NEW YEAR brings NEW BEGINNINGS!

From: mimus12@aim.com [mailto:mimus12@aim.com]
Sent: Monday, December 31, 2007 4:03 PM
To: jfiras@wowway.com
Subject: Creating A Blog for Groves HighSchool

Hi,

I attend Groves Hich School and I wanted to create a blog for our ECO club but, I have a couple questions before I get started.

A Group of people recently came to talk to the club about creating a blog just before break but, even after visiting the website, I do not completely understand the reason for createing a blog.
Also, when you guys spoke to us, you gave us permission to refer to your website in our transcript when aplying for a college. I want to make sure that this website is www.sendenergy.blogspot.com

I would like to know more information.

thanks, Jumi

On 12/31/07, John Iras <jfiras@wowway.com> wrote:

Congratulations for taking the initiative to move forward with the ECO blog. This demonstrated courage moves you past the general student population and into the creative, self starter group that surely will see terrific success now and in the new 21^st Century career paths. Jim and I are discussing the sites that would most benefit you and your vision quest.

We will get back to you in the next day or two.

Happy New Year to you and the ECO club.

Best to all,

John Iras
21^st Century Digital Learning Environments

Jim Ross: Response to all

John:

Thanks for forwarding!

Jumi:

Thanks for taking the time to respond to the opportunity to develop a GROVES Eco-Club blog-site.

In answer to some of your questions; a blog-site (blog: short for web-log coined in 2004) is basically a centralized "subject-specific" virtual-space on the web that can be authored and accessed by many at their convenience, unlike e-mail or web-sites. You might think of a blog in terms of the e-mail of the 21st Century. Additionally, blogs allow you to simply add pictures and videos, links, etc. A blog-site is also an easy way for "communities of practice" (say the GROVES Eco-Club) to document, share and inform others of their "works in progress," interests and aspirations.

To create your blog-site I would suggest using Blogger at http://www.blogger.com (only because Blogger was acquired by Google recently so we will see some "very exciting" things developing here). You will also have to create a Google Mail account http://www.google.com to utilize Blogger. I will send you an invitation to Google Mail also.

Other things you will need to be prepared for will be of course the Title of your blog-site and additional e-mail addresses for the other Eco-Club members you will invite as authors, members, etc.

If you wish to invite Mr. Iras, jfiras@wowway.com Mr. Bates renewablesjim@gmail.com Mr. Phillips wp01bps@birmingham.k12.mi.us and myself Jim Ross digitallearning@gmail.com please feel free to do so.

You also might wish to visit a recently developed (several weeks ago) student-launched blog-site called Students 2.0 http://wwwstudents2oh.org/ and/or Google Students 2.0 to see what impact these Young People are having on digital learning and 21st Century communications.

I believe adding the SEND blog-site to your resume will be an asset and is accurate as identified.

Please let us know if you encounter any problems, have any questions and/or concerns in your GROVES Eco-Club blog-site creation efforts. Feel free to contact us by e-mail or via land-line below.

Hope the NEW YEAR is finding you and your friends and family renewed and excited about the year unfolding before us. Off to do some serious snow-shoveling.

Best,

Jim

--
Jim Ross
21st Century Digital Learning Environments
41810 Huntington Ct.
Clinton Township, MI 48038
586-228-0608

Well Hello again Jumi!
This is indeed a very happy New Year! So full of promise to be the most creatively rewarding year of your life to date and just the beginning of many more to come! Your decision to share with the world about what the Ecoclub has created at Groves High in the courtyard is very commendable. The Ecoclub has created a habitat for wildlife in the midst of an otherwise unsustainable habitat in the middle of a large school. You then went on to raise the money yourselves to implement and are helping to design the renewable energy system that will power the water features that are a part of this biosphere. How fantastic this is that you would share your knowledge with us and the opportunity to learn with you.
Your participation in Send's blog is relevant but more importantly the blogsite you and the Ecoclub are co-creating is far more meaningful for where you go henceforth in this world, let me rephrase that... where you go into the new world that is now being created thru the agreement that you have valiantly made to share with it some of the answers that will bring about positive social, educational and environmental change.
We toast to Your continuing success!
Sincerely,
Jim Bates
SEND LLC

P.S. Please post some photos of the courtyard on your new blogsite
January 1, 2008 10:21 AM