In Nichole’s posting, I heard a young lady with some real doubts, concerns and dreams.  She wants to be a doctor, she wants to help others, but she has doubts about herself when it comes to personal happiness.  Her writing sounds genuine as she is trying to sort out a direction for her life and a chance to start over in college.  I do think her writing might be even stronger if she had edited her pieces for spelling as well as thought about each paragraph’s focus.  Her main idea gets a little lost as she writes her thoughts on the page.  It is a stream of consciousness form, but forces the reader to try to find the main ideas.  If Nichole had answered some questions from readers, such as “What is the main idea you want to express?” and “How would you like your writing to be organized for greatest effect?” she might have been able to revise more effectively.

I can see, however, that student blogs, if carefully thought-out can be an honest expression of their hopes, dreams and fears.  However, I would want my students to be aware of their possible audience.  They need to really consider what they want to reveal about themselves.  Blogs could become a great tool for revision.  Writers are forced to say what they mean if they don’t want misinterpretation.

photo by Athena

After reading a couple of articles on educational blogging today, I am realizing a whole new way of looking at the possibilities for student writing, reflecting and growth when utilizing blogging in the classroom. I liked the statement “we must help children learn how to learn new technologies of literacy” because of the constantly changing nature of technology itself. Students have to be able to adapt. I also really appreciated the concept that blogging requires us as teachers to teach students to critically engage media. One of my personal beliefs is that when students are critically engaged with media it empowers them. I sometimes think that much of media is so engaging, that students become consumers without much thought and certainly without much critical thought. It was also interesting for me to think about blogs allowing ideas to be based on merit, rather than on origin. I’m going to keep thinking about that. I’m looking forward to discovering more possibilities for my own students to explore reading, writing and critical thinking within blogs.

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