More planning and we're off!

Upon thinking about my survey situation more I have decided to include a question about the classes that students are enrolled in. This will allow me to filter my data after the surveys are completed by those special classes. I think this is going to be the best approach. No matter what I need to collect data about my subgroups as this is something I am very interested in studying. The survey will be the first step in moving forward.

I have also done a lot more planning this week. I did not even realize until today that our Mid-Winter break falls next week. Yikes! That raises an interesting question. Do I start the kids on blogging before the break, or after? With the problems that could arise I have decided to wait until after break to start the kids with their accounts and to actually blog.

This week I will focus on introducing the idea of global warming and the movie, "An Inconvenient Truth." This will be the phase where students are writing by hand and not through the use of the blog. We will share feedback and comments through whole group discussion. This portion will be videotaped at it will be my comparison to the times when students are blogging their responses.

In addition I finally have a long term scope for the project. It really helped to get this in place. (thanks Gaoming for the suggestion) Now I can proceed forward methodically. By knowing now how much time I have and when I should be doing what will ensure that I accomplish what I need to. In addition I think it will give me some flexibility as I go through.

One more goal to accomplish this week will be to interview students individually prior to them blogging. We could call these the pre-blogging interviews. Logistic-wise I have figured out that I will need to do the interviews during lunches this week. This will allow me to get a quiet environment where I am not taking away from class time or my teaching. I will invite a handful of students each day and tape whoever chooses to come. I think the kids will be eagar to participate (hopefully).

WOW! Well, this is going to be a big week. I am really excited to launch the discussion of this really important topic. I can't wait to see how they react and what kinds of conversations are created. It is also fun to think about how it will be so different when they are blogging!