Guidelines for blogging
This past week I took a blogging break. I took some vacation time. It was a little over a week off just do some things that really needed doing. It was time to just think and not feel pulled here or pulled there. Plus, having time to do some things I wanted to do just for fun. No deadlines, no rush, no schedule! It was great. I want more vacations like that!
Today I’m back at work. Back to blogging! It’s good to be back. First order of the day was going through an avalanche of email. One email from an educator in Washington got me thinking. His system is providing blogs for all teachers in the district who want them. He was investigating the protocols/policies or guidelines for blog use/posting, etc. that others may have developed. I referred him to several sites where the topic had been discussed. What got me really thinking though was that most of the guidelines focused on what NOT to do like…….
- not use last names
- not plagiarize
- not post personal info like addresses or phone numbers
- not use profanity
- not use destructive criticism
It got me thinking about a class I took years ago. The speaker was talking about all our NOT rules and how that makes the students focus on what NOT to do. I agree. Don’t get me wrong, I agree with these NOTS but I think we are missing the boat. We need to focus on the possibilities. I know. Here I go again on the possibilities but that is the heart of it all for me. I really think blogs could be a platform to redefine education. I want that redefining to include the voices of students. Students really need to be engaging in this type of thinking. I’ve found that many of them don’t know how to reflect and talk about their learning experiences. Why would they? We haven’t really given them much time for this type of writing. We haven’t given them much time to talk about how they learn; it’s mainly about what they learn. We need to change that. We need to talk more with our students and really listen. We need to help them with learning how to express their thoughts and help us understand the changing learning arena.
OK, my new and improved guidelines for blogging:
For students:
- practice writing their thoughts about what they are learning, what they understand and don’t understand, why it is meaningful or not
- making connections to their learning by exploring what others have written about it on the web
- contributing their ideas on how our schools could be restructured to have them excited about and believing that they will actually use the information they have acquired in school. What’s
- striving to improve your writing and take risks
- with expressing your ideas and bouncing those ideas off of a much larger audience
- providing a good model of blogging that will convince others that you are thinking and learning (and improving your writing)
- developing a distinct voice that will make a difference
- striving for writing that matters
- expressing your opinion but backing it up with well thought out reasons
- learning to collaborate
- asking questions that will make a reader think and want to comment
- realizing that inappropriate comments can be handled in such a way that negates their impact
- having face-to-face communication and discussions between teachers and students.
That’s what teachers need to be blogging about and sharing with other educators. Now I’m not
done thinking. This is just my initial brainstorm. What do you think?
November 9th, 2005 at 5:29 pm
Hi Anne,
Reading your post and imagining the possibilities made me shiver with excitement! The entire concept of listening to students and asking them to explain how they learn, leaving behind the what, could be life changing for both students and teachers. It could, as you say, redefine American education. This made me think of the times that my listening and students reflecting occurred during my career. Those times were mighty powerful indeed and created a natural „high‰ for my students and most certainly for me. I really believed in the power of those conversations and now that I remember and ponder those moments, I truly regret that I was not able to maintain that level of dialogue as I felt more and more pressured by forces outside our classroom. Unfortunately, I lost sight of the possibilities in the forest of negatives that seemed at that time to surround me. And for that, my students returned to the world of „what‚ and are the poorer for it. The moments we had were glorious. And now that I think on those times, a blog and time to read you and Will Richardson would have made an incredible difference in my outlook and ability to continue such conversations with students.
I think your guidelines are exceptional ways to introduce students to this notion of having a voice that is really heard. In particular, two guidelines really touched a spot in me. Using blogging to collaborate would be so pertinent in developing 21rst Century skills and realizing that negative comments can be handled in a good way also changes perspectives on the world that all view through a different lens. I wonder if adding something about making connections with others to help understand the world around them, be it career, or cultural would be of value.
Many teachers would joyously engage their students and themselves in the blogging you envision, but for the pressure they feel from NCLB and district mandates. Can you help me think of the possibilities there?
It‚s good to have you back but I‚m awfully glad you had the opportunity for such a perfect time away.
Best,
Lani
November 9th, 2005 at 6:51 pm
I think your guidelines are a wonderful start for teachers. This is a new form of writing for all of us - students and teachers - and we are only starting to get there.
Take Care,
Quentin
November 9th, 2005 at 7:14 pm
Thanks Anne!!!
November 10th, 2005 at 12:21 am
I think your list of guidelines is great! But are all of those items guidelines? For example, “learning to collaborate” is more a learning goal than a guideline. And “realizing to …” is more a goal, too. Perhaps we should distinguish between learning goals and guidelines for educational settings which foster reaching those goals?
November 10th, 2005 at 5:40 am
Hi Christian,
I think you make a very good point. Thanks for the input. I was searching for the word that “felt” just right but for some reason wanted to shy away from the word goals. These are something I want to aspire to when blogging. Aspire just didn’t ring well either. Possibilities and hopes were a bit general so yes, they are goals but I would love to come up with another descriptor that somehow captures what we educational bloggers hope to accomplish from blogging - any ideas? I hope others will join this conversation.
November 23rd, 2005 at 10:18 am
Hi Anne, I think you have hit the nail on the head in what you suggest to students who are blogging. It seems to me that to blog effectively you have to express a gentle humanity and humility while being strong enough to take a stand by standing on what you believe, supported by what others have said.
November 23rd, 2005 at 10:18 am
Hi Anne, I think you have hit the nail on the head in what you suggest to students who are blogging. It seems to me that to blog effectively you have to express a gentle humanity and humility while being strong enough to take a stand by standing on what you believe, supported by what others have said.
December 19th, 2005 at 12:22 pm
Hello Anne, I really enjoyed this post and picked up a few of the thoughts in my own blog. Thanks for helping keep thinking.
December 19th, 2005 at 12:23 pm
Ooops! Should have been ” Thanks for helping me keep thinking.”