Blog That!
I've been having a difficult time finding the enthusiasm to get back to blogging this autumn, but due to the events of the last few days, I think I am ready. The most significant of those events was a recent after-school visit from Starchild and Canadian Girl, two of my favorites from last year. It was good to touch base, see how high school is going for them, and find out that they are periodically still contributing things to the blogs they started for this class (as is Lars15, who, while she has yet to come back and say hi, does post frequent comments to my blogs reminding me how long it has been since I wrote one...and she has written one for all of you newbies, so you ought to go over and introduce yourselves! And while you're doing that, you should also check in with Lori, from two years ago, who has some good advice for you).
During our chat, I mentioned to Starchild and Canadian Girl that I have even started telling people, "You should blog that" when they come up with some fleeting but profound truth based on the events in their lives. "Blog that!" I think I'm going to be saying it a lot now that you Millennials know what I'm talking about. Most of the teachers at the school still don't even know what a blog is, and I recently attended a meeting of teachers from other schools that illustrated to me that even those who do know what one is don't really know how they work or how they might be educational and worthwhile. Speaking of meetings, that's the other reason I am ready to blog again: I'm angry. (Forced to leave my classroom to attend district-level meetings in which people who have no memory of what it was like to be caught up in the hectic busy-ness of classroom teaching smile in my face as they hand out yet more assignments to me and my colleagues without ever removing anything from our already packed schedules, I get steamed.) I find that a blog is a good place for the occasional frustrated rant, especially if you take the time to spell out the reasons for your anger in a rational and persuasive voice that will win others to your cause.
And that is what sets blogs apart from any other kind of writing that has come before them: audience. Some critics have rightly pointed out that much of the online world as it is used by today's teens is self-promoting and shallow. MySpace, for example, allows kids to post ten-thousand pictures of themselves sitting in front of a mirror "being bored" (as so many of the captions indicate). The reason MySpace is popular is because bored or lonely people can get a sense of being connected to a group (a worldwide group!) even though it is all just "virtual" reality. MySpace rewards and encourages self-involvement like no other previous technology because it provides a massive possible audience for even the most trivial aspects of our lives. The same potential audience that entices people into this self-involved MySpace mentality can also be used for educational purposes when it comes to writing. Enter the blog.
Blogs (short for web logs) were originally deemed a type of online journal, which is essentially true, but with one important difference. With a traditional diary, chances were good that the only person who would ever read it was the one that wrote it...or that person's nosy mother...or maybe that person's children and grandchildren long after that person died. With a blog, anyone in the world might happen across the writing, and it is that sense of audience that makes writing in a blog an educational experience. (Good writers always have an audience in mind.) When we journalize (in a notebook or diary) for our own private purposes, we know that there is no one we need to pursuade or entertain or engage. If I want to list all the people in the world I am angry at, I can do that in a traditional journal because I know none of them will ever see it. In a blog, however, there is a chance that my words might be read by one of those people; feelings could be hurt, arguments could start, or there could be repercussions. Keeping this audience in mind requires a writer to consider his words more carefully than s/he would in a private journal: What do I want the audience to know? (Ideas and Content) How should I present it? (Organization) How do I want the audience to think of me? (Voice) What do I want the audience to do? (Purpose) These are essential questions that writing teachers have always struggled to get their students to keep in mind because the traditional approach to teaching writing is so dependent upon the student-teacher relationship: the student writes what s/he thinks the teacher wants to hear; the teacher evaluates the writing and returns it with a score; sometimes it might end up on the wall of a classroom for a week or so, but there is never that sense of critical mass that writing on the Internet provides. With a blog, the teacher is only one of many people who will read the writing. This is why I require blogs for this class. Not only do I expect you to write a blog each week, but I expect you to look at what other people are writing in their blogs. And in doing so, how can you not compare them (to each other as well as to yourself)? You will learn the "voices" of your classmates even if you never meet them in person. You will mimic the writing of those who impress you, and you will try to avoid making the same mistakes as those who do not. It is not a process you will notice immediately, but you will grow into it with practice. By the end of the year (after 25,000 words or so of writing), you will be a better writer.
Welcome to Honors English (2007-08)!
During our chat, I mentioned to Starchild and Canadian Girl that I have even started telling people, "You should blog that" when they come up with some fleeting but profound truth based on the events in their lives. "Blog that!" I think I'm going to be saying it a lot now that you Millennials know what I'm talking about. Most of the teachers at the school still don't even know what a blog is, and I recently attended a meeting of teachers from other schools that illustrated to me that even those who do know what one is don't really know how they work or how they might be educational and worthwhile. Speaking of meetings, that's the other reason I am ready to blog again: I'm angry. (Forced to leave my classroom to attend district-level meetings in which people who have no memory of what it was like to be caught up in the hectic busy-ness of classroom teaching smile in my face as they hand out yet more assignments to me and my colleagues without ever removing anything from our already packed schedules, I get steamed.) I find that a blog is a good place for the occasional frustrated rant, especially if you take the time to spell out the reasons for your anger in a rational and persuasive voice that will win others to your cause.
And that is what sets blogs apart from any other kind of writing that has come before them: audience. Some critics have rightly pointed out that much of the online world as it is used by today's teens is self-promoting and shallow. MySpace, for example, allows kids to post ten-thousand pictures of themselves sitting in front of a mirror "being bored" (as so many of the captions indicate). The reason MySpace is popular is because bored or lonely people can get a sense of being connected to a group (a worldwide group!) even though it is all just "virtual" reality. MySpace rewards and encourages self-involvement like no other previous technology because it provides a massive possible audience for even the most trivial aspects of our lives. The same potential audience that entices people into this self-involved MySpace mentality can also be used for educational purposes when it comes to writing. Enter the blog.
Blogs (short for web logs) were originally deemed a type of online journal, which is essentially true, but with one important difference. With a traditional diary, chances were good that the only person who would ever read it was the one that wrote it...or that person's nosy mother...or maybe that person's children and grandchildren long after that person died. With a blog, anyone in the world might happen across the writing, and it is that sense of audience that makes writing in a blog an educational experience. (Good writers always have an audience in mind.) When we journalize (in a notebook or diary) for our own private purposes, we know that there is no one we need to pursuade or entertain or engage. If I want to list all the people in the world I am angry at, I can do that in a traditional journal because I know none of them will ever see it. In a blog, however, there is a chance that my words might be read by one of those people; feelings could be hurt, arguments could start, or there could be repercussions. Keeping this audience in mind requires a writer to consider his words more carefully than s/he would in a private journal: What do I want the audience to know? (Ideas and Content) How should I present it? (Organization) How do I want the audience to think of me? (Voice) What do I want the audience to do? (Purpose) These are essential questions that writing teachers have always struggled to get their students to keep in mind because the traditional approach to teaching writing is so dependent upon the student-teacher relationship: the student writes what s/he thinks the teacher wants to hear; the teacher evaluates the writing and returns it with a score; sometimes it might end up on the wall of a classroom for a week or so, but there is never that sense of critical mass that writing on the Internet provides. With a blog, the teacher is only one of many people who will read the writing. This is why I require blogs for this class. Not only do I expect you to write a blog each week, but I expect you to look at what other people are writing in their blogs. And in doing so, how can you not compare them (to each other as well as to yourself)? You will learn the "voices" of your classmates even if you never meet them in person. You will mimic the writing of those who impress you, and you will try to avoid making the same mistakes as those who do not. It is not a process you will notice immediately, but you will grow into it with practice. By the end of the year (after 25,000 words or so of writing), you will be a better writer.
Welcome to Honors English (2007-08)!
posted by MRT at 10:18 AM
4 Comments:
So far my blog posts have been mostly journals, but I've read some of the things you've said about blogs on the board in the past, and I think I'm going to try to make some of the boring things I've been writing seem more interesting.
Thanks Mr. T!
Mr. T! How could you not include me in your visit?! Obviously I am not memorable at all...*sniffle*
Some of my blogs have been in the journal type, so I'll try to make my blogs more interesting and on different topics. Thanks for the advice!
That was a good visit! I think it's time that I get back to keeping a regular blog again (or at least semi-regular!) Lately I've seen more than one thing that just screams "Blog that!!"
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