Sharing Comes Full Circle
Blogging is not a new fad-like hobby anymore. Blogging is not MySpace, or Instagram, or any other passing phase. One can aspire to “be” a blogger as a professional career. For our students, who have both feet planted firmly on the “this is life” side of the digital divide, blogging is one piece of the large social media puzzle that is their lives. It would be foolhardy for English teachers especially, but for any teachers, to ignore the power of blogging for their students. Blogging means sharing, and sharing is valuable to students. Blogging means capitalizing on students’ innate desire to make connections with their peers and their desire to express themselves using the digital media that has been a part of their whole lives.
Like my student who highlighted getting his ideas “out there” as the most important positive aspect of blogging, I, too, hope to enhance the power of my idea by sharing with my peers and colleagues who would find value in the results of this project. The first step has been sharing portions of this research to my meager blog audience, but this week I will present this to a national conference being held at my school. An ideal outcome would be for more students to have the chance to express themselves and receive feedback and to know that their unique voices are being heard. What will our students write when the world is their audience?
Jessie Metzger 