Why Blog?

I'm a newbie to this whole blogosphere thing.  In fact, I'm new to the whole idea of writing continuously for myself, and probably wouldn't be starting this tech-journey without the requirements set forth by my summer grad class.  I'm notorious for starting a journal, writing in it for a few days (or less), and then setting it to the side and letting it slip my mind.  I'm no good at doing things for myself (but try to be excellent at doing things really well for others).  So, we'll see what happens to this blog in a month or so.

For now, let me begin by saying that I'm excited about the potential that blogging promises.  As I foraged the endless online writing spaces for ideas, I realized that blogging makes knowledge accessible, makes people's lives real, and has the potential of bringing us closer together.  Consider, for instance, http://twowritingteachers.wordpress.com/, a blog started by two teachers who are over 500 miles apart.  These women share ideas for teaching writing as well as create online spaces in which others can share ideas and resources. 

I think a good blog is one that can include personal reflection, but also focuses on timely issues.  As an expectant mother and always teacher, I struggle with my concern for teaching "revolutionary love," and transformative ways of thinking about the world.  I know that race, class, gender, sexuality are social constructions, but am also painfully aware of the very real consequences these identities have in schooling and society.  The anti-racist parenting blog, http://loveisntenough.com, highlights issues that are pertinent in today's media, education, and legal news, while including links to primary sources and celebrating positive events and families.  Similarly, www.mochamomma.com shares one woman's experiences as a mother, writer, middle school teacher, and critic.  Another blog, www.racialicious.com, investigates the intersections of race and the media.

The most effective blogs, to me, use the author's point of view to address popular opinion, difficult issues, or personal moments of reflection while also staying committed to intertextuality.  This idea of intertextuality, to me, has to do with the overlap of multiple forms of media and texts (including historical moments, legal issues, young adult literature, other blogs) and how texts inform and create other texts in a dialectic.

Baptism by Blogging Fire

When Dr. Pence asked us to create blogs for an online summer course, Reading Across the Content Areas, I have to admit, I was shaking in my flip-flops.  I'm not the most tech-savvy, but I'm eager to learn, so stay tuned for the trials and tribulations of troubleshooting!

This summer, my blogs will likely focus on how my teaching can be improved based on what I learn from reading Multiple Voices, Multiple Texts: Reading in the Secondary Content Areas (1997), by Reade Dornan, Lois Matz Rosen, and Marilyn Wilson. 

In the fall, I'll hope to continue the journey by celebrating the little victories I might experience while teaching Reading at a local middle school and English II and III at the high school.

The most exciting part of this blog will come early in 2013, though, when we welcome the newest addition to our family!  Do they have professional development for new parents?