Blogging Articles

Throughout the summer I have come in contact with several people who have blogs and have either shown me their blogs or sent me their links. I also keep hearing on the radio that if I would like more information on a certain topic I should check out the radio hosts blog. As a result I have been “lurking” blogs to see what they are all about. However, in all the reading that I did I never commented on any of the blogs. I am not sure why. Perhaps it is because I am reluctant to have my name out in the world, perhaps it is because I never felt my addition would “make a difference”, or perhaps it is because blogging is new to me and writing was a risk.

I think my last statement was a key! I felt that blogging was new and writing was a risk. I am of a different generation than this new generation of risk takers as Stephen Downes discusses in his blog, “An Operating System for the Mind”. I know my math facts and I was a good speller in school, but I am reluctant to write on a blog because it I feel threatened. What I really hope for my grade 4 students is that they will learn to love to write and not feel that it is a risk. I hope they have the confidence that I lack when it comes to writing in a forum where others are watching.

Reading the articles: “Educational Blogging” by Stephen Downes and “The Educated Blogger: Using Weblogs to Promote Literacy in the Classroom” by David Huffaker made me envious of the students today who are not afraid of putting their thoughts into words. David Huffaker explains that the highest percentage of bloggers is in the 13 to 20 age bracket and this is reflected in information that I got while talking to a scout leader about blogging. He said that they are looking for a way to get information out to the scouts in a different format than a newsletter because they did not feel the newsletters were being read. For this reason the scouter set up the newsletters in a blog format. From the beginning of September to September 18 the blog had 191 hits! This is great news. Although I realize that does not mean the blog has been read, I do know there is a possibility. It is exciting to think that kids are reading because they want to.

When I first read that beginning a blog was part of this course I was extremely intimidated. Then I tried to create one and I lost what I created. This did not help my nervousness, but I kept at it. I had a friend chatting online and she helped and then I went to the forum and saw what others had done and went back and tried again.

After creating the blog site I went and checked out a few other sites created for the course and I realized that I wrote a reflection about blogging instead of an introduction. I was embarrassed, but the damage was done and I had taken the risk, so I decided I would just continue on the path. Stephen Downes article made me feel better because he discussed how blogging might be used with a set format or people could choose different formats. His article made me feel that blogging was very individual, so I stopped comparing my blog to other people’s blogs and instead decided to watch my blog develop and in the end I hope to see some sort of development.

Both articles helped peak my interest and I am looking to investigate use of blogs in elementary grades. As Huffaker says, “Weblogs are an excellent way to fuse educational technology and storytelling inside the classroom and beyond school walls.” I would love to implement a blog into my classroom program so my students build the confidence to be good writers.