For me, this quarter has led to frustration after frustration with technology, with one exception-blogging. Where else can I go (besides my husband who is probably tired of my complaining) to release everything swirling around inside my head? What better place to share my successes and challenges? What better place to initiate conversations about a particular article I read that I really enjoyed (or didn't) or a fun lesson plan that I found? Likewise, I know that others in this field of work are doing the same and I can see what has been on their minds lately.
I know that when I find a blog that I like, it is usually because the blogger has some really great ideas for the classroom or because they are asking questions and thinking about the same issues that are intriguing me. Since those are the types of blogs I like, I try to keep this in mind when I am writing. I don't want to write just to have an entry in by midnight on Sunday. I don't want to just rant about the things that have bothered me all week. I want to write about what I care about and because I try to do this every time I write a blog entry, I think my entries have become more thought-provoking for my audience (small though it might be).
The two best posts that demonstrate this were my two on creative schools. The first one was an image of a very colorful school in France that just shouted "FUN!" to me. Apparently, others thought so too, because I recieved 3 comments in agreement. The second one was my previous post on all the negative comments Eric Sheninger recieved for an article he wrote on modeling our schools more after a google office space than a prison (seemed like a good idea to me!) I recieved 2 comments on that one, and one of them was from Jane! So that counts for double, right? The other comment was from someone outside the cohort whom I actually follow on my blogroll. How completely awesome is that?
The comment I wrote on Kelsey's blog about charter schools was to me the most interesting. Since this was something we had all just voted on, I think it was a topic on many people's minds. I know that I went back and forth on how I felt about the issue. All the discussion it created was really great, no matter what you ended up deciding to vote for. I love it when discussions like this happen. They often have a way of bringing about viewpoints I had never considered. And isn't that the point of being able to connect with fellow educators in the first place? I look forward to continuing on in my blogging (after a little break of course!)
That's a a big shift from so much of the writing that we've done in school, from writing for a teacher because it's required to writing to actively be part of a learning community in which there is a pretty open and lively exchange of ideas. I love the resources that you've posted here these past few weeks -- I've shared some of them more broadly and talked about some of them with colleagues, so that's an influence that you can't always see but is happening.
ReplyDeleteVery cool for you to have gotten that comment also! A pretty thoughtful comment, no less!