I love Christine Hunewell’s lead up to this blog posting (A Blogger as a Writer), that she’s had it in draft form since last fall. She hauls it out periodically and works on it some more, and then slides it back away for more reflection. Christine goes on to write…
Usually I post late in the evening, just before the end of my day. Throughout the day, I think about an idea, a notion, the content of the day’s post. I find myself composing phrases at odd times. If I come up with something I really like, I often make a note to myself. I even started a running list of ideas about which to post – old stories and memories, things that are on my mind, that sort of thing. When I finally do sit down to blog, I have my dictionary application open so I can check spelling and reference the thesaurus. I compose the day’s post, then I reread and revise. Mull over my choices of words. Vary my sentence structure. Make sure the paragraph flows. Try to be concise but clear. I work hard on the ending trying for a big finish. When I think I’ve got it right, I publish – and then shut down for the night. But in the morning with coffee, after I’ve caught up on the news, after I’ve checked email and the weather, I read the post again. If it needs tweaking, I do it then. I find it helps in the revision process to have that little bit of distance from the original writing session.
As I read this, I got the sense that she really isn’t writing to an outside audience as much as she is to herself. It’s bread crumbs, dropped to mark the place where she is and how she got there. She (we) are laying a trail to ourselves. When I write in my blog, I’m trying to describe myself, where I am, who I am, and, perhaps even more, how I got here, why I think and believe what I do. I’m laying a trail to myself, as much so that I can find my way back, as much as for others.
Hunewell continues with a question…
So here’s my question: Could the same thing happen for kids who blog? Does it? Does their sense of audience drive them to work harder at writing than they ever thought they would? Might they find they actually like to write? I wonder.
I think that the answer is, yes, that audience does drive them to work harder. But perhaps the real value of blogging is in the laying of trails for ourselves. Blogging, or any kind of reflective writing, serves to connect us to our world, to take our perceptions, and try to make meaning of them in relation to the real world that they reflect. Sometimes we find that our perceptions are wrong, and sometimes that comes from the writing, and certainly from the conversations that insue. But sometimes, it’s in getting it wrong that real wisdom comes.
OK, that was deep! Back to e-mail…
2¢ Worth!
Image Citation:
Marie, Gina. “Writing Down Today (day 162).” Sortsyithurts’ Photostream. 25 Jan 2007. 28 Mar 2007 <http://flickr.com/photos/soartsyithurts/369455180/>.
Dave,
Christine’s post is perfect for a discussion that Clay Burell and I were having, along with others on blogging with students. The process that Christine describes is one that I think all of us are familiar with as bloggers. Our day is spent going through what we normally do, solving the problems that arise, but there is always that “on alert” status that we keep open in case something piques us and then we keep it until we can reflect.
As for student writing, I can only hope that the process she describes is one that we can instill in students through blogging. Reflection upon actions, breadcrumbs you say, is what makes us more fully human and able to better ourselves and others. Clay and I were discussing this because we both see some reticence on the part of students in moving towards these technologies in the classroom–not because they are unfamiliar with them, but because perhaps they will begin to reek of “schooliness.”
While listening to student concerns is paramount, if I can convince them to blog and to begin to approach the level of reflection that Christine describes than I will know that my students will enter the world as thinkers and lifelong learners.
On a quick sidenote, we need a mashup called “Where is Dave?” that you can attach to the blog here so we can all follow you and your travels.
David, thank you for your link to Hunewell’s blog…and for your analysis. I just led a small workshop yesterday where the focus was encouraging teachers to blog as a way of narrating their own learning. Your thoughts here say it so much better than I ever could. I will pass along this permalink to all the teachers in my workshop.
Dave, I see two parts:
The first part, which you already stated, is blogging is about leaving bread crumbs for yourself to go back on and reflect. We often call these footprints which is the same idea.
The second part, and what I think is the more beneficial and longer term exponential growth of a blogging is for other people to trace your foot prints. This is going to be the real impact on education.
For example, if a college student idolized David Warlick and wants to be just like him, then he/she has the opportunity to go back and trace your footprints and see what it took to get to where you are today. Very cool idea, because now you have the ability to mentor 100’s of people with 1 single blog or footprint. Nice work!
Dave,
Roughly at the same time you were posting this, I was posting my notes on what blogging means to me now -after a year online. Notes I had saved as draft for two weeks. Reading your post I realise that what kept me from publishing was the feeling I was simply talking to myself.
I had enjoyed very much the clarifying process of putting my notes in a post, but then I wondered what would all that say to my new readers? The interesting comments I had received in my previous posts were powerful enough to create a sense of companionship. I’m not thinking to myself anymore.
I am not sure I agree you work harder than before. But you definitely work differently. I might just as well collect trails of my thoughts for myself and keep them in a private journal. That is a draft you can later change. What made me press ‘publish’ today, was the certainty I was ready to invite the reader to reflect with me. Blogging is so personal, some people will disagree. If they comment, they will become my teachers.
I am glad I landed on this post.
Thanks for sharing this. I had just finished responding to a survey I had been sent about blogging and was reminded of the same thing–how we can trace our thoughts back in our writing. I also think blogs can create a common shared dialogue over time and how valuable that is to our professional communities.
My campus isn’t yet having many students blog regularly but I think in practice, many students will be drawn in to the process of writing just as we are. And when students do cross over and join our professional discussions on our campus blog, that is also extremely valuable. They become part of our campus discussions on change and bring in a point of view we need to hear.
Carolyn, I agree with you. But how can we get more students to write or take part in the writing process? Does it start with the teacher making the students blog?
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