Blogging Experience
After blogging for about seven weeks, what stands out the most is the interaction between my teacher mentor and myself. Of course I had many comments coming and going from my student mentor and from other students, but my teacher mentor really helped me think on a deeper, more personal level of things I wrote about. It was like reflecting on my reflections! Which is actually something that I learned from this course-reflecting is a core element in life, whether I am a teacher, student, or significant other. This blogging experience was relaxing as well.
Initially, I knew I could function in this context because writing comes natural to me. I guess you could say the only obstacle was communicating with other people that I did not know on a personal level. It is very different from communicating with people from a chat room because in a chatroom, you get to know their interests, their age, and just some information that you do not know right away, whereas before reading their posts in the blogs, you really do not know anything about them except what they write about. Needless to say, I definitely overcame that "obstacle" because after reading other people's posts, you develope an understanding of some of their feelings and ideas. I enjoyed reading about people's lives growing up, and their feelings towards issues such as global warming.
Looking back, I see that the educational value in blogging comes down to the fundamental principle of communicating. No matter what topic a teacher decides to pick, students will let down their guard and share their feelings about that subject. Not posting everything at once, also allows a time for critical thinking to set in. Inside the classroom, students will be focused on school related material, and outside the classroom, students will be focused on things that apply to their everyday lives.
I believe that teachers should be the ones to monitor and set up those deeper level questions that the student will reflect on and think about. I believe that teachers should also communicate with parents through the blogs. Students should have the role of questioning and reflecting in the blogs. Thinking about my experience as a student, I have gained more knowledge in the education field and a little bit more about myself. I have really enjoyed this blogging experience. My thanks to everyone!
Initially, I knew I could function in this context because writing comes natural to me. I guess you could say the only obstacle was communicating with other people that I did not know on a personal level. It is very different from communicating with people from a chat room because in a chatroom, you get to know their interests, their age, and just some information that you do not know right away, whereas before reading their posts in the blogs, you really do not know anything about them except what they write about. Needless to say, I definitely overcame that "obstacle" because after reading other people's posts, you develope an understanding of some of their feelings and ideas. I enjoyed reading about people's lives growing up, and their feelings towards issues such as global warming.
Looking back, I see that the educational value in blogging comes down to the fundamental principle of communicating. No matter what topic a teacher decides to pick, students will let down their guard and share their feelings about that subject. Not posting everything at once, also allows a time for critical thinking to set in. Inside the classroom, students will be focused on school related material, and outside the classroom, students will be focused on things that apply to their everyday lives.
I believe that teachers should be the ones to monitor and set up those deeper level questions that the student will reflect on and think about. I believe that teachers should also communicate with parents through the blogs. Students should have the role of questioning and reflecting in the blogs. Thinking about my experience as a student, I have gained more knowledge in the education field and a little bit more about myself. I have really enjoyed this blogging experience. My thanks to everyone!
posted by Julie V at 4/07/2006 09:40:00 AM
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