Why would anyone who wishes to actually reach educators and hopefully influence change in schools not be blogging?
Well, I simply agree. Blogs have the potential to reach wider audiences, but only if their authors take them seriously. According to StatCounter, I only attract about 15 unique users a week, but if I advertised my blog in local education newsletters or encouraged my colleagues to provide material for the blog, then maybe I could create a larger readership. Blogs serve as a medium of communication that links many people, and if we could create a virtual arena for discussions to take place, perhaps more educational endeavors could be begun. Perhaps, more ideas of reform could be discussed. The possibilities are endless.I will end with McLeod's final question:
Why haven't more faculty caught on to this?
----------
Image Citation:
Automania. (2006 February 10). Spider web gravity well. Automania's photostream. Retrieved January 16, 2007, from http://www.flickr.com/photos/automania/97936640/
4 comments:
This is big stuff, Kevin...I really think so. Who needs the opportunity to share ideas/problems/victories/frustrations than student teachers? Wouldn't it be cool if a student teacher were to establish a site *geared* towards providing a place where student teachers can talk/share ideas, etc? Then that student teacher could advertise what s/he was doing, maybe get on a couple of webcasts, and I'll wager that that student teacher would soon find her/his website with plenty of traffic.
It could make an interesting research project, too.
Heck, I even have an idea of who might take on the job ;-) Hmmmm.....
Kevin, I've also been thinking about the potential for blogs lately, especially in regard to how you framed them in your latest post. Why not take advantage of such a brilliant tool?
As I've watched my mentor teacher over the past few months, I think I've begun to see why some may not. She's in the middle of implementing an entirely new English curriculum, going to multiple meetings a week as Department Chair, and handling a typical class load. I wonder, does it all boil down to time?
Perhaps it just requires restructuring. Instead of maintaining a hardcopy grade book, could she just rely on the school's electronic one and devote her new time to a blog? I think so!
I'd also like to contend, though, that blogging isn't the answer for everyone. Watching my mentor teacher in action has proven to be a more effective educational tool for me than reading a bunch of education-related blogs. I see how she helps everyone in her department, I see how they depend on her for insight and guidance. And I have become a member of this department seemingly overnight; I can go to a number of teachers with questions about teaching or writing unit plans. And this simple method of communication appeals to me in a big, big way. My Google Reader list can overwhelm me. My fellow teachers can overwhelm me too, but in a more applicable, contextualized way that still allows me to dream about things I will ultimately do similarly or differently in my classroom. Think globally, act locally sort of thing.
In regard to what Stanzler mentioned...count me in if you'd like help getting something off the ground. I imagine something like Yahoo Teachers (http://teachers.yahoo.com), only geared toward student teachers. What are your thoughts?
Abbi, I agree that effective communication is probably the most essential tool necessary for success in and around the classroom, but I think blogs provide something average discussions among departmental colleagues cannot experience on a daily basis: international collaboration.
My international colleagues help me reevaluate my teaching practice in ways my departmental colleagues cannot. After all, I feel the 10th grade students at my high school are not that different from the 11th grade students, and maybe my students do not vary that much from yours either. However, when we engage in conversations with people outside our districts and neighboring cities, I wonder if the variability between students increases. Some things about students may not change from place to place, for example, apathetic attitudes toward homework, but maybe some student actions and reactions do change.
I want to uncover those behavioral, emotional, and psychological differences. I read blogs to see what others are doing and gauge whether I think I can do the same thing in my classroom, department meetings, or professional development seminars. Collaboration and networking is so important, and I think Jeff's comments have only solidified an idea I have been considering for a long time. More to come...
Your point holds true. I was catching up with a friend of mine today, talking about the big picture/small instance/big picture phenomenon that occurs throughout our lives. How it's necessary to see the big picture in order to know how to work each small instance, but without all the small instances, the big picture wouldn't be able to be seen. This is how I've related to theory within the MAC program too--it's important to think about both the theoretical underpinnings AND the day-to-day classroom functions, and how they work together. I'm beginning to think this way about blogging, too; as you explain, blogging can connect you to a much larger and ever-widening circle, providing context to your own practice, which you can then bring back to a larger discussion in the blogosphere.
Yay, technological tools--evolving to match human nature.
Post a Comment