It is the beginning of March now, and I am pulling away from assigning blog topics. We have made podcasts, had Skype calls, and had dimdim book club meetings (where they only communicate with one another through typing), so the kids have learned to express themselves well. They are much more confident. Now, I am sitting back and waiting to watch the real blogging begin. We’ll see if all of that scaffolding pays off. I think it will!

http://blog.woodward.edu/ps_edmison

1. How does blog affect the traditional way of writing?

Since I am 52 and accustomed to writing in proper English, I tend to write as carefully in my blog as I would elsewhere. Blogging does push me to include images (and, of course links) in my writing.

2. What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of Blog?

The big advantage of blogging for me is that once I have captured my thoughts on my blog I can refer back to them easily. I used to keep journals for reflection, but in a print journal there’s no good way to locate previous writings on a particular subject.

3. How does blog help you? Do you think it develops your Intellectual skills?

Blogging definitely develops my intellectual skills. I am more reflective about what I read in books, magazines, and newspapers as well as on-line because I often blog about what I have read. Once I begin to blog on a subject, I am often more curious to seek out more information about it.

4.Blog : not just a hobby, but also a profession. Do you agree with the sentence? why?

I believe that blogging can be either a hobby or a profession. News blogs such as The Huffington Report are clear examples of professional blogs. My own blog is a hobby. I have no followers so it is little more than a personal journal for me, but one that someone else might choose to look at if they wish. Some bloggers fall into a gray area between hobby and profession. I am a librarian, and several of the best-of-the-best in my field are responsible for blogs that keep the rest of us current and inspired. In most cases they are not paid to keep these blogs, but you certainly couldn’t consider them just hobbies either.

5. Blog: A product of Modern Technology for Better English Communication. Do you think the statement is true? why and how?

I’ll say “true” although I would edit the phrase to say, “Blogs: A Resource of Modern Technology for Better English Communication”.

Why? Both students and adults are encouraged to write because the blogging platform is available. Writing is the second key element of English communication standing alongside (obviously) speech.

How? Writing had fallen out of fashion for the “everyday man” in the last half of the 20th century. Authors and poets abounded, but the age of the well-thought out letter or diary entry had faded away to almost nothing. Blogging has caused a re-birth of writing by and for all.

Some will say that blogging is not “proper” English Communication because many bloggers work with a style not seen before, having created a unique grammar and vocabulary for blogging alongside the new language norms for e-mail, chat and texting. I feel that since the English language has always been a flexible and changing language, the language of blogging is perfectly acceptable for communication as long as the blogger and those reading the blog agree that it is.

These questions were made for our Term Paper. Please help us by answering the questions below.

1. How does blog affect the traditional way of writing?

2. What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of Blog?

3. How does blog help you? Do you think it develops your Intellectual skills?

4.Blog : not just a hobby, but also a profession. Do you agree with the sentence? why?

5. Blog: A product of Modern Technology for Better English Communication. Do you think the statement is true? why and how?

thanks for answering! It helped us a lot! God Bless us all!!!

Why do people almost always believe that they have to know everything? What stops them from Learning and changing?

I recall a quote about change and fear of change that essentially said that it was fear of giving up “knowledge” that makes us fear change. But learning is about change … change of behaviour and that makes us fearful.

I think blogging is hard because it means opening yourself up to the public and there is a fear of ridicule (Do I keep my mouth shut and let people think I am a fool or do I open my mouth and remove all doubt?) or the fear of not being the Expert. Well in a world where tcchnical knowledge is doubling every two years (Did you know? 3.0) there is a good chance that we do not change our behaviour and learn that we will be eclipsed as the expert in the classroom. Therefore, I think that is healthy and necessary to test our knowledge and learning through blogging.

http://thecornerstoneforteachers.blogspot.com/2009/01/cornerstone-accolades-january-2009.html

A couple weeks back, Will Richardson mused on the continuing challenges of blogging, even after 3000+ posts and an estimated million words. I’m not there yet (600+ posts and an est. 400,000+ words), but I understand where he’s coming from…….

cheers,

M