Blogging? Why would I want to do that?

Before last summer, I would have said “blog, blah, bluh.” I’d always heard people talking about blogs; in fact, I even had a former editor who was chosen to write a blog about her experience in the Journalism College at the University of South Carolina. But I still didn’t really understand what they were.

Then I went to the National Technology Convention in Atlanta with Larry.

Okay, the trip with Larry in itself was an adventure; let's just say I don’t read maps very well and we almost went to Savannah instead of Atlanta. Plus, I learned how to play a Wii and am now in love with the system. I’m hoping Santa Claus will bring one of my kids one for Christmas.

But now I’m infatuated with blogs. Larry – the technology guru at Wando – forced me to blog live while I was in classes at the convention. I was so anxious that I would look like an idiot (I don’t know why that makes me anxious since I often look like an idiot; I should be used to that now.) Larry kept reassuring me: “You’ll look cool. People will be impressed.”

I am hooked. I took notes live; after the first day I actually filed them right after each class – AND PEOPLE FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY RESPONDED TO MY COMMENTS!!! I was so excited by the first response that I ran into the room where Larry was sitting screaming that I got a response. (Totally embarrassed him…. But it was so exciting!)

Besides the genuine thrill that people were reading what I wrote, for the first time I saw the power of a blog in the classroom. There were several classes with groups of teachers from around the nation talking about how they used blogs -- as well as technology -- in their classrooms. I believe it can be an incredibly effective tool in the classroom.

I have used wiki journaling in my AP classroom last year, and I thought the results were wonderful. The kids had the freedom to respond to each other, yet they stayed on topic. (Okay, I did have to lecture them when they were wiking about Annie Dillard's Pilgrim at Tinker Creek and simply complaining about how boring it was.) I want to do more with the wiking and blogging this year.

I have run into one problem with blogging so far, however. My newspaper kids absolutely refused to do it. As my editor said, sometimes people forget that they are actually publishing what they write. It is a warning I will have to take to heart. I am excited, however, about the possibility of having the students read blogs from The Washington Post and the New York Times. I know Rick Reilly from Sports Illustrated also blogs on a regular basis. The more you read, the better writer you become as well.