- As I created a PLN by commenting on other blogs, I started to think. For some reason, I had this scary image of using blogs as part of the high school classroom. I think this in part came from my fears of releasing control and letting the students take control. But having the students take control of their learning is one of my main goals in the classroom so why not go beyond my four walls into the world with blogs. It’s crazy that I would see bloggings as a little scary considering that I recently finished by masters and a major part of all my classes was participating in a PLN. Completing Tool #2 made me remember how much I love being part of a PLN, commenting, and responding to comments. Blogging engages my brain in a way that is different from when I am in the classroom. It helps me process my thoughts and others’ thoughts as well as explain myself clearly and succinctly (I am still working on the succinctly part). And if it helps me, it will for sure help my students especially those students that due to whatever circumstances have trouble clearly expressing their thoughts in the classroom.
- Most importantly I think that it is important for post comments that allow for discussion either by asking open-ended questions or by showing humility. With showing humility, I think that this allows more people to relate to you and therefore invites more comments. In “10 Techniques to Get More Comments on Your Blog,” the author said that promoting controversy is something that she does not do. However, when I participated in PLNs as part of graduate school promoting controversy made a lot of the PLNs interesting. I am not saying that a person should disagree just to disagree. But if a person has a really good argument with strong supports for the opposite side of a discussion, they should post it because it makes people think, promotes brain activity, and may make others back up their opinions with more evidence or logic. I also think that when you are commenting, if you agree with a post it is still okay to disagree with it in your comment if you think the argument is flawed. In my opinion, part of commenting in a PLN that is fun and challenging for students is that others do not know their true opinions about a topic. Students can post opinions about a topic, regardless of whether they truly believe in them, as long as they support their opinions with evidence.
- I commented on:
vrhTechStudent
Blithe Blog
Anya's Annotations
The Tech-Teacher Experiment
Bloogers
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Tool #2 PLNs for Brain Stimulation
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I like what you said about blogs engaging students to be able to express what they cannot in the classroom. We use lots of different activities to engage kids in class, why not use blogs as another?
ReplyDeleteWell said. I think both points are well made and accurate. Releasing that control to the students to control and direct their learning, interaction, and response is both exciting in the possibilities, but also easy to create a bit of anxiety with some of the less favorable possibilities. Just as in the classroom, redirecting and teaching how to properly express themselves is certainly a part of this as well.
ReplyDeleteI love how you engage your students. You are such an awesome teacher !!!
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