Thing #2, Blogging

Speaking of moving outside of my comfort zone -- blogging is the place I need to start. First of all, I think that blogging, for anyone, is one of the most powerful tools we will cover. Here is our direct route to conversations, interaction with the world, and learning through doing. Here is the path to document our learning journey and share it with others.

I have never been a particularly good writer -- I have forgotten most of the grammar rules I learned (a few decades back), my spelling leaves much to be desired, and my focus has tended to blur recently. So what do I do? Put it all out there for all to see -- and even expect comments in return. Yikes! I guess that if you don't jump in with both feet, you'll never learn to swim.

Is blogging a powerful tool for students? Absolutely! Students, frequently lost in the crowd, given little or no voice in their own education, and dealing with educators who think that social networking is valueless, can finally find their own voice. Kids are creative. They are inquisitive. They want to learn. And, they have a lot to say. They want to learn, play, experience, and grow with their friends. Let them have a voice, a direction, and a responsible part of their own education process. I really think that we will be amazed.

Students are "in their element" in the world of social networking. That is how they get through their days, how they interface with the world, and how they, consequently, want (need) to learn. They create and interact on MySpace, Facebook, Deviant Art; they create and mix up music and video, they share, learn, and create. Until they get to the classroom.

Although we, as media clerks, aren't teachers, we can be educators. We can influence, guide, and show our students new and exciting ways to communicate with the world (and they can teach us much, as well). What a nice symbiosis. What if we can also have an influence on the education process in our building? Now, that’s exciting.