I've started multiple blogs that I abandoned in the past, and I vowed that I wouldn't let the same thing happen to this one. But, I did . . . at least for a while.
I was a bit overwhelmed being in my first year of teaching with four preps and taking four classes myself, and I let a few things fall behind. A few things like . . . grading, washing my hair, and this blog. Still, I wouldn't trade this semester for the world. I love my school and my students, and I love my classes and peers. I learned so much through the readings and discussions we had in this class, and although I only completed half of the blog posts, I learned a lot about my self-discipline and my writing. I know it takes a while to turn something into a habit . . . I believe I've heard somewhere before that it takes 21 consecutive days to make something a habit. I also know, and tell my students, that the more you write, the better a writer you become. If I want my students to follow my advice, I have to follow it myself. I learned that digital writing takes work and commitment, but that it is vital to have knowledge of in this day and age. Kids know how to use iPads at the age of three (I would know; my three-year-old can download apps) and if we as teachers want to be able to keep up with the best practices in educating the next generation, we must be able to keep up with the digital world. I also learned what a strong community can be built digitally. I hope to maintain contact with my classmates for a long time past graduation. When it comes to integrating blogging with instruction, I think students would be excited about the concept. I am already planning on creating a class website for next school year so that my students can participate in online discussions with each other and improve their computer literacy. I would love to incorporate more digital writing next year. The main challenge I faced was simply keeping up with the blog. Now that I have it, though, as well as access to my classmates' blogs, I plan to keep up with it, even if it is not weekly, and keep in contact as best I can with my peers. I am eager to see what everyone becomes and what dreams they accomplish. I want to read their poetry and stories and continue to share experiences. The success, then, is having this way to keep up with all of this. It doesn't just end on the last day of class; we all still have a means of communicating. Of course, another major success would be learning how to create an Infographic. I'm still planning on eventually learning how to make videos and animations. All in all, I'm glad to have participated in this digital journey and I'm looking forward to continuing to write and improve my instruction on digital writing. Also, summer . . . I'm very much looking forward to summer. Good luck to everyone!
1 Comment
Beth
4/27/2017 12:57:43 pm
Good work staying the course and juggling all the hard stuff. I think you will find that you just need to work on small additions to your digital teaching portfolio. I think a website will be a good starting place. Good luck! I enjoyed reading the posts you wrote.
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