once it was published. It is very frustrating to me when I can't use logic to guide me in troubleshooting. I usually get close to accomplishing the task, but I end up switching the order of steps or not do something simple like highlighting the text or something. I hope that it gets easier as I gain more knowledge and confidence.

So, as far as class progress goes, the students are making great strides in primary research (surveys, interviews, letters, site visits). It is exciting to see them dig their heels in.

Day 13 revised):

http://socialmediatoday.com/hotblogtips/364064/why-do-you-blog-getting-most-blogging-wpoll


This is the link I was trying to post the past two days - hopefully this time it will work.

Day 13:

Day 12 Part 2:

Don't know what happened to my link to the article - my job for tomorrow.

Day 12:

Read my first "source" on blogging as a means to an end. I Googled "Why do people blog?" and this was the first listed article. What was interesting were the many ways people use blogging for marketing. Not much about blogging as journal-keeping - at least not much for the way students in this class are using it - rather personal journals or diaries, although I don't understand why anyone would want to make public their personal journals.

Worked on the use of interviews as research sources. Seems promising avenue for some in the class and less for others.

Day 11:

I like having journals online like this. It allowed me to check on my students' progress with their journals, real time rather than waiting to see when they turned them in. I was able to write and publish comments directly on their entries rather than providing written comments once a week. Cool!!

Day 5:

Talked with Joe and Matt about how this blogging project can be used to keep in the information loop of my students progress as well as to act as facilitator for them. Since I have asked all of them to become a follower of my site and I have become a follower of each of their sites, I can now read (daily, if I want)their blogs to find out how they are doing. This way I will know how I can assist them. Also, I will be able to write and post comments regarding their "journals" as they are working on them. (Matt wonders if that will become more labor intensive than providing weekly written comments on the more traditional paper journal). I'm thinking it should be more efficient and allow me to be more proactive. Having all the students utilizing the blog instead of paper journal is really nice (Evan gave in and is doing a blog also)not only for me, but also for them. They can become more of a learning community by staying in touch with each others' projects through this method of documenting. Finally, as I look ahead to the presentation scheduling that will have to happen in late May,I'm thinking it will be so much easier to get the journals to the community members who will be on evaluation panel. That's all for now.

Day 4:

Today missing 2 students but the 4 who were here were productive. Spent some time helping Clarissa figure out how to get to the right type of sources (not just blogs) for information about how couponing works from a marketing perspective. We also talked about how she could use interviews with store managers to gather information she wanted. Have to remember to check with sister about contacts she may have in food manufacturing that Clarissa could contact with questions.

Day 3:

About my blogging goal:
I am awesome...worked my way around my first big blog glitch!! I mistitled my blog URL. for some reason I typed in SSR for Senior Research Seminar, instead of SRS. Got a little help from Danielle to start, but I navigated blogger to find where I could make the change. Yea!!!

About class:
Had individual student progress updates yesterday. Everyone (except Evan who wasn't in class) shared his/her blog journals and gave an overview of what he/she has done and what he/she plans to do this week. I am impressed with their commitment to their projects thus far. Each had decided on blogging instead of traditional journal. And their blogs are really cool. Both John and Danielle are extremely thorough in their narratives. James has included pics in his blog of the progress he is making with band set up and production studio design. Really cool! Kim's titling for her entries and writing style really reveal her unique personality. Clarissa had decided to use Tumblr as her site but it wasn't working that well so she redid her blog, this time on blogger. The layout and font style she chose is very fitting for her topic and personality. What I'm really interested in learning more about are the pros and cons of the familiar but very personal writing style for blogs. It's cool but is it appropriate for all situations? These questions and more will be investigated and hopefully answered through the next few months.

Day 2 (Monday, Feb. 13):

My essential questions:

How can I use blogging as a form of record keeping for my class?
What is it like for my students having to keep a regular journal of their class experiences?
How can technology actually improve my communication skills (rather than destroy them, as I have tended to think, being from a generation raised on writing by pen and paper and interpersonal relationships by face to face interaction or letter writing)?

So, there it is.  My goal will be to write every day, excluding weekends, recording my students' SRS progress, reflecting on the class, the teaching/learning of it,  researching the capabilities of blogs, and trying out some of the things I learn on my very first blog.

Day 1 (Friday, Feb. 10):

So, I thought it would be a great learning experience for me to blog while my students in Senior Research Seminar blogged (their required journal) about their experiences this semester.  And then I thought, even better, I could create and maintain a blog (way techi for me!) as my own sort of "senior" research seminar (well, I'm not quite eligible for AARP yet, but I'm pretty darn close).  And what a perfect choice for someone like me who has only dangled her toes in the frigid waters of the internet world.  I mean it wasn't until very recently that I even knew what a blog was, let alone creating one - prior a "blog"was just some other thing on the internet.  So now I'm ready to plunge right into the frightening but exciting unchartered waters of the internet.

Preview for next time:  My essential questions!