Commenting on other blogs brings a sense of community because it invites reaction and interaction from the blog author and his fellow commenters. I think that comments validate the blog author’s discussion topic, and contradictory opinions can stir up the conversation. I can certainly understand why comments would energize a blog and give its author a vote of confidence. I remember in the movie, Julie and Julia, what a rush it was for Julie when she realized that she had an audience – that people were actually reading her blog postings and were interested in what she had to say. I think that I would prefer blogs that tackle controversial subjects. A lively exchange would keep my interest because without passion, words can lose their momentum. A heated dialogue can entertain, as well as inform. When I conduct my search for two blogs to comment on, I think that I will look for a “controversial” blogger, who knows how to push his audience’s buttons.
I believe it is important to be respectful of other bloggers’ views, and to be agreeable about disagreeing. The blog tips warned against being critical and offending. I also think that it is interesting to consider that when I post comments on other blogs, that I am now part of someone else’s blog and part of what I am reading – both inside and outside at the same time.
The five blogs that I selected to read and why are as follows:
Sarah’s 23 Things - Thing #3 Sarah’s musings about the benefits of a classroom blog as a learning method caused me to reflect on how her blog statement prompted her to suggest researching the potential advantages of classroom blogging. Her suggestion made me aware of the blog’s usefulness in the learning process. I concluded and commented on her blog that a classroom blog would be an effective teaching tool because it would motivate students to initiate their own learning and research.
Evelyn Estes - Thing 3 - I liked her observations about a classroom blog being like Facebook because it would set up an interactive communication network where parents and teachers could share issues and any relevant concerns about students, curriculum, etc. My comment was that I appreciated her point of view and that her Facebook analogy enabled me to see classroom blogging in as more beneficial to the curriculum.
Seebert - Thing 1 – I liked her post on Thing #1 because her concerns with using new technologies made me think about the future of technology in the classroom and how different today’s classrooms are from the 60's, 70's and even the 90's. Technology has caused everything to change in a hurry. Her comments made me think about how classrooms were in past decades and also to realize how quickly teaching methods have changed because of advancing technology, and that was what I mentioned in my posting on her blog.
Jasmina Kulovic - Thing 4 – I liked Jasmina’s account of how she discovered fellow blogger Brandi Reed. It caused me to realize that posting on someone else’s blog does generate more interest in the commenter’s blog. I commented on her blog that I enjoyed reading about her following Brandi Reed’s posting, and that it helped me to realize how blogs are connected and that there is a mutual dependence there.
Education /Janie Walker – Thing # 3 – I like her suggestion to link library sites to a classroom blog. That helped me realize that a blog is similar to a living organism that can evolve and change based on how it is set up to be used. Linking to other sites would help students have multiple resources at their fingertips. The blog could then be a learning hub that the kids could use for more than blog posts. I commented to Janie that her suggestion about libraries helped me realize the unlimited possibilities for a blog and that it would be an excellent way to engage students in other learning activities.
For blogs outside of our group -- I posted a comment on an article that was posted on http://www.teachscienceandmath.com. The article addresses the need for students to be taught how to think critically and how important it is to ask quality questions to stir students to think critically. I posted that I enjoyed the author's (Dick Wetzel) perspective and the information that his article included and that I agreed with his opinion and appreciated his suggestions for motivating students to think critically.
The other site that I posted on was Cool Cat Teacher at twitter.com/#!/coolcatteacher. I read a lot of the posts to familiar myself with the topics being discussed, and I commented that I enjoyed her site because it mentions technologies and new gimmicks and strategies that are being explored that I really have never heard about.
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