Entry 12: And the Curtain Falls...

Drip. Drip. Drip. Splat! That's the sound of my tears falling on the keyboard as I tap out my last blog. No, I'm just kidding. I'm not crying, but I am saddened. Blogging has been a great, big part of my life the last few months. I've (surprisingly) truly enjoyed learning through this mode. When first told that we would be keeping a blog, my first reaction was honestly a mixture of confusion and annoyance. I've always hated keeping journals for classes... and I thought that this blog thing was going to be just a digital extension of one. I didn't understand the point of blogs either... weren't these just things weirdos dreamt up because they thought their thoughts were super important and that others would want to read them?  But then we actually started blogging and I fell in love with it. I realized that this space was meant for reflection... good honest reflection that could be done all at one time or in pieces. The format allowed me to peer deeper into my understanding because I could quickly and efficiently tap out my thoughts. Wooops.. I didn't like something - no problem-O! I wanted to rearrange an earlier thought to a later one... click, click, done! I had organized, thought out reflections, neatly typed, written in my own voice and published in the style I desired.

The flexibility of the blog allowed me to fully engage in the topics we studied throughout the semester. There were a few objectives in particular, that by keeping a blog, I was able to fully realize. I now truly understand "the role of metacognition in writing proficiency and reading comprehension". Blogging helped me to practice the different writing strategies good writers do (Heck! I was forced to in order to keep up with the amount of writing that is required!). We've learned in this class and others, that during the drafting process,  getting down a meaningful message is most important. While I understand this idea, it is not natural for me. I often construct text sentence by sentence, making sure it "sounds right" and everything is spelled correctly before I move on. In writing this past semester I've forced myself to follow this advice, to just write, let the ideas flow out of me and then come back and edit. While before I felt disappointed if I deleted much of my first draft (or felt that I had just wasted a bunch of time) now I know this is actually good and encouraged! I'm OK with making my original first paragraph my last or my third! I'm slightly OK with even deleting it (truthfully, this still makes me twinge a bit, but I'm getting over it!). This retraining if you will, has allowed me to have fun creating more robust pieces that I'm extraordinarily proud of.

In regards to the other learning outcomes, such as understanding the variety of genres readers use, the role of purpose and audience in writing and reading, and writing assessment and evaluation this blog has given me a place to reflect, test out and flesh out my issues. At the beginning of this class I was terrified of grading my students' writing. I know that I'm a "good writer" and the teacher... but how did I explain to them why their writing was "good" or not. I've explored this question a couple times now in this blog, and by doing so, I was able to come to an answer and now feel confident in doing this task. Tied with what I found out about assessment, was my realization of the importance of audience. While I've always heard "consider your audience" I had never made the connection that your audiences' needs and expectations will govern how and what you write (think voice and structure). I believe, personally knowing my audience and reading their feedback, that my style of writing in this arena is not only OK, but welcomed. Therefore I've safely been able to explore writing styles and techniques I was too scared to before.
 
The obvious outcome that was substantically taugt by the use of this blog (and help from Hicks ) was gaining knowledge and proficiency in new digital literacies -at least in blogging. As stated earlier, I have a completely new outlook on the purpose and function of blogs. I've been using them now for only a month or so in my own classes with juniors and seniors, and I am continually impressed by what my students compose. Blogging will definitely be a tool I utilize in my own classroom to help students learn both environmental content but also to gain digital proficiency of their own.
 
I found that using blogs was not only a learning tool for the individual, but for the class to learn and explore with each other. I often turned to others blogs as a resource in times of confusion or need for inspiration. It allowed me to see into other people's minds which is often useful when learning something new. Drip. Drip. Drip. Splat! Oh gosh, here comes the last few sentences... In short, blogging was the main reason why I learned so much in this class and had such an awesomely fantastic time taking it. It helped me learn the objectives of this course because I was engaged in thoughtful reflection that was personal but not private. Knowing that I had an audience, helped me to be more specific in my thoughts and creative in my writing. So, thank you Dr. Jones for forcing us to blog because I would have never done it without the push. I never thought I would say this but... I'm a bonafide blogger, and proud of it!