Blogs

What is a Blog?

‘A blog is a website in which items are posted on a regular basis and displayed in reverse chronological order. The term blog is a shortened form of weblog or web log. Authoring a blog, maintaining a blog or adding an article to an existing blog is called “blogging”. Individual articles on a blog are called “blog posts,” “posts” or “entries”. A person who posts these entries is called a “blogger”. A blog comprises text, hypertext, images, and links (to other web pages and to video, audio and other files). Blogs use a conversational style of documentation. Often blogs focus on a particular “area of interest”, such as lessons of a certain subject or events that are happening in a certain place. Some blogs discuss personal experiences.'
Source:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog

 In other words Blog contain posts that are in reverse chronological order from the recent posts at the top of the main page (  yung pinakabagong nagawa o nilagay  na posts ay makikita o mababasa sa pinakaitaas )  to the older entries going to the bottom. (papunta sa pinakalumang nagawa o nilagay sa dulo).

Most people think that blogs are online diaries where people share their opinions, ramblings and personal events. This is totally a misconception. Blogs can be used for so many purposes. It can be used for teaching lessons, it can be used for question and answers like a forum, it can be used by companies to communicate and interact with customers and other stake holders. Newspapers that incorporated blogs to their main website to offer a new channel for their writers. Individuals that created a blog to share with the world their expertise on specific topics, their interests, travels and so many more.

Let us consider that if  I would like to publish a Questions & Answers column online. I could use several types of websites for that purpose.

I could create an online forum, for example, where each thread would be an answer to a specific question. I could create a static HTML website and publish all the questions and answers on a single page. I could create a wiki where users would be able to edit the questions and answers directly. Finally, I could also create a blog where each post would contain a question and its answer.

The features that make blogs different from other websites are:

• content is published in a chronological fashion
• content is updated regularly
• readers have the possibility to leave comments
• other blog authors can interact via trackbacks and pingbacks
• content is syndicated via RSS feeds

Keep in mind that it is the bundle of those features that should define a blog. An online forum could also offer an RSS feed for example, but that would not make it a blog.

Therefore, since my purpose is to post lessons, I would prefer using a blog and my students can make discussions via posting comments or via www.facebook.com/groups/zscmstals

Class blogs are like a class website where parents, students, and others can visit to keep up with what is going on in class.Here are few ways many educators use class blogs:

• Post homework
• Daily summaries of what was learned in class
• Weekly news posts – much like a traditional printed newsletter
• Class calendars of important dates, tests, field trips, etc.
• Extending class discussions outside of class by asking students to reply to questions and comments
• Posting course documents, expectations, and contact information

Have more ideas – leave a comment on this post sharing!

Note: Para sa mga estudyante ko , gagawa tayo ng blog para sa mga lessons natin at yung mga natutunan natin at base sa inyong natutunan paano ninyo ito mai-aaply sa pagtuturo. ( Remember the Deposits and Dividends Activity/Portfolio)

So how do we create a blog?
How to create a blog using Wordpress
step by step in creating blog using wordpress

Para sa mga estudyante ko gagamit tayo yung Blogger; kung papaano yon pakiclick lang itong link:
Papaano gagawa ng blog sa Blogger

Maraming nagtatanong paano ba maglagay ng powerpoint sa blog? pakiclick lang ito:
paano maglagay ng powerpoint sa blog ko?

Source: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/500181102336202284/

Ten ways to use your blogs in teaching
http://edublogs.org/10-ways-to-use-your-edublog-to-teach/

How do we use blogs in education?

Blogs can serve at least four basic functions.

1. Classroom Management

Class blogs can serve as a portal to foster a community of learners. As they are easy to create and update efficiently, they can be used to inform students of class requirements, post handouts, notices, and homework assignments, or act as a question and answer board.

2. Collaboration

Blogs provide a space where teachers and students can work to further develop writing or other skills with the advantage of an instant audience. Teachers can offer instructional tips, and students can practice and benefit from peer review. They also make online mentoring possible. For example, a class of older students can help a class of younger students develop more confidence in their writing skills. Students can also participate in cooperative learning activities that require them to relay research findings, ideas, or suggestions.

3. Discussions

A class blog opens the opportunity for students to discuss topics outside of the classroom. With a blog, every person has an equal opportunity to share their thoughts and opinions. Students have time to be reactive to one another and reflective. Teachers can also bring together a group of knowledgeable individuals for a given unit of study for students to network and conference with on a blog.

4. Student Portfolios

Blogs present, organize, and protect student work as digital portfolios. As older entries are archived, developing skills and progress may be analyzed more conveniently. Additionally, as students realize their efforts will be published, they are typically more motivated to produce better writing. Teachers and peers may conference with a student individually on a developing work, and expert or peer mentoring advice can be easily kept for future reference.
Source: http://thanhnguyen75.blogspot.com/2006/11/use-of-blogs-in-education_14.html

Checklists

What are Checklists?

Checklist is an example of an assessment tool. Checklists are often used for observing performance in order to keep track of a student's progress or work over time. They can also be used to determine whether students have met established criteria on a task. At a later stage the teacher returns to the checklist when completing a more formative assessment form - or the checklist could have space for a comment, in which case the teacher can return and write the comment when s/he has more time.

To construct a checklist, identify the different parts of a specific lesson/ topic and any other requirements associated with it. Create a list of these with columns for marking yes and no.

Checklists can be useful for classroom assessment because they are easy to construct and use, and they align closely with tasks. At the same time, they are limited in that they do not provide an assessment of the relative quality of a student's performance on a particular task as compared to using a rubric.

Rubrics

What are Rubrics?

A rubric is a scoring tool for teachers that will guide the performance expectations for an assignment or piece of work thus providing consistency in evaluation. A rubric divides the assigned work into component parts and provides clear descriptions of the characteristics of the work associated with each component, at varying levels of mastery. Rubrics can be used for a wide array of assignments: reseach papers, projects, oral presentations, artistic performances, group works, etc. Rubrics can be used as scoring or grading guides, to provide formative feedback to support and guide ongoing learning efforts, or both.

Advantages of using Rubrics:

Rubrics are great for students: they let students know what is expected of them, and demystify grades by clearly stating, in age-appropriate vocabulary, the expectations for a project. They also help students see that learning is about gaining specific skills (both in academic subjects and in problem-solving and life skills), and they give students the opportunity to do self-assessment to reflect on the learning process.

Rubrics also help teachers authentically monitor a student's learning process and develop and revise a lesson plan. They provide a way for a student and a teacher to measure the quality of a body of work. When a student's assessment of his or her work and a teacher's assessment don't agree, they can schedule a conference to let the student explain his or her understanding of the content and justify the method of presentation.Then the rubric scores can either be averaged or added together for a final score.

How can we design rubrics for certain lessons/topics?

Bryan Goodwin and Elizabeth Ross Hubbell's new book The 12 Touchstones of Good Teaching: A Checklist for Staying Focused Every Day includes a chapter on how to clarify performance expectations for students. Rubrics are an essential tool for delineating the criteria that distinguishes between novice and mastery-level work. Here are a few brief guidelines Goodwin and Hubbell recommend for creating rubrics, as well as a list of online tools to support your work:

• Identify the proficient level first. In a four-tier rubric, we recommend that teachers identify level 3 of the rubric first. This level is an acceptable score and shows proficiency at performing the task or understanding the content.
• Build the rest of the rubric around proficiency. From this point, building the remainder of the rubric is fairly easy: a 1 shows minimal understanding or performance; a 2 shows some understanding/performance but with significant gaps; and a 4 shows an advanced level of understanding or performance.
• Focus on growth. Finally, we recommend that if you use a 0 at all, it should state "Not enough evidence at this point to assess understanding." This way, even scoring at the lowest level of the rubric sends students the message that their level of performance can be improved.

Source: http://www.ascd.org/publications/newsletters/education-update/aug13/vol55/num08/Guidelines-for-Creating-Rubrics.aspx

A blog by Andrew Miller on Edutopia gives great suggestions for how to work with rubrics http://www.edutopia.org/blog/designing-using-rubrics-andrew-miller.

Some online tools to make rubrics are:

Rubrics for teacher: http://rubrics4teachers.com/

  Rubistar : http://rubistar.4teachers.org/

 iRubrics: http://www.rcampus.com/indexrubric.cfm

Samples of rubrics:

 1) CLASS PARTICIPATION RUBRIC

Grading for Class Participation

	A (18-20 points)	B (16-17 points)	C (14-15 points)	D
Frequency and Quality	Attends class regularly and always contributes to the discussion by raising thoughtful questions, analyzing relevant issues, building on others’ ideas, synthesizing across readings and discussions, expanding the class’ perspective, and appropriately challenging assumptions and perspectives	Attends class regularly and sometimes contributes to the discussion in the aforementioned ways.	Attends class regularly but rarely contributes to the discussion in the aforementioned ways.	Attends class regularly but never contributes to the discussion in the aforementioned ways.

2) RUBRIC FOR BLOGGING

Blogging Project Rubric

Student Name:                                         Course/Section:                                  No. of posts/entries:                               

CATEGORY	Strong 4	Proficient 3	Developing 2	Beginning 1
Ideas and Content	Blog entries contain substantial information for the reader. Author displays knowledge of the topic. Ideas are original. Asked questions for reader to comment.	Blog entries contain moderate amount of information for the reader. Author displays some knowledge of the topic. Some ideas are original. Asked at least 2  question for readers to comment.	Blog entries contain little information for the reader. Author does not display much knowledge of the topic. Few ideas are original. 1 question was asked for commenting.	Blog entries contain little information, are not original and show little evidence of knowledge about the topic. No questions were asked for commenting.
Writing Quality	Posts are well written using Standard English. Thoughts are clearly expressed. Thoughts have evidence of supporting details  and contained  more than 1 link to support topics.  All Sources have been cited.	Some thoughts are clearly expressed. Some thoughts have evidence of supporting details  and with at least 1 link to support topic.	Most thoughts are not clearly expressed. Most thoughts do not have supporting evidence.Some sources cited.	The blog is unreadable. Thoughts are scattered and there are no supporting details provided. No sources cited.
Types of Posts	Author has included all of the seven required posts types: A List Post, Answer a Question, Write a Review, Write a Link Post, Write a Tip Post Ask a Question, Tell a Story	Author is missing 1 of the required types of posts.	Author is missing 2 of the required types of posts.	Author is missing 3 or more of the required types of posts.
Gadgets	Author has successfully added a widget, an RSS subscription icon and three other gadgets to the poll. The gadgets support the ideas being expressed in the blog.	Author has successfully added a widget, an RSS subscription icon and three other gadgets to the poll. The gadgets do not support the ideas expressed in the blog.	Author is missing one of the required gadgets for the blog.	Author is missing 2 or more of the required gadgets for the blog.
Mechanics/ Conventions	Blog entries show an excellent command of Standard English. Capitals, punctuation and correct grammar are used consistently throughout the blog posts.	Blogs entries show a good command of Standard English. There are 1-2 missing capitals or punctuation errors. Some grammar errors exist.	Blog entries show a fair command of Standard English. There are more than 2 missing capitals or punctuation errors. Several grammar errors exist.	Blog entries show a poor command of Standard English. There are more than 7 missing capitals or punctuation errors. Many grammar errors exist making the blog difficult to read.
Style	The author has shown a unique and creative style with this blog by customizing the layout, colors, pictures and gadgets to appeal to the reader.	The author has shown some creative style with this blog by customizing the layout, colors, pictures  and/or gadgets to appeal to the reader.	The author has shown little creative style with this blog. Some pictures, Some efforts to customize the template are evident.	The author used the standard templates, no pictures  and made no efforts to customize the blog for the reader.
TOTAL SCORE

3) GROUP REPORT RUBRIC:

Report:   Rubrics for Group Reporting  Group # __________ / Year & Sec _______________________________  Topic of Report: ______________________________________________                                                                                                         Criteria 1 point 2 points 3 points 4 points ORGANIZATION  Score: __________  Audience cannot understand the presentation because there is no sequence of information.   Audience has difficulty following the presentation because the reporters jump around in their discussion.  Students present the information in logical sequence which the audience can follow.  Students present the information in logical, interesting sequence which the audience can follow. CONTENT  Score: __________  Majority of points briefly mentioned without explaining them in depth. Many errors in the information and the audience does not learn anything new.   Most point covered adequately, but report does not go into detail and only makes general statements about the topic; with some errors in information.  Majority of points covered in depth, but with few gaps. Information accurate and listeners gain insight and learn from the presentation.  Addressed all required report elements; contained complete and detailed explanations that were easily understandable. STUDENT KNOWLEDGE  Score: __________  Students do not have grasp of information; students cannot answer questions about the subject.   Students are uncomfortable with the information and able to answer only rudimentary questions.  Students are at ease with expected answers to all questions, but fail to elaborate.  Students demonstrate full knowledge (more than required) by answering all questions with explanations and elaboration.  VISUAL AIDS  Score: __________  Visual aids unreadable or too crowded.  There’s too much or too little information to make the aids useless.   Visual aids are difficult to read.  There’s too much information, or some information is missing from the visual aids.   There is appropriate amount of information on the visual aids.  Visual aids are well designed and had a neat and professional appearance; helped audience members understand.  GRAPHICS  Score: __________  Students use superfluous graphics or no graphics.  Students occasionally use graphics that rarely support text and presentation.  Students’ graphics relate to text and presentation.  Students’ graphics explain and reinforce text and presentation.  ELOCUTION  Score: __________  Students mumble, incorrectly pronounce terms and speak too quietly for students in the back of the class to hear.   Students’ voice is low, incorrectly pronounce terms. Audience members have difficulty hearing the presentation.   Students’ voice is clear; correctly pronounce most words.  Most audience members can hear the presentation.  Students use a clear and correct, precise pronunciation of terms so that all audience members can hear the presentation.  EYE CONTACT  Score: __________  Students read all of report with no eye contact.  Students occasionally use eye contact, but still read most of report.  Students maintain eye contact most of the time but frequently return to notes.  Students maintain eye contact with audience, seldom returning to notes. CREATIVITY  Score: __________  Students fail to engage the audience in their presentation.  The format used does not demonstrate creativity.   Students give a creative an engaging presentation, but its format does not complement the topic discussed.  Students present relevant material in a creative and engaging manner most of the time.  Students present relevant material in a creative and engaging manner all the time. PARTICIPATION  Score: __________  One person clearly dominates or did not contribute.  It is apparent that there is an uneven distribution of effort among the group members.  The group functioned well as a whole; the presentation is clearly a sum of its parts.  Member shared equally in the preparation and presentation. There is good teamwork; the report clearly exceeds sum of parts.  TIME MANAGEMENT  Score: __________  Students extend 11-20 minutes in order to complete the presentation.  Students extend 5-10 minutes in order to complete the presentation.  Students complete the presentation within a 5-minute extension.  Students complete the presentation within the allotted 30 minutes.  Total Score: _____/ 40_    Evaluator’s Name & Signature: ______________________________________________                 Date: _____________________

4) POWERPOINT PRESENTATION RUBRIC

This rubric may be used for self-assessment and peer feedback.

 Creating a PowerPoint Rubric

ELEMENT	Exemplary	Proficient	Partially Proficient	Unsatisfactory	POINTS
Research and Note taking	3 points Note cards indicate you accurately researched a variety of information sources, recorded and interpreted significant facts, meaningful graphics, accurate sounds and evaluated alternative points of view.	2 points Note cards show you recorded relevant information from multiple sources of information, evaluated and synthesized relevant information.	1 point Note cards show you misinterpreted statements, graphics and questions and failed to identify relevant arguments.	0 points Note cards show you recorded information from four or less resources, did not find graphics or sounds, and ignored alternative points of view.	__/3
Pre Production Planning - Storyboard	3 points The storyboard illustrates the slide presentation structure with thumbnail sketches of each slide including: title of slide, text, background color, placement & size of graphic, fonts - color, size, type for text and headings, hyperlinks (list URLs of any site linked from the slide), narration text, and audio files (if any). All slides are numbered, and there is a logical sequence to the presentation.	2 points The thumbnail sketches on the storyboard include titles and text for each slide and are in sequential order.	1 point The thumbnail sketches on the storyboard are not in a logical sequence and have incomplete information.	0 points There a very few thumbnail sketches on the storyboard and do not provide an overview of the presentation.	___/3
Introduction	3 points The introduction presents the overall topic and draws the audience into the presentation with compelling questions or by relating to the audience's interests or goals.	2 points The introduction is clear and coherent and relates to the topic.	1 point The introduction shows some structure but does not create a strong sense of what is to follow. May be overly detailed or incomplete and is somewhat appealing to the audience.	0 points The introduction does not orient the audience to what will follow. The sequencing is unclear and does not appear interesting or relevant to the audience.	___/3
Content	3 points The content is written clearly and concisely with a logical progression of ideas and supporting information. The project includes motivating questions and advanced organizers. The project gives the audience a clear sense of the main idea. Information is accurate, current and comes mainly from * primary sources.	2 points The content is written with a logical progression of ideas and supporting information. Includes persuasive information from reliable sources.	1 point The content is vague in conveying a point of view and does not create a strong sense of purpose. Includes some persuasive information with few facts. Some of the information may not seem to fit. Sources used appear unreliable.	0 points The content lacks a clear point of view and logical sequence of information. Includes little persuasive information and only one or two facts about the topic. Information is incomplete, out of date and/or incorrect. Sequencing of ideas is unclear.	___/3
Text	3 points The fonts are easy-to-read and point size varies appropriately for headings and text. Use of italics, bold, and indentations enhances readability. Text is appropriate in length for the target audience and to the point. The background and colors enhance the readability of text.	2 points Sometimes the fonts are easy-to-read, but in a few places the use of fonts, italics, bold, long paragraphs, color or busy background detracts and does not enhance readability.	1 point Overall readability is difficult with lengthy paragraphs, too many different fonts, dark or busy background, overuse of bold or lack of appropriate indentations of text.	0 points The text is extremely difficult to read with long blocks of text and small point size of fonts, inappropriate contrasting colors, poor use of headings, subheadings, indentations, or bold formatting.	___/3
Layout	3 points The layout is visually pleasing and contributes to the overall message with appropriate use of headings, subheadings and white space.	2 points The layout uses horizontal and vertical white space appropriately.	1 point The layout shows some structure, but appears cluttered and busy or distracting with large gaps of white space or uses a distracting background.	0 points The layout is cluttered, confusing, and does not use spacing, headings and subheadings to enhance the readability.	___/3
Citations	3 point Sources of information are properly cited and the audience can determine the credibility and authority of the information presented. All sources of information are clearly identified and credited using appropriate citation format.	2 points Most sources of information use proper citation format, and sources are documented to make it possible to check on the accuracy of information.	1 point Sometimes copyright guidelines are followed and some information, photos and graphics do not include proper citation format.	0 points No way to check validity of information.	___/3
Graphics, Sound and/or Animation	3 points The graphics, sound and/or animation assist in presenting an overall theme and enhance understanding of concept, ideas and relationships. Original images are created using proper size and resolution, and all images enhance the content. There is a consistent visual theme.	2 points The graphics, sound/and or animation visually depict material and assist the audience in understanding the flow of information or content. Original images are used. Images are proper size, resolution.	1 point Some of the graphics, sounds, and/or animations seem unrelated to the topic/theme and do not enhance the overall concepts. Most images are clip art or recycled from the internet. Images are too large/small in size. Images are poorly cropped or the color/resolution is fuzzy.	0 points The graphics, sounds, and/or animations are unrelated to the content. Graphics do not enhance understanding of the content, or are distracting decorations that create a busy feeling and detract from the content.	___/3
Writing Mechanics	3 points The text is written with no errors in grammar, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling.	2 points The text is clearly written with little or no editing required for grammar, punctuation, and spelling.	1 point Spelling, punctuation, and grammar errors distract or impair readability. (3 or more errors)	0 points Errors in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, usage and grammar repeatedly distract the reader and major editing and revision is required. (more than 5 errors)	___/3
TOTAL POINTS					___ /27

* Primary sources can include original letters and diaries, personal observations, interviews, first-hand accounts, newspaper articles, magazine articles, journal articles, Web pages, audio recordings, video productions and photography.

 Source: http://www2.uwstout.edu/content/profdev/rubrics/pptrubric.html

  Presenting a Powerpoint  Rubric

	Evaluating Student Presentations
Developed by Information Technology Evaluation Services, NC Department of Public Instruction
	1	2	3	4	Total
Organization	Audience cannot understand presentation because there is no sequence of information.	Audience has difficulty following presentation because student jumps around.	Student presents information in logical sequence which audience can follow.	Student presents information in logical, interesting sequence which audience can follow.
Subject Knowledge	Student does not have grasp of information; student cannot answer questions about subject.	Student is uncomfortable with information and is able to answer only rudimentary questions.	Student is at ease with expected answers to all questions, but fails to elaborate.	Student demonstrates full knowledge (more than required) by answering all class questions with explanations and elaboration.
Graphics	Student uses superfluous graphics or no graphics	Student occasionally uses graphics that rarely support text and presentation.	Student's graphics relate to text and presentation.	Student's graphics explain and reinforce screen text and presentation.
Mechanics	Student's presentation has four or more spelling errors and/or grammatical errors.	Presentation has three misspellings and/or grammatical errors.	Presentation has no more than two misspellings and/or grammatical errors.	Presentation has no misspellings or grammatical errors.
Eye Contact	Student reads all of report with no eye contact.	Student occasionally uses eye contact, but still reads most of report.	Student maintains eye contact most of the time but frequently returns to notes.	Student maintains eye contact with audience, seldom returning to notes.
Elocution	Student mumbles, incorrectly pronounces terms, and speaks too quietly for students in the back of class to hear.	Student's voice is low. Student incorrectly pronounces terms. Audience members have difficulty hearing presentation.	Student's voice is clear. Student pronounces most words correctly. Most audience members can hear presentation.	Student uses a clear voice and correct, precise pronunciation of terms so that all audience members can hear presentation.
				Total Points:

 Source: http://www.ncsu.edu/midlink/rub.pres.html

5) RUBRIC FOR GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS/CONCEPT MAPPING

CATEGORY	Exemplary	Proficient	Unsatisfactory
Arrangement of Concepts	Main concept easily identified; subconcepts branch appropriately from main idea	Main concept easily identified; most subconcepts branch from main idea.	Main concept not clearly identified; subconcepts don’t consistently branch from main idea.
Links and Linking Lines	Linking lines connect related terms/point in correct direction; linking words accurately describe relationship between concepts; hyperlinks effectively used	Most linking lines connect properly; most linking words accurately describe the relationship between concepts; most hyperlinks effectively used.	Linking lines not always pointing in correct direction; linking words don’t clarify relationships between concepts; hyperlinks don’t function or fail to enhance the topic.
Graphics	Graphics used appropriately; greatly enhance the topic and aid in comprehension; are clear, crisp and well situated on the page.	Graphics used appropriately most of the time; most graphics selected enhance the topic, are of good quality, and are situated in logical places on the page.	Graphics used inappropriately and excessively; graphics poorly selected and don’t enhance the topic; some graphics are blurry and ill-placed.
Content	Reflects essential information; is logically arranged; concepts succinctly presented; no misspellings or grammatical errors	Reflects most of the essential information; is generally logically arranged; concepts presented without too many excess words; fewer than three misspellings or grammatical errors.	Contains extraneous information; is not logically arranged; contains numerous spelling and grammatical errors.
Text	Easy to read/ appropriately sized; no more than three different fonts; amount of text is appropriate for intended audience; boldface used for emphasis.	Most text is easy to read; uses no more than four different fonts; amount of text generally fits intended audience.	Font too small to read easily; more than four different fonts used; text amount is excessive for intended audience.
Design	Clean design; high visual appeal; four or fewer symbol shapes; fits page without a lot of scrolling; color used effectively for emphasis.	Design is fairly clean, with a few exceptions; diagram has visual appeal; four or fewer symbol shapes; fits page well; uses color effectively most of time.	Cluttered design; low in visual appeal; requires a lot of scrolling to view entire diagram; choice of colors lacks visual appeal and impedes comprehension.