I’m heading to the desert for a few days to a) learn how to use our new student information system and b) escape this chilly, clammy, yucky spring we’ve been having in the Northeast so far. Hoping to maybe hook up with Alan Levine to do some blog talking. 85 and sunny tomorrow in Phoenix…have mercy.

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Just wanted to note some useful summaries by Samantha Blackmon about one of the blog panels at 4Cs last week. I really think it’s interesting, now that there seems to be more and more data to work with, the similar themes that seem to be running through edblogger minds. Seems like public and private posting is at the head of the list. Here’s a part of her description of Terra Williams’ part of the presentation:

When her students maintain both personal blogs and post to the class community blog she finds that their perception of audience differs between the blogs. Student posts to the community blog tend to be more formal and on topic than they are on their personal blogs. Terra made the argument that blogs and blog post titles make students more rhetorically sensitive because they find that they have to be more sound if they want to get their points across quickly and succinctly while still drawing people in to read the blog on a regular basis. Her view of the blog as an extension of the classroom space gets strengthened by the fact that she finds that students posting to the community blog use external links to illustrate their point more often than they do on their personal blogs.

And from Charlie Lowe’s part:

There was even talk of how to get more teachers to blog. Teachers have to stop thinking of blogs as extra work, allow expression of the personal along with the academic, and allow themselves to provide examples of teachers as writers.

I couldn’t agree more. I wish there were at least a couple of people at my school who would take up this exercise, especially the composition teachers. I know the time commitment involved with teaching 60 kids how to write, but teachers writing is almost as important as students writing. I know…maybe we should reduce the schedules of teachers that blog… Yeah. Right.
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Weblog Theory
Just wanted to note some <a href=”http://www.sla.purdue.edu/blackmon/blog/2004_03_30_archive.html#108068567048444993″>interesting summaries</a> by Samantha Blackmon about one of the blog panels at 4Cs last week. I really think it’s interesting, now that there seems to be more and more data to work with, the similar themes that seem to be running through edblogger minds. Seems like public and private posting is at the head of the list. Here’s a part of her description of <a href=”http://writingfly.com”>Terra Williams’</a> part of the presentation:

<blockquote>When her students maintain both personal blogs and post to the class community blog she finds that their perception of audience differs between the blogs. Student posts to the community blog tend to be more formal and on topic than they are on their personal blogs. Terra made the argument that blogs and blog post titles make students more rhetorically sensitive because they find that they have to be more sound if they want to get their points across quickly and succinctly while still drawing people in to read the blog on a regular basis. Her view of the blog as an extension of the classroom space gets strengthened by the fact that she finds that students posting to the community blog use external links to illustrate their point more often than they do on their personal blogs.</blockquote>
And from <a href=”http://cyberdash.com/node/view/225?”>Charlie Lowe’s</a> part:

<blockquote>There was even talk of how to get more teachers to blog. Teachers have to stop thinking of blogs as extra work, allow expression of the personal along with the academic, and allow themselves to provide examples of teachers as writers.</blockquote>

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From a sports perspective, this is my favorite time of the year (unless of course the Cubs get into the World Series which, dare I say it, might actually happen this year.) And this year is especially exciting since my wife is an Industrial Engineer from Georgia Tech. (How someone that smart ended up with me I’ll never know.) Last night’s last second win over Oklahoma State has to have been one of the best NCAA games I’ve seen. When Tech won it at the buzzer, we had a whole family screaming pile on the floor…my kids had no real clue what had just happened, but it was just a really fun moment. Bring on the Huskies!
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