Tag Archives: Professional learning

Feature blog – Lisa Hill’s professional blog

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Lisa Hill is a teacher librarian and Director of Curriculum at Mossgiel Park Primary School in Melbourne’s Endeavour Hills. Lisa has developed a number of professional learning resources and has agreed to share her blogging experience with readers. She explains how her blog came about.

Last year, after attending the SLAV Conference in March, I set up a professional blog at http://lisahillschoolstuff.wordpress.com/ .    It was an experiment that grew as my knowledge of Web 2.0 grew: I made my first post on March 16th, 2008 and have posted 57 times since then, at intervals ranging from one a month to sometimes five or six in a month.  Now, just over 12 months after starting the blog there had been (at the time of writing) 5,995 hits, which means that near enough to 6000 people have visited it.

Lisa's homepage
Lisa’s homepage

 Why do I bother with this, and why do other people bother to read it?

My WordPress stats tell me that topics I’ve written about are common search terms.  People search online for stuff about Aboriginal Perspectives – and I have a whole page showing how we at MossgielPark PS integrate Aboriginal Perspectives into our curriculum for different units of work.  I also uploaded a PowerPoint that I presented at the SLAV conference and people look at that too.  People are interested in anything to do withBoys and Education and I’ve responded to topics in The Age, reviewed a book on the issue, and summarised an article that I read about Boys and Learning.  I got some rather cross comments when I blogged my opinion of ‘dreary and depressing books about tormenting social issues’ in the 2008 CBCA shortlist, but most of the 258 hits on that post kept their own counsel.  This means I don’t know whether they agree withme or with my critics! 

The short answer is that I’ve kept a diary on and off throughout my life, and my professional blog journals the parts of my professional life that I’m willing to share.  I use it to proffer my opinion on various issues in the news, to summarise what I’ve learned at conferences, to share resources that I’ve developed or discovered online, to review children’s books and occasionally to brag about my school.  Blogging means that I am part of the professional conversation that is developing online, and I like that. 

Having said all that, however, I also should ‘fess up that I’m a professional writer as well.  I’ve had a little book published, and been paid for stuff in professional magazines and (once!) in a capital city daily.  I’ve had three resource books for teaching Indonesian in the marketplace and I could have had more if I wanted to.  So I’m comfortable about writing and self-editing, and having been paid to express my opinions before, I’m not afraid to say what I think.  I find writing easy, and satisfying, and sometimes financially rewarding. 

The difference with blogging is that no one pays me to do it, I don’t feel under any pressure to post, and there’s no deadline.  I like being part of the online community and once I’d completed the SLAV Learning Web 2.0 course in the middle of last year, I felt comfortable with the technology. 

But why do others bother to read it?  This is why WordPress is my preferred blog provider.   I know the answer to this question because as part of the WordPress free service they offer an in-built stats analysis.  (You can add this to blogs that are hosted by Blogger.com – but they’re not as a comprehensive and you have to muck about installing them.  GlobalTeacher also has  a stats feature.)

Aboriginal Perspectives page
Aboriginal Perspectives page

My all time top post is about Multiple Intelligences (422 hits) but my most popular contributions to the online world seem to be the Author Study units of work I have uploaded.  Whenever we have student teachers at school I show them the blog and let them know that they (and teacher-librarians anywhere) are welcome to download them to use in any way they wish.  (I hope the students don’t plagiarise them, because I’m sure that by now they would be recognised by their lecturers). 

I have also installed the ClusterMap widget which shows me that people from all over the world have stumbled onto my blog (everywhere from the Sudan to Grenada, and three from Korea!) but that the vast majority are of course, Australian – though there’s also two to three hundred from the US and the UK, but only 22 from New Zealand. 

These features confirm for me that I am not wasting my time with this blog.  Most people who visit don’t comment, much as I wish they would because even a brief remark is very motivating, but they seem to find what I offer interesting and sometimes useful. 

That makes it worthwhile!

Congratulations to Lisa on a wonderful blog that not only shares resources with peers, but expresses opinions on learning and teaching.

Tania Sheko’s personal learning blog

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Whitefriars College teacher librarian Tania Sheko has been kind enough to share her personal learning blog with the Bright Ideas readers.

Brave new world homepage

Brave new world homepage

Tania explains the evolution of her blog:

After going through the SLAV Web 2.0 course, which used the blog as a platform for recording progress and reflection, I realised how much I enjoyed the writing, and decided to continue. The blog evolved from a step-by-step explanation of new tools trialed, to a place where I had a voice. A blog is a powerful way to deconstruct your own thoughts and ideas, as well as receive feedback from others, or even create a discussion.  Some people push against blogging; they feel it’s self-indulgent or a waste of their precious time. I would say, if you take time to think through things, question, if you get excited or frustrated by something, instead of internalising this, or sharing it with one or two people, write it out. 

My photo blog, 365 photos is a challenge I set myself for this year – to take a photo for each day of the year. At first I thought it was a fairly superficial exercise, but now I can see the value of recording events, using a photo to reflect, explain or as a springboard for creative writing. And, of course, there’s the connection with others who leave comments. I’ve particularly enjoyed feedback from those in the northern hemisphere, eg. People commenting on our sunshine when they’re deep in snow, or our falling leaves when they have just glimpsed  new shoots and the beginning of Spring.   I can see potential in adapting this exercise for the classroom, by allowing choice of image, and using that image as a springboard for writing or reflection. It also provides an opportunity for teaching about the use of flickr, for sharing photos and understanding Creative Commons and fair use of images, for participation in or the creation of groups (see post http://bit.ly/wLqec). 

I think the connections I’ve made with others are the most valuable part of blogging for me. It’s a great way to reduce isolation, and it makes you realise that there are people who share your interests globally; it helps to make the world seem ‘flatter’.  What a wonderful opportunity for students to connect with those from a different hemisphere, from other cultures.  An online discussion around a theme or topic with a class from another country is  engaging, authentic learning.  There are so many good things about writing a blog, that I could go on for some time: increasing self-confidence in expressing ideas, developing fluency in writing, understanding appropriate language and online etiquette, gaining an understanding of other cultures, connecting to students in your own class in a way that doesn’t always happen in class, especially in case of shyness, exercising higher order thinking in commenting, evaluating, and analysing, etc.

As with any knowledge of Web 2.0 technologies, it’s not a matter of understanding them theoretically as an educator, but of playing with them, understanding them from the inside, modeling them for other educators and students. 

The future world of work and life for our students will require an online identity, a digital footprint, an ability to create a network of people to learn from and with. I feel that if I don’t immerse myself in Web 2.0 technologies, not for technology’s sake, but for the sake of broadening my own network – people I learn from and communicate with globally – then I’m doing a disservice to the students I teach and the teachers I support.

365 photos

365 photos

Congratulations to Tania for being such a reflective and lifelong learner. We can all learn from your philosophies and examples. Thanks for sharing your blogs with Bright Ideas!

Teaching fellowship @ SLV

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Linda Angeloni, the Education Programs and Offsite Learning Manager, Learning Services at the State Library of Victoria has kindly sent Bright Ideas the following information.

The State Library of Victoria’s William Buckland Foundation Teaching Fellowships provide teachers in the first five years of their career with a rare opportunity to further their curriculum planning and professional research skills in a world class cultural institution.

Recipients receive the opportunity to work within the Library’s Learning Services Division for one semester and contribute to the development of innovative learning programs and research projects relating to the Library’s collections and resources. Funding will be provided to fill the applicant’s position at their school during the period of the fellowship.

For more information, application information or to attend a free information session on April 30th, please email langeloni@slv.vic.gov.au or call 8664 7015.