Thing #4 Bloggin' Begins with Reading

Blogging varies depending on who is creating the blog - some have a very casual, conversational tone while others sound more polished and formal. (Of course the age of the blogger is a big factor as well!) See fifth grader Patrick's blog post. I enjoyed reading his posts and noted how much he grew as a writer over the course of his blogging. His blog is a great example of how commenting definitely contributes to the writing and meaning-making. So many teachers and students cheered him on and encouraged him with their comments. Then in one of his posts, Patrick specifically thanked each one of them for their support and quoted many of their posts. That is so cool! And he's a FIFTH grader!

I also enjoyed Mark's Edtech Blog: Is this SSR 2.0? I really like the concept of letting students do some of their sustained silent reading time online, and it would be a great teaser to get them wanting to do their own commenting! Because I'm such a book lover, I couldn't give up every SSR block for students to read blogs, but I know they would love it! I especially see the benefits of students reading kid-written blogs. They would yearn to join the blogging community!

Blog reading reminds me of my magazine/newspaper reading or Internet searches. I skim and scan and preview different areas until I find something that peaks my interest. Then that reading may lead me down yet another path. I don't necessarily start the blog and read from top to bottom in it's entirety. When I'm reading a novel, I read every word and wouldn't DREAM of skipping around and skimming anything! I want every detail and in order! So, I guess what I'm saying is that my blog reading is similar to other informative reading searches, but not the same as narrative readings.

As far as blogging facilitating learning, I think the above two links are great examples of how we can encourage students join the blogging community. I'm sure the applications for facilitating classroom learning are limitless! I know I'm just beginning to get my toes wet in the ocean of possibilities out there!