Why do YOU blog?

So...Why do you write a blog?

Why do I blog?
(As a side note, can you really call yourself a "blogger" if your average posting rate is about one every two months? Not sure, but I'm hoping YES :-)

So why do I blog?

Do I really want people to read what I write? Most definitely, but not for narcissistic reasons. For with increased readership and recognition comes responsibility for more posts, and with more posts comes more time needed for blogging. Frankly, I am having trouble making use of the time I've got now.

The reason I bring this up, is that I'm struggling with how to frame my student's blog work for this coming school year. In the past, each student has had a blog and they were in charge of writing articles that correlated to assignments and occasionally write a post about something of self interest. It was really just a form of blogging direction instruction? So how do we blog then?

After reading "The Element" by Ken Robinson, I recognize the importance of letting students write about their passion. I hear folks like Will Richardson talk about allowing kids to be surrounded with other folks who are passionate about the similar things and forming networks. So how can I encourage my students to write about those things that they are passionate about while still providing a format for classroom reflection? This is my struggle!

Our students use Classblogmeister as our blogging engine and the kids don't seem to get many comments on their writing (With the exception of Lisa Durff's class in Maryland!). It is the comments that I know encourage kids to keep writing, after all, it's nice to know you are writing FOR someone else and not just the teacher.

What are your thoughts???

I think maybe we will have students keep a blog of personal interest this year and just have them write about things they know and love. It's nicer to read something when it is engaging and written because someone wanted to, not because they had to. That's not to say that there won't be the occasional blogging "assignment," but at least it won't be the blogs ultimate purpose.

Also, my thinking is that student comments will be more worthwhile and of higher quality because they are commenting about things of interest to them as well.

Does this mean that I'm going to change my blog because I don't get any affirming comments? :-) Nope, like I said before, I write to process....but it IS nice to receive a comment every now and again.

That just means I've got to start reading and commenting more on other people's stuff. After all, community is an "All Way" street, not just one way!


(image: "blog" by inju)

Tweet

Changing the teacher or changing the teaching?

I'm sure that the answer to the question posed in the title is a false dichotomy, because you can't really do one without the other. It does make for an interesting discussion starter though!

I was confronted with this questions while doing some SMARTBoard tutoring this week. We were walking through the hows of using the SMARTBoard when it became apparent that my colleague's teaching wasn't going to change. The addition of a new tool was the only thing that was going to be new. Was the fact that students could now underline words during direct instruction make them more engaged learners?

So at what point do you stop the learning with your peers and really have the discussion about adopting a new teaching pedagogy. I know I don't have to be the smartest person in the classroom when it comes to content, but I had better be the smartest person in the room when it comes to leading, facilitating, and mentoring colleague and student learners. This forces me to be the pedagogy expert, not the knowledge expert and it is this "expertise" that makes us teachers...and that is new for some people, including ME! It's like learning how to teach all over again. It's times like this where I wish I wouldn't have had Ed. Psych. my freshman year!

This idea of change, as it relates to the practice of teaching, is going to have to be a common thread in all of the professional development I take part in, either as a leader or learner.

I have the opportunity to provide some in-service for a very small Lutheran school for a half-day the last Monday in July. They are getting a laptop cart and want to know if I can work with their staff and teach them "what to do with the computers." Not sure how much I can get done in 3 hours? They want me to teach them tools, but I wonder if the time should be spent working through teaching strategies? There is not enough time to do both?

The one thing I can NOT do, is teach them the same old way. Maybe modeling effective strategies will be enough? Can I differentiate enough to make the three hours worth while or will the old "spray and pray" strategy have to do for this one time meeting? Who knows how many of their minds will even be open to a new teaching paradigm with new tools?

Along these lines, I ran across an article from Educause entitled: "The Three-E Strategy for Overcoming Resistance to Technological Change." It does an awesome job of addressing the introduction of new technologies to the 92% of technology users who really need to be convinced!

Well, I don't really know where I'm going with this blog, but to say that I'm learning that being a teacher is getting harder and not easier. The rules and tools have changed so much that you can't just sit idle anymore and not be part of the change.

These are interesting times to be a teacher!

Tweet

Just a little time in Second Life

Spent a little bit of time in Second Life tonight. That's me in the picture getting my "groove thang on" at a new Christian dance call The Fire Escape (The link is a landmark in Second Life, so you'll need an account to check it out).

I'm really impressed with how the Christian community is starting to latch on to virtual worlds. I actually went into SL this evening to join a prayer meeting in progress (thanks to Lisa Durff for the heads up).

I know joining a prayer meeting in a virtual world doesn't sound exciting, but it was! Each person had an opportunity to offer up prayer, praise, and thanks to God, it was very cool and done in a very reverant manner. I know Lutherans tend not to pray with folks from other denominations for fear of being synchronistic, but it was pretty cool to pray with the other 25 or so people there (where ever "there" really was...we may have been under water, I can't be sure).

This is just my own personal observation, but there don't seem to be a lot of faith growing communities on the Internet (that I've noticed), so when you run across them they really cause you take notice. It was awesome tonight to be able to join with other folks who share a passion for Jesus and fully trust in the work he has completed for your behalf. The LCMS Ablaze! ministry team should consider how they can be more open and receptive to online communities like Second Life or Facebook.

I really didn't have the time to spend just hanging around in SL tonight, but it was worth it! I've been thinking the past couple of days about some of the observations Clay Shirky makes in his book Here Comes Everybody about the power of latent groups. I do think Christians are a latent group, except on Sunday mornings of course, and that for the most part, we are still relatively uncoordinated on the Internet.

It was nice to be organized for an evening!

Tweet