What do I want my kids to know (or be able to do) when they leave 6th grade?

I am thinking this particularly in terms of technology. I know what I want them to do in my Spanish and Latin classes.

But what about tech?

So I turn that question to you.

What should a 6th grader know and/or be able to do when they leave 6th grade?

I am staring down the barrel of a cool new opportunity for the next school year. So this is more than just theoretical, I need to be able to answer this question effectively. So help me out, eh?

They are looking for an online service (so they can show to the public as well) that would allow multiple users to add announcements. These may be as simple as a social event coming up or a congratulations for a student. They would also like to have curricular review mixed in.

I can’t think of a good way that would allow multiple users to add to the system. Do you know of a way to accomplish this?

Thanks in advance…

Yesterday, my daughter came home interested in Australia. It turns out her teacher’s mother came in to talk about Australia. Evidently she has traveled there.

Being an American (and overly US-centric I admit) I had no answers to her questions. I suppose I had to options.

1. Find the answers myself and give them to her.

2. Let her ask someone who would know.

I reached out to Jason Hando, who lives in Sydney, Australia. Jason and I met a few years ago online as we were exploring the educational uses of Second Life. Jason ended up being a critical part of the building of Life Round Here.

Jason happened to be available so we Skyped. I recorded the interview and sent it to my daughter’s teacher. She was floored and plans to show it to her class and perhaps beyond. Here is the interview if you care to watch. It’s about 8 minutes.

For a blog post: What do you think about blogging with students? Good? Bad? Mixed bag? I would love to hear your thoughts.

Here are the responses I got on Twitter. Note, this only shows responses that came as direct replies to the original tweet.

Public Twitter replies to @crafty184's tweet:

• wmchamberlain: I don't understand. You mean as writers on your blog?
• wmchamberlain: Blogging is the second most powerful thing I have asked my students to do in my classroom. Commenting on blogs is the first.
• plugusin: : The hitch is that kids aren't too keen on blogging. Did you see the recent Pew report? http://bit.ly/b0XSbj
• plugusin: : I think blogging---when structured carefully---has real potential to encourage writing and reflective thinking, Chris.
• plugusin: : Here's an article from a SF newspaper too: "Blogging is for old people." http://bit.ly/dCZ9Hx
• russgoerend: I'd like to do more next year. More non-final draft stuff: journals, reflections, etc.
• russgoerend: I think it's great. And we've only scratched the surface. My kids publish their essays to our blog and love the real audience.

The first question to ask is what the purpose is when blogging. I posit that there are a variety of purposes for blogging.

1. Teacher-centered blog for communcation with students and families

2. Teacher-centered blog for communcation with other educators

3. Student-centered blog for communication with teacher and/or classmates

4. Student-centered blog for communcation with wider audience

I suppose that is not an exhaustive list but will serve us for the purposes of this discussion.

So once you decide what sort of blog you want to begin, you can begin looking at tools.  We will focus on student blogging here, as it has a different set of implications requiring a more specific tool.

Here are the specific tools that I think are suited for student blogging, with each having certain benefits and drawbacks.

1. Blogger.com

2. Class Blogmeister.

3. Wordpress.com – see features here.

4. 21classes.com – see features here.

5. Edublogs.org

6. Wordpress Multi-User (must be installed on a server)

7. Kidblog.org – a heavily customized WPMU install. Hands down my pick.

What do you think about these tools?

Update: Here is the archived recording of the presentation. Also be sure to see the first comment for a great comment by Cathy Nelson.

So I went to their site, and figured out how it works. And I set up a search for my local area. Now I can easily see who in my local area is not home. It certainly brings the robbing me issue closer to home.

Now the question is, what do I do about it? I’m not sure I need to do anything. My thinking goes like this..

1. Most of the time I check in, I am out of town at a conference. This is obvious by my earlier tweets, anyway. Am I putting my wife and daughters at greater risk?

2. Is anyone really reading that stuff anyway?

3. Shouldn’t I just protect my updates and not worry so much?

How do you all handle it that travel a lot? I confess I like to see folks check-in. It gives me a personal flavor to their tweets. And for me, Twitter is inherently personal.

Here is the recording of the session, should you want to hear it. It’s in Spanish, so if you want to brush up on your Spanish or just hear if I’m any good, hit up the link.

Theoretically, as new replies come in, this will be updated.  So this is another test post.

Public Twitter replies to @crafty184's tweet:

• jonbecker: bacon
• dajbelshaw: My *favourite* breakfast is leftovers-of-last-night's-takeaway. What I *usually* have is toast. <sigh>
• nashworld: coffee.
• Deacs84: oatmeal w/steelcut oats, nuts and fresh fruit.
• jenniferward: bacon
• micwalker: Then a bypass after!
• micwalker: Cajun Breakfast here: http://tinyurl.com/yg8h7sc eggs, hashbrowns, peppers, onions, Andouille sausage, and hollandaise!
• cehyde9: BACON!
• davidcosand: Turkey bacon and tofu scramble!