Final project: Moodle sites for management of courses (and my sanity!)

Background
During second semester, I will be teaching two courses during the same hour and in the same space: Introduction to Theater and Theater Arts. In order to help me better manage the running of these two classes and groups at the same time, I am using Moodle to create a "blended" learning format that mixes traditional and online, digital literacies.

Why Moodle?
During this course, I've come to realize that there are so many amazing digital tools available for educators to use as course management tools. I have seen excellent examples of webpages, wikis, and of course our own course Ning that blend the traditional classroom learning with online learning and digital writing to great effect. I would have really liked to explore using a Ning to manage these theater classes, however my district uses and supports Moodle, so that's what I'm going to use. the district also blocks Ning for students on the basis that it is essentially a social networking platform. So there goes that. :)

Organization 
When a Moodle course is created, it is created with a specific organizational template already in place. At CHS, it is organized automatically by topic, meaning that each box or module could theoretically contain materials and activities related to a specifictopic or unit. Since that was how the courses usually came to me, I just assumed that was the only option I had. Since I began putzing around the course to learn more about my option, i discovered that there are several organizational options. In addition to the topic view, I could also use an organizational model that assigns each box or module a week out of the school year. I did seriously consider transferring to that model. The site would more closely resemble a traditional college syllabus and might be easier for the students to navigate. The major downside at this point however is that I have never taught either of these classes before and therefore have no idea exactly how long certain units, lessons, or projects will take. Additionally, I want to be able to respond flexibly to the needs of my students; we may need to spend extra time on top of what I planned to really cover particular topics or skills. Using a week-by-week model could get messy when I'm trying to keep up with students and the Moodle at the same time. If I organize by topic, I can upload all of my assignments, instructions, and multimedia ahead of time and reveal them as the students are ready for them without moving them all over the place.

Digital Writing Features on a Moodle
There are a number of digital writing opportunities available within a Moodle. For example, I created a recurring chat in the first module that I will use for online office hours. With two classes meeting at the same time, it is very likely that I will not be able to make it to all kids during class to answer questions By using the Chat, students can connect with me outside of the classroom to get their questions answered. Another option is the forum I created in the Intro to Theater/Theater History module in the Intro to Theater class. In the forum, I asked to students to watch this video of Stephen Sondheim's "Invocation and Instructions to the Audience" from his musical The Frogs. Then, I asked them to reflect and write about their experiences attending or participating in live theater. I asked them to post their writing as a new discussion, and then go out and respond to two other classmates' posts. I think this will be a simple but effective way to introduce the idea of reflection, sharing, and providing feedback. Students are also given a blog within the Moodle course, and I will likely use those to have students post journals and such. Eventually, when we get to the performance pieces of the course, I can create forums where students can share scripts they've written, designs they've created, or videos of performances or rehearsals for feedback.

Final Thoughts
I know there is a lot yet that I have to figure out and this is a huge undertaking, but I believe the pay-off for both the students and I will be well worth the effort. I'm excited to see how this works. When I get a few extra moments this spring (HA!), I'll come back here and reflect on how it's all going. Until then, take care and best of luck!

Using Blogs in Learning and Everyday Life

First of all, I am really enjoying the Richardson book. It's very engagingly written and offers some very practical, applicable ideas. I also really appreciated how he encourages teachers to try the tools for themselves for awhile before introducing them in the classroom. I often feel like I immediately need to start using tools that are introduced to me, so a reminder that it's okay to take time to learn for yourself first is very welcome and reassuring.

I started using a blog, primarily for my Masters coursework at the U, about 2 or 3 years ago. I have posted several posts about more daily life, personal stuff, but most of my interaction with blogs has been educationally-based. I have received a few comments about my postings, and those comments were very cool to receive, so I understand the draw of having an authentic audience, but I've never really received the interaction that Beach and Richardson describe in their books. I probably need to write more often, with more depth, and use stuff like tags more often. :)

Educationally, I can definitely see the benefit of blogs. Right now, I'm teaching a Creative Writing elective. Each day, I'm having kids do about 5-10 minutes of writing around a journal prompt, and then giving them time every so often to go back and re-visit or re-write any journal they were drawn to. I could save some class time by posting my journal prompts on my course Moodle, and then asking each student to create a blog and do their journal prompts on their blogs. They could then subscribe to each others' blogs and comment on each others' writing. I could also require them to find and subscribe to blogs of other creative writers to provide them with models and samples. Or we could team up with another Creative Writing class in another building, either in our district or outside, and have the kids comment on each others' writing. That would be a great way for them to get authentic, continuous feedback on their work.

Whether I use blogs with my regular English 9 kids or with my mixed grade level CW kids, I would really like more instruction and practice in teaching kids how to provide quality feedback to each other. I think that's one major piece that is missing from my writing instruction in general, that would totally change what the kids and I do. I think it would be absolutely essential to teach the kids this skill before starting any online writing, as one of the purposes/benefits of online writing is receiving feedback from peers. 

I'm definitely going to have to put together some lessons on appropriate use and privacy before we go online as well. Both Beach and Richardson point out the fact that kids are using these different medias constantly, but without much guidance in terms of benefits and drawbacks, consequences, privacy issues, and all that good stuff. So, a good deal of front-loading is going to be necessary.

Very excited about this. Just reminding myself that I don't have to do it all at once, right now, this very minute... :)