Blogging… the new creative outlet

The ways in which students learn has come a far way from the old paper and pen. Today, more and more students are using the internet each and every day by way of texting, emailing, commenting on Facebook, tweeting, and so on. No matter where it may be, kids are constantly writing and expressing themselves.

When I was in middle school, probably around 7th or 8th grade, I remember having an Xanga.  Xanga is pretty much just another blog site. I used to write in it daily, letting everyone know what was going on in my life, posting pictures, etc. Eventually, I stopped using my site, but even seven years ago I was using the digital world as another creative outlet. Introducing this to students today, especially in a classroom setting can be very beneficial.

There is a digital award that teachers, librarians, students, and other educational professionals can receive for their outstanding blogs and other work on the internet, called Edublog. The winners and nominees that are listed on this site can be wonderful resources and inspiration for classrooms today. Many blogs have activities and projects that students have completed. Just by taking a look at a few of these give me ideas of things that I can do one day in my classroom. I also see how beneficial creating a classroom blog can be, and I intend to do this with my classes in the future to showcase their work in the ever-growing digital world.

Being part of the new generation of teachers means knowing how to incorporate the digital world into my classroom to create a successful learning environment. In a book titled Because Digital Writing Matters, the purpose of digital writing is explained, how it can be used and how it should be used in the classroom is discussed, and much more is talked about, just in the introduction and first chapter (all I’ve read thus far). Upon reading it, it really got me thinking about how important it is going to be to use something such as blogging in my future classrooms, and how much learning can go on by using this resource. Times are changing and we as teachers need to realize this, and need to know that students aren’t going to learn everything just by writing everything on sheets of lined paper. Digital writing needs to be brought into classrooms, and if it is, I believe that we will see astounding amounts of learning going on that students may not normally get to experience without the use of digital writing.

“The wastebasket is a writer’s best friend.”

Writing to me has always been something that I do not particularly enjoy. When a teacher or a professor would assign something for me to write about, I would dread having to start it. The worst part for me was having to come up with a topic to write about if one was not given. I always would think that something that might  be important for me to write about was not going to be of any importance to my audience, so I would be very hesitant in what I was choosing. Once I got the topic down, I would just begin to write. I have never been one to write drafts and really pay attention to the process that goes in to writing something of value. I put things off, and eventually just sit down at my computer and type away until I have the number of pages I am required to complete. Often, many people believe that this might produce horrible writing, but I feel that usually I could come up with something that was actually very good. Another bad thing about writing that I have always hated is having someone else read what I have written. Because I do not believe I am a very good writer, I hate having people judge the words I put down on paper. I feel that people are too overly critical and if they do not agree with what I am saying, even if the writing is of good quality, they will not like it. Furthermore, if it is being looked at for a grade, I will end up getting a lower one than I anticipated. Really, it’s sort of ironic that I am starting this blog when I first stated that I dislike writing. But a blog is much different from what I am used to. I can write what I feel, when I feel and how I feel! (: