Saturday, January 19, 2008

Getting started...

Alright, here I go! I’m totally starting this journey as a complete Web 2.0 novice. I am excited to learn about how to use the various technologies out there, but wow, intimidating!

My name is Ronda, and I am a full-time TL-DL student these days. Believe me, this is an amazing and glorious change of pace after 11 years of classroom teaching. I love the “student life” but I do miss my classroom when I engage in discussions about the exciting learning experiences we as teachers have been witness to. I can’t wait to go back in the fall, hopefully in a new role, as a TL!

This world of blogging is a new one for me. I have only read a few blogs, usually prompted by my friends who are teaching abroad and have found that blogging is a great way for them to let everyone know how they are doing without having to send out endless emails. I was always impressed by how sophisticated the sites looked! Only once or twice did I ever leave a comment, so I continue to remain somewhat oblivious as to how I might use a blog for my own purposes! But, I am confident that this is the start of something I can use in a meaningful way for learning opportunities.

I chose Blogger to get set-up and it was very easy. I have to admit, I am still looking forward to playing around with features, so my blog will likely go through several “renovations” over the course of the semester. Since I can’t reno my house just yet, I might as well reno my personal cyber-space, right?

My immediate challenge seems to be figuring out how to get RSS feeds to work for me, and decide which ones to subscribe to! I have liked the “similes and metaphors” I have read during my inquiry that try to make sense of what this is all about; such as: RSS is like having subscriptions to your favourite magazines - it delivers the latest edition to you. (As an ELA teacher, I greatly appreciate explanations like this!)

However, I must continue to engage in the new language which accompanies these technologies. I am looking forward to the day when I can say that I speak English, French, and Web 2.0.

7 comments:

Arlene said...

Oops - I got a bit confused as to whose blog I was looking at! I tried to fix it by deleting it but now feel like I made a bigger mess. Sorry, Rhonda. All part of the learning curve I guess.

Linda Morgan said...

Loved your comments about renovations alternatives and being trilingual!

John Lobe said...

Hey, Ronda - great stuff. It is kind of amazing to realize that our blogs can evolve over the duration of the course.

Val Martineau said...

Hi Ronda:
Great blog. I liked the link to "talking to are teenagers about internet safety".

Great picture of you and Tippy.

Jennifer Branch-Mueller said...

Hi Ronda,

thanks for taking the big leap. I am by no means fluent in Web 2.0 but am an enthusiastic learner. Joanne and I just did a session for children's services public librarians and tried to introduce them to this new language.

Lots of fun!

Joanne said...

Hi Ronda,

Figuring out which blogs to include in your RSS feed is a big challenge!!! There is lots out there to choose from and so much of it is valuable! I love Doug Johnson's Blue Skunk Blog and also Joyce Valenza's blog. I would start with those two and go from there!

Joanne

elizabeth said...

Ronda, I found Google Reader to be pretty simple to use as an RSS feed and if I can use it, anyone can. I am glad to have finally figured out what RSS is - its amazing how you can see something over and over and just ignore it rather than find out about it. This course is great at making us use our inquiry skills. Like Joanne, I like Valenza's blog and it is also interesting to look at Anne Davis' bog called Edublog Insights.