When I initially read the requirements for this weeks blog entry, I got very nervous. I am not the biggest fan of giving feedback to my peers, especially in a professional way. The reason that I am not the biggest fan of giving feedback to my peers is that I don’t want to seem like I know more or know something better than they do. My classmates are more than my peers or colleagues in my professional master’s degree program, they are my friends. I do not want to offend my friends in any way. However, because they are my friends I know that they welcome any feedback that I give them because it can either help them grow their learning, or it will just be another conversation we have centered around our professional program! Keeping all of this in mind, in addition to what Hicks says, “To bless is to simply offer praise. To address means to ask specific questions about the ideas. To press is to ask critical questions in order to help the writer move towards a stronger version or the writing or a clearer explanation of his/her opinion.” (p.83) I will be taking a closer look into one of Catherine’s blog posts.
When I began reviewing all of my classmate's blogs, Catherine’s most recent blog post immediately caught my eye. The blog posting that I will be reviewing from Catherine’s blog is titled “Entry 7: How can students use Google Sites to create more digitally enhanced pieces?” The reason Catherine’s blog immediately caught my eye is that I am OBSESSED with all things Google. I love Google Classroom, Google Slides, Google Forms, Google Docs, Google Drive, the list goes on and on. However, Google Sites is a relatively new platform for me. Before taking LTED 618, I never had a reason to create a Google Site. The title of Catherine’s blog posting caught my eye, and I wanted to dive into either “bless, press or address” (Hicks, 2013) on what I took away from her blog.
I absolutely love the personal connection and background Catherine gave around her experiences working with Google. She provided multiple ways that the school district she works in uses Google Classroom because the school is one-to-one with technology, allowing teachers to use a platform like this daily in the classroom. She and I have used Google Classroom in similar contexts. I appreciate Catherine sharing her personal experiences with using Google Classroom. When Catherine began thinking more in-depth about Google Sites, I initially got a little anxious because I don’t know how to use Google Sites. When I played around on the platform, I was having a really hard time because I could not figure out how to do it. I am wondering how Catherine would go about teaching students about how to use Google Sites? There are so many different aspects that go into making a Google Site, you would have to teach how to use the platform before the students would be able to publish work in the way Catherine was thinking about using it. I love the idea of using Google Sites, but I am not sure how realistic this platform of Google would work out for students to use. I am also wondering if Catherine was thinking of an age for students to start using Google Sites to publish their work? Would this platform be suitable for the class in 3rd grade who have already been introduced to working with Google Classroom? Or is it more suitable for students who are older and have more patience to play around and/or learn about this technology platform for publishing their work? I can’t wait to chat with Catherine about my questions!
References
Hicks, T. (2013). Crafting digital writing. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
I think you did a nice job of reflecting on Catherine's key points. If you re-read the assignment, you will see that your job was not to give feedback to Catherine, but more "selfishly" to choose an idea from her (or another's post) that intrigued you that you wanted to spend some time thinking about. It was the idea, not the peer that you were blessing, pressing and addressing. I point this out, because it is important that you see the distinction as you will need to help your future students see the difference as well.
ReplyDelete