K12 learning responses

An interesting “thing” for me to think about…when I began blogging at another site I talked with several people about the fact that rather than blogging, I feel like I am writing a reflection, but not necessarily based on something I have read.  My blog is often generated by an observation of life around me, a memory, or a random thought.  Now I am thinking that the actual blogging part is not what I write, but what others write about what I write…that a person’s initial post is often what begins the true blogging…or not.  I find it is often harder for me to post a comment than it is for me to write my own blog.

I view most blogs I read as opinions, including questions and explorations, but coming from a person’s unique vantage point.  I am one who loves to read essays, novels, books on spirituality, educational writing and numerou other things and I like the way they take me on a journey over time.  I so not feel the need for the “instant” in most cases and blogging often seems like the shortened version with short responses.  Partly that is just me and partly it is our culture of short bites and bytes.  I need to explore blogs much more before I deciding how attached or not I am to spending my time reading blogs and blogging.  These lessons, and I am grateful I am doing them, are keeping me from some things I love to do more, not simply because they feel like homework and having to be done on a timeline, but because I ultimately have to think about my own priorities and whether blogging even serves me as well in the workplace as other forms of communication.  I will probably say in every blog…all in balance.  In terms of how blogging affects the way we read and write, I think it serves a purpose when looking for short and succinct, and even being the spark that begins a flame of dialogue, but I also think that extended writing, with attention to expanded details, defense of one’s thoughts, etc. is critical for students to practice… though I agree it should be without the traditional constraints with which we are all too familiar.

http://www.missbakersbiologyclass.com/blog/2007/10/07/imagine-turning-the-faucetand-nothing-coming-out was the first blogI read today and yes, I think there is a very real question of what is needed in order to sustain the availablitity of water during this long drought in GA.  The amount of water to save the sturgeon is only one of many challenges that will demand dialogue beyond blogging!  However, the blogging may prompt more people to think seriously about what we are facing in the future should the drought continue.

Reading http://anne.teachesme.com/2007/01/17/rationale-for-educational-blogging/ did give me pause to think about the new literacies that are no longer static and I am grateful that this will be a conversation with teachers as a piece of how we work with children on their literacy skills.  It may be that for each student the timing of when to blog is different and I do think we need to, with care, prepare children adequately for the world of blogging.  Some points made are not unique to blogging, however, such as blogs fostering ownership and choice.  A good teacher will foster that regardles of how a student is writing.  Also blogging is one way of engaing students in conversation and learning…one of hundreds of ways…a new way to add to the menu.

I enjoyed the blog about teaching brevity http://students2oh.org/2007/12/16http:/teaching-brevity in that it is a challenge for me to practice that.  I completely agree that the quality of assignments and writing should not be measured by a certain length.

http://weblogg-ed.com/2008/an-environmental-break-why-can’t-we-do-this/ is a blog to which I say Amen!!!  It is high time that we stop wasting small plastic bags that do hold so little and that cut into one’s hands when there are too many to carry and all adopt the practice of green bags.  Loved the statistics and at the same time they are sobering.

I loved reading http://wanderingink.com/2007/05/23/how-to-prevent-another-leonardo-da-vinci/ I could not agree more and this is not a brief blog!  It absolutely spells out qualities we need to be attending to in all of us, but especially with children.  I will keep this blog visible and will share it with my faculty.

As an aside, even after watching the video on linking, I had a very difficult time doing so for this particular task.