Writing to Learn and My Love of Blogging

I love blogging. I have my own personal blog where I keep stories about mostly my kids. I write my personal blog posts to remember what happened, and I do the same thing in my blog posts for class. I really write to remember what I read. I typically write about specific techniques that I liked and would want to use in my own classroom. By writing about the techniques I hope that I can remember the specifics about the lesson or idea so that I can repeat it.

I noticed in my posts that I do pull out specific pieces of information. I am not really a big picture type of person. I like to look at the details. This might be an issue but I think by looking at the piece I can pull together my own big picture. I really do write to learn. By writing these blog posts I can sift through the information and piece everything together the way I need to to process the information. When I write my posts I have my first opportunity to process all that I have read. Writing helps bring new ideas to the front and helps me draw new conclusions.

I do have some specific things that I have noticed. Most of these are reading strategies that I can use in my classroom. I like to pull from readings what is practical for me. I don’t think the nature of my posts has changed. They pretty much stay the same—noticing what I can pull to use in my class. I think it will be important for me to keep these blogs so I have a set of ideas right at my fingertips.
I also really enjoy blogging because through the blog we are not processing this information alone. We have the opportunity to read and see what others pull from the readings as important. I like being able to comment on other people and start a conversation. It has made the class very interactive and the learning continues outside of the classroom. I really enjoy the interaction.