Virginia and I are continuing our inquiry project with our students, two groups of students in district gifted programs. This is the Kidpost entry given to our students to allow us to be very specific about the learning intentions of our blogging project.
Blogging for Thinking
Technology is a tool just like a pencil or pen. We are using blogging as tool for two reasons. Kidblog allows your teacher to adjust the security settings so only your classmates, parents and teachers can read and respond to your blog. It allows you to creatively personalize your space and learn about blogging before you start posting in a public space. Blogging is also one way to develop and extend your thinking through writing by reflecting on your learning in and out of the classroom. Because you are not able to use your facial expressions or other body language to communicate, your words must clearly express your ideas. You also have the task of using your creativity and language to grab the interest of your audience.
Throughout your learning, we are using the following questions from Judy Halbert and Linda Kaser (Spirals of Learning 2013) to keep us moving forward.
- What am I learning?
- Why does it matter?
- Where am I going next with my learning?
We will be using the following a rubric based on the article “Responding to the imperatives of learning in the 21st Century” (The Critical Thinking Consortium, 2011) to evaluate your progress.
1. Developing Self-regulated learning: The goal is for you to be able to say: “I am in charge of my learning and motivated to carry out my work in personally responsible, self-reflective ways and to exercise reasoned judgment to meet my goals”.
| Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | Level 4 |
| I depend on others for almost alldecisions about what,
how and when I learn; I follow the teacher’s directions but I don’t add my own thoughts, ideas or interpretations.
|
I demonstrate personalresponsibility to take charge of what, how and when I learn but I need the teacher to provide specific options to choose from. | I exercise thoughtfullyinformed judgments in the pursuit of agreed-upon targets and self assess my work according to teacher provided rubrics.. | I put a lot of thought and planning into setting goals and a plan to reach them. I self evaluate how my learning is going and where I want to go next. |
2. Developing my Thinking Skills: The goal is to develop your critical thinking skills. The word “critical” does not mean finding fault in this case. It means that you are not just “parroting back” information, but demonstrating proficiency by making connections, analyzing evidence, and making judgments.
| Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | Level 4 |
| I report back what I heard, did, or read during class or out of school learning experiences. | I report back what I heard, did, or read. I make connections between my learning experiences at school or home. | I consistently describe my learning and express why my learning matters. I understand where I am going next with my learning and come up with an efficient and effective plan of action. | I understand the value of my learning and where I want to go next with my learning. My plan, conclusions & opinions are based on careful analysis of my experiences and a variety of evidence. |
Inquire2Empower Consulting 