It’s difficult to believe that the semester is drawing to a close, but here it is. Each semester seems to disappear faster than the last, with a few excruciating exceptions.
This class has been fun and challenging at once. Looking back, I think I would do something a little different with my blog, but I’ve enjoyed it a lot. I chose to write the blog about writing as a means to learning. I believe that we can learn a great deal from the simple act of writing, and everything I’ve learned in the class bears that out. However, I’d have to say that most of what I learned came from Elbow and Murray, from the readings we were assigned and some I found in their books outside of class. This is the major reason I say I would choose a different topic if I were to do it all again.
The RSS feeds were a completely new experience for me. I’d never understood what those little orange icons were all about; I knew they had something to do with sending me information, but no clue as to what that meant. I’ve learned a lot since then. If I was taking the class all over, in an election year, I would categorically NOT subscribe to any political blogs. Period. BIG mistake. They are great for collecting easily defined things like a particular blog, or a certain columnist, but using them as a search tool is a little more difficult. Unlike a Google search, you can’t tailor your search terms as easily in the short term; it takes a little time to see whether you have exactly what you want. So over time I was able to find more of the articles that I wanted to see, through some fine-tuning. I can definitely see the possibilities for using the RSS in classroom though; it gives students the ability to find information on an ongoing basis, and great flexibility in gathering it.
The other thing I find great value in is blogging in the public sphere. I think it gives students a purpose to their writing that otherwise would be missing. I’ve used blogs before in classes, but really they were more like e-bulletin boards. Public blogs supports the kind of social activist writing I hope to foster in my students better than writing for an audience of one or a couple dozen. I also really like the This I Believe assignment, and I’m definitely going to check out their curriculum and see where it fits in.
Blaine,
I think that you make a great point in that blogging gives students a purpose to writing. I came to understand this through blogging in this class. Blogging is a chance for students to let their voice be heard. It gives students a real audience and a chance to express how they really feel. Through writing about different issues students are asked to deeply consider how they feel and make sense of the different ideas that are out there. Writing for social justice is such and important thing for students to do. Going along with what you said, if I could go back and change my topic I would. Knowing what I know now, I would have really liked to do a blog about writing for social justice. Linda Christianson’s ideas are very compelling and I would love to read more about this.
I am glad that you had a positive experience with the blogs and you were able to find meaning in them. I wish you the best of luck in your final semesters at Grand Valley and I hope that you are able to apply this knowledge to your classroom. Thank you for sharing your blog with me and best of luck to you.
Like Becca and yourself, I agree that public blogging is excellent because it gives students a real purpose to their writing. It also increases how much effort the students put in, knowing that their writing can be viewed by anyone.
Writing for social justice is also a great thing for students to do as you have mentioned. It’s really what education is about, shaping people so that they can help to shape the world.
I can relate to you about changing the topic if you would do it again. I know that I definitely would have changed mine, but the thing is I discovered what I would have changed it to through these blogs. You seemed to have had a bit of a different experience there.