Journal 5

Soulé, Helen (August, 2008). Transforming School Communities. Learning and Leading, Retrieved August 1, 2008, from http://www.iste.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=August_No_1_1&Template=/MembersOnly.cfm&NavMenuID=4077&ContentID=21317&DirectListComboInd=D
In this article, the author, Helen Soulé, stresses the importance of communication throughout a district by teachers and staff. She describes this communication as the “effective glue holding the community together”. The critical components of this communication according to Soulé are: advocacy of the vision, networking to build formal and informal support, and collaboration with diverse external and internal constituencies. A way to implement these strategies with ease is to take advantage of the Web 2.0 tool that can easily give teachers the opportunity to collaborate with other teachers. A suggested way to reach staff within districts is to start a blog or podcast so that communication is accessible. At the State University of Iowa there has already been a tool implemented that gives school principals the opportunity to set up a blog for free. Another point the author made about effective communication was knowing where and when to use certain means of communication. There are certain tools to be used in order to reach certain audiences. In addition to knowing the best vehicle of communication to use, it is important that educators expose the parents to the tools they will be using right off the bat to avoid confusion later on in the year. Although some parents are hesitant about accessing information via the computer or internet, their hesitance may be counteracted by showing them all of the awesome possibilities of learning there are to be had.

What kinds of Web 2.0 tools will be most helpful in my classroom?
-I really like the idea of a class blog, where students will be able to answer their fellow peers’ questions and submit assignments online. I like the idea that it conserves paper and decreases the amount of extra work I would have to do by fixing errors that could have been prevented previously.

How will you be an advocate for effective digital communication?
-After taking this ed422 class I feel confident in posting new lessons and/or sharing my experiences on blogs or Wikis. If I come across a lesson that worked for my class and though that the students enjoyed I would be happy to post a video of this lesson on Teacher Tube or post how to do the directions on my blog.