jessmc.edublogs.org » twitter http://jessmc.edublogs.org Sat, 20 Jun 2009 11:49:50 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.2 en hourly 1 Year 12’s First Impressions of Twitter. http://jessmc.edublogs.org/2009/06/17/year-12s-first-impressions-of-twitter/ http://jessmc.edublogs.org/2009/06/17/year-12s-first-impressions-of-twitter/#comments Thu, 18 Jun 2009 02:33:46 +0000 Jess http://jessmc.edublogs.org/2009/06/17/year-12s-first-impressions-of-twitter/

Mobile post sent by jessmcculloch using Utterli. reply-count Replies.  mp3

]]> http://jessmc.edublogs.org/2009/06/17/year-12s-first-impressions-of-twitter/feed/ 0 Best Practice – Really? http://jessmc.edublogs.org/2008/10/05/best-practice-really/ http://jessmc.edublogs.org/2008/10/05/best-practice-really/#comments Sat, 04 Oct 2008 22:30:00 +0000 Jess http://www.technolote.com/?p=414
untitled
What is Best Practice? Is there really such a thing? Is best practice for me the same as best practice for you? Is Best Practice just a phrase used to help publishers sell books?

One of the unconference sessions I went to at the Learning 2.008 conference in Shanghai was a discussion on Best Practice and if there really is such a thing. I don’t have all the answers of course, just plenty more questions!

For me, best practice (if one needs to use that term) would be something that takes my teaching and my students learning further. Something that pushes boundaries because for me, that is one of the best things you can do in a classroom. Much of the description that came out of this session about what ‘best practice’ actually is to me sounded like common sense teaching. Saying that of course, then just begs the question as to what common sense teaching actually is. So, I’m not sure if I should use that phrase. What do you think? It’s not a simple conversation to have!

‘Best practice’ is not going to look the same for everyone, as we all have different classrooms and kids, different ideas and different curriculum. Best practice then has to be the thing that is then best for those particular students in that particular context. How then can you write book saying what it is?

There is value, however, in learning for others who have done the trials and found methods that work successfully all or most of the time. Is this not best practice?

One thing we have to be careful of is getting all caught up in labeling things and saying that one thing or way is better than another. It is so easy for everyone to make judgments of others and say that things aren’t up to standard, or best practice. In order to be able to implement a form of best practice effectively, you have to have a good relationship with your students and be able to engage them or the rest is a waste of time.

Have I missed the point? What is best practice for you?

My tweets from the session – please read from the bottom up!

best practice as something that engenders the values and competenciesthat are valued by society (great comment from participant to end on!)01:30 PM September 20, 2008from twhirl

my inital thought about best practice is something that takes me and my
students beyond what we are doing – something innovative – thoughts?01:29 PM September 20, 2008from twhirl
@javabeanboy that is then the other issue – is best practice just common sense teaching?! should it be something more?01:23 PM September 20, 2008from twhirl in reply to javabeanboy
@bethstillI agree!if there is going to be something called ‘best practice’ then
it has to be very fluid or it very quickly becomes outdated01:22 PM September 20, 2008from twhirl in reply to bethstill

@nzchrissy yes it has to be. if you don’t know your kids, how can you engage them properly in order to use ‘best practice?’
01:21 PM September 20, 2008from twhirl in reply to nzchrissy
@israelgreg yes, I think so. does it really matter as long as it is making positive differences for our kids?
01:19 PM September 20, 2008from twhirl in reply to israelgreg

best practice definitions up to the teacher – thoughts?01:11 PM September 20, 2008from twhirl

@mdeborde way too many variables, which is why I don’t think there really could a be one ‘best practice’01:10 PM September 20, 2008from twhirlin reply to mdeborde

best practice is whatever engages the student – thoughts?01:07 PM September 20, 2008from twhirl

best practice being about what is best for the child in the particular context
01:02 PM September 20, 2008from twhirl

if you are going to call something ‘best practice’ then I would want it to go beyond common sense teaching
12:57 PM September 20, 2008from twhirl

if there has to be best practice, then for me it is what is going to
take my classroom and my students forward with new skills, experiences
12:56 PM September 20, 2008from twhirl

is there really such a thing as best practice?
12:50 PM September 20, 2008
from twhirl
what is best practice?12:49 PM September 20, 2008from twhirl

Flickr image: contactjuggling

]]> http://jessmc.edublogs.org/2008/10/05/best-practice-really/feed/ 5 PLN to the Rescue on Behaviour Management http://jessmc.edublogs.org/2008/07/21/pln-to-the-rescue-on-behaviour-management/ http://jessmc.edublogs.org/2008/07/21/pln-to-the-rescue-on-behaviour-management/#comments Mon, 21 Jul 2008 09:47:37 +0000 Jess http://www.technolote.com/?p=346 I put out this call to my Twitter network after a frustrating class this afternoon:

Jess McCulloch jessmcculloch would really appreciate some tactics for dealing with high level attention seeker, very disruptive, very low skills, hates everthing grade 5 about 4 hours ago from twhirl

and got these really helpful responses that I really really appreciate:

Steve Collis Steve_Collis @jessmcculloch I love that you’ve had to put complex situation into 140 characters & now we’re gamely replying with such necessarily brevity about 2 hours ago from web in reply to jessmcculloch
Steve Collis Steve_Collis @jessmcculloch I *overwhelm* attention-seekers with crazy amounts of attention, from me & from the class (put them in charge of much stuff). about 2 hours ago from web in reply to jessmcculloch
Helen Otway helenotway @jessmcculloch Have you seen the welfare publication – Calmer Classrooms? http://www.ocsc.vic.gov.au/… You can order free. about 3 hours ago from web in reply to jessmcculloch
Erin Freeman efreeman Icon_red_lock @jessmcculloch Is the attention seeking a strategy to avoid work because of low ability? Have you used ICTs to engage? (probably but…) about 3 hours ago from web in reply to jessmcculloch
Erin Freeman efreeman Icon_red_lock @jessmcculloch Def get to know interests and use those to engage them. How do they handle positive praise? about 3 hours ago from web in reply to jessmcculloch
Helen Otway helenotway @jessmcculloch 1:1 works well with me. Usually yard duty or before school allows me to build relationships with these kids… about 3 hours ago from web in reply to jessmcculloch
John Pearce mrpbps @jessmcculloch If you can engage on his interests then you can move to others you can also withdraw that engagement when things go awray about 3 hours ago from Snitter in reply to jessmcculloch
John Pearce mrpbps @jessmcculloch agree with Tom especially with praise Also try to identify his likes and engage with him around them eg sport TV about 3 hours ago from Snitter in reply to jessmcculloch
tombarrett tombarrett @jessmcculloch Re: tactics – keeping praising those positive behaviours around that child and draw attention to those when you talk 1 to 1 about 3 hours ago from twhirl in reply to jessmcculloch
tombarrett tombarrett @jessmcculloch Re: tactics – take a really tough approach, make your expectations crystal clear, engage with responsibility where possible about 3 hours ago from twhirl in reply to jessmcculloch
Sharon Harper shazzandrob @jessmcculloch wait for the perfect opportunity to look him/her in the eye and come up with extremely clever put down, make sure its audible about 4 hours ago from web in reply to jessmcculloch
Bill Genereux billgx @jessmcculloch A page about how to turn your words into gold: http://www.loveandlogic.com… is a good place to start. about 4 hours ago from web in reply to jessmcculloch
Bill Genereux billgx @jessmcculloch Check the teacher resources at this site: http://www.loveandlogic.com/ I’m a firm believer in L&L techniques. about 4 hours ago from web in reply to jessmcculloch

Online personal learning networks are incredibly powerful. All this advice, expertise and willingness to share at my fingertips!

My personal learning network is made up of Twitter, Skype, various ning networks, my blog, commenting on other blogs and participating in conversations in all of these places. There are so many people out there to learn from. Thank you all of you.

]]> http://jessmc.edublogs.org/2008/07/21/pln-to-the-rescue-on-behaviour-management/feed/ 1 Twitter Abstinence Syndrome http://jessmc.edublogs.org/2008/03/31/twitter-abstinence-syndrome/ http://jessmc.edublogs.org/2008/03/31/twitter-abstinence-syndrome/#comments Mon, 31 Mar 2008 09:21:20 +0000 Jess http://jessmc.edublogs.org/2008/03/31/twitter-abstinence-syndrome/

Found this cartoon via a link from Langwitches. LOL.

]]> http://jessmc.edublogs.org/2008/03/31/twitter-abstinence-syndrome/feed/ 3 Twittervention! http://jessmc.edublogs.org/2008/02/27/twittervention/ http://jessmc.edublogs.org/2008/02/27/twittervention/#comments Wed, 27 Feb 2008 12:04:06 +0000 Jess http://jessmc.edublogs.org/2008/02/27/twittervention/ Someone twittered this today (I tried to go back and find who but it was taking too long), and I think it is going around the Twittersphere a bit.

Top 10 Signs You Might Need a “Twittervention.” Found at Logic + Emotion.

1. You type “@” before names in e-mail, blog comments and data fields.

2. Your written communications have become extremely short. 140 characters or less.

3. You change your Twitter avatar at least 3-5 times a week.

4. You don’t use your phone to make calls anymore.

5. Your blog hasn’t been updated in weeks/months.

6. You check your Twitter account daily/hourly to see if you have new “followers”.

7. New followers = euphoria while no new followers sets off mild depression.

8. You tell your friends to just “Twitter it” to you.

9. You experience panic attacks if Twitter is down for more than an hour.

10. You experience “Twitter remorse” due to having a high number of updates, but still can’t stop doing it.

http://twitter.com/home
Thankfully I only exhibit one of these symptoms – number 1. I get the euphoria (or slight ego boost shall we say) when I get new followers, but am not yet at the stage that I think about people not following me, if that makes sense. I guess I may not be suffering from any of these other symptoms yet as I don’t rely on Twitter as much as others do. I could understand some of these points for those of whom Twitter is deeply embedded in their daily networking. The network that is Twitter is amazing and enticing. Once could spend as much time as one likes twittering around!

You may notice that some of my posts here are daily digests of my ‘tweets.’ That is due to a cool new function of Twitter Tools that is part of Edublogs. Twitter Tools also lets me send tweets from my sidebar. Very cool.

I’m jessmcculloch on Twitter.

Anyway, I must away. It is past my bedtime!

]]> http://jessmc.edublogs.org/2008/02/27/twittervention/feed/ 0 My Day in the Twittersphere 2008-02-26 http://jessmc.edublogs.org/2008/02/26/my-day-in-the-twittersphere-2008-02-26/ http://jessmc.edublogs.org/2008/02/26/my-day-in-the-twittersphere-2008-02-26/#comments Wed, 27 Feb 2008 03:59:59 +0000 Jess http://jessmc.edublogs.org/2008/02/26/my-day-in-the-twittersphere-2008-02-26/
  • finally stopped after having very full on morning involving helping to sort out some very serious bullying #
  • lunch time – vegemite on toast for me. that’s what you get when you haven’t done your groceries… #
  • lunch hour nearing a close… have to walk kids back and forth the pool for swimming lessons now #
  • going to be testing wiimote whiteboard tomorrow morning! will have to blog about that….stay tuned…. #
  • blogging about blogging! http://www.technolote.com #
  • just found a whole bunch of comments on my technoLOTE blog that were awaiting moderation! aah! #
  • new technoLOTE post: 3 Series on Blogging: A bl-what? http://tinyurl.com/26n8hf #
  • new technoLOTE post: Hommage to the Commenter http://tinyurl.com/32pz2l #
  • new blog post: My Day in the Twittersphere 2008-02-25 http://tinyurl.com/35c9xa #
  • new technoLOTE post: Q2: Why would I use blogs with my students? http://tinyurl.com/23jo5z #
  • uploading videos of students ‘rapping’ their name, age and where they live in Chinese. v. funny. #
  • feeling sleepy after being up early for swim. was in pool by 7am – early for me! #
  • just discovered my colleague @murcha’s ejourneys wiki with some great resources: http://ejourneys.wikispaces.com/ #

    • Powered by Twitter Tools.

    ]]>     http://jessmc.edublogs.org/2008/02/26/my-day-in-the-twittersphere-2008-02-26/feed/ 1     My Day in the Twittersphere 2008-02-25 http://jessmc.edublogs.org/2008/02/25/my-day-in-the-twittersphere-2008-02-25/ http://jessmc.edublogs.org/2008/02/25/my-day-in-the-twittersphere-2008-02-25/#comments Tue, 26 Feb 2008 03:59:59 +0000 http://jessmc.edublogs.org/2008/02/25/my-day-in-the-twittersphere-2008-02-25/
  • new blog post: Those That Make Me Think (The Thinking Blogger Award) http://tinyurl.com/yq4rqj #
  • a period of quiet after hectic day of school photos! #
  • new blog post: My Day in the Twittersphere 2008-02-24 http://tinyurl.com/2zyh9o #

    • Powered by Twitter Tools.

    ]]>     http://jessmc.edublogs.org/2008/02/25/my-day-in-the-twittersphere-2008-02-25/feed/ 0     My Day in the Twittersphere 2008-02-24 http://jessmc.edublogs.org/2008/02/24/my-day-in-the-twittersphere-2008-02-24/ http://jessmc.edublogs.org/2008/02/24/my-day-in-the-twittersphere-2008-02-24/#comments Mon, 25 Feb 2008 03:59:59 +0000 http://jessmc.edublogs.org/2008/02/24/my-day-in-the-twittersphere-2008-02-24/
  • still haven’t started the housework… #
  • @coolcatteacher know what you mean about small town and not fitting in! #
  • @coolcatteacher narrowminds and lack of interest in outside world get to me fairly often #
  • housework done – woo hoo! #
  • husband demanding to be taken out for cake and coffee. must oblige. #
  • new technoLOTE post: Welcome to My Classroom #2 http://tinyurl.com/3a5wrq #
  • thinking about the week ahead #
  • new blog post: My Week in Preview http://tinyurl.com/2ty9ff #
  • Just found plugin that lets you drop FlickrCC pics to your post from wordpress dashboard http://tinyurl.com/33ryxp #
  • trying to do some planning while watching ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ #
  • @ajep know that feeling! ‘mark all as read’ is very tempting sometimes #
  • @ajep of course except when it comes to mine you have to read EVERY WORD! :) #
  • why is it so easy to get distracted by silly, fabulous, ridiculou, brain dead TV?! :-) #
  • bedtime! up early(er) for exercise. Well, that’s the intention. #
  • new blog post: I’m Free(er)! http://tinyurl.com/2uqs98 #
  • just found out that my dear mother -in-law is coming to stay for the night! #

    • Powered by Twitter Tools.

    ]]>     http://jessmc.edublogs.org/2008/02/24/my-day-in-the-twittersphere-2008-02-24/feed/ 0     My Day in the Twittersphere 2008-02-23 http://jessmc.edublogs.org/2008/02/23/my-day-in-the-twittersphere-2008-02-23/ http://jessmc.edublogs.org/2008/02/23/my-day-in-the-twittersphere-2008-02-23/#comments Sun, 24 Feb 2008 03:59:59 +0000 http://jessmc.edublogs.org/2008/02/23/my-day-in-the-twittersphere-2008-02-23/
  • being thrown out of dim dim meeting. maybe it was something i said?! #
  • @mjmontagne no problem. love trying something new! hopefully it works with the parents #
  • playing with twitter tools in edublogs. don’t think it’s saving my options tho! #
  • adding widgets to my blog #
  • tweeting from my blog sidebar #
  • new post: My Tweets for Today:
    figuirng out twitterfeed and OpenID #
    deciding which proje.. http://tinyurl.com/2povyk #
  • getting motivated to do the housework #

    • Powered by Twitter Tools.

    ]]>     http://jessmc.edublogs.org/2008/02/23/my-day-in-the-twittersphere-2008-02-23/feed/ 1     My Tweets for Today http://jessmc.edublogs.org/2008/02/22/my-tweets-for-today/ http://jessmc.edublogs.org/2008/02/22/my-tweets-for-today/#comments Sat, 23 Feb 2008 03:59:59 +0000 http://jessmc.edublogs.org/2008/02/22/my-tweets-for-today/
  • figuirng out twitterfeed and OpenID #
  • deciding which projects to let go of to simplify my life a bit #
  • counting the days till the lease on this laptop is up!!! #
  • waching friday night crime shows on ABC and checking out new features on edublogs #
  • just became a paid edublogs supporter to get feedburner and twitter tools #
  • OMG where is this year going?! #
  • @murcha hi! did you get note trish and I left for you? #
  • @have to get back here more. have to remove a few projects from list of things to do ! #
  • @want to get eplanks really up and going #
  • @murcha have just started following rash kath #
  • @murcha did you tag me for that meme afterall? #
  • @theother66 have just started playing with Terraminds because I have been reading your tweets. thanks ! #
  • @dswaters ah, yes, i see you are the one to be thanked! terraminds is great. #
  • @murcha thanks for the comment on my post. appreciated that #
  • oh god, am up. here comes saturday! husband demanding hotcakes for brekky. off to maccas. #
  • new Friday Vox Pop: VP4: What is the most important thing you learn how to do at.. http://tinyurl.com/yoo5mr #
  • new technoChinese po What’s In A Name?: In these lessons you will learn h.. http://tinyurl.com/243mx8 #
  • Rise of Reflection P T-weet T-weet T-wooo: Oh, I’m trying to get back int.. http://tinyurl.com/348rwt #
  • new technoLOTE post: A Weeks’ Worth of Food Around the World http://tinyurl.com/2gyzt5 #
  • @mjmontagne have just logged in to dim dim #
  • @mjmontagne booted out again. what is the meeting room name? #
  • checking out http://mytweetmap.com #

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