It's weird to be blogging again. I believe the last time I wrote anything on my Xanga (it's like a Live Journal or other personal blog-journal) I was recording thoughts about my high school graduation. However, I can't bring myself to destroy this relic; it's a wonderful resource. It's as if I am reading a personal diary of someone from a time I no longer understand.
And it's also really, really funny. For instance, who would have cared what I ate for lunch on a Tuesday in '03? And who cares that I had a mini-meltdown in English class when my crush (a cute, tall guitar-playing dork) offered me his varsity jacket because I was cold? I did, apparently - I think I wrote a dissertation on this situation alone.
And then there was always the cryptic song lyrics. A little too cryptic apparently, because looking back on it now, I have no idea what the hell I was talking about.
I guess this is why it's difficult for me to think about how I would use a blog for educational purposes. I think it would be super cool to have as a resource that every one of my students could comment on. And perhaps they could make their own posts or share ideas. Anyway, I look forward to seeing how blogs can do and be more than self-centered journals.
Also, I'd like to think that I've grown a little but since high school, but feel free to e-punch me if I get out of line.
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3 comments:
I think you ask some good questions, Stephanie. What *would* be gained--in educational terms--from having kids blog? Failing to answer this questions in a satisfactory way, for me, would have to lead one to bypass the entire idea.
For my part, at least a couple of compelling reasons come to mind. One is that I believe quite strongly in giving kids the time (and the imperative) to articulate their thinking, even if it feels like they "don't know what they think" I think that this matter of "thinking about what I think" is a skill that doesn't get the attention that it needs...it's an intellectual that muscle we need to develop. Blogs can be a place where kids (especially those who are less inclined to speak up in class) can work some of this out. I think that having an audience...peers, teacher..for this process can be very useful. It can lend a deserved importance to what a kid thinks. Indeed, I think that giving kids a sense that what they think is important (and what they think about the ideas of others is important) is a crucial element of education. In fact, this kind of connects to some of what Dewey writes about (excuse the plug...)
E-punch! hehe
Instead, you should get some e-cookies for admitting the existence of your high school blog. How wonderful to have that around still though... I would imagine that you have changed an amazing amount since then and if ever you weren't certain of that and feeling a bit immature, you could go read.
I wish I had some written things from that time in my life other than formal English papers. Instead I just have the memories of my high school friends, many of whom I have just found on facebook in the last month. Sometimes what they say about me makes me cringe a bit, but always smile.
(-:
I agree with Jeff you are asking some excellent questions. I can share with you the reason why I find these particular blogs useful for 504. When I was teaching high school, I have about 100+ students in my classroom everyday. It was almost impossible to get to know them personally in the 50 minutes we had together and get through all the content. Blogging is one way to get to know your students on a personal level: what makes them tick? what are they interested in?
For example from your post, I know that you are a former blogger who is not too far out of high school, who enjoyed cryptic song lyrics :)
When I was teaching social studies I was able to use student's personal interest as a way to get them engaged in classroom content. For example: one of my disengaged students was a volunteer fireman (at 16 he knew he wanted to be a firefighter and LOVED it). So when we were studying the Roman Empire, I asked him to do a report on fire safety and other safety issues in the Roman Empire. It really helped him to engage.
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