The blog in all of us!

Let's talk about blogging. Well, even better, lets talk about blogging while writing a blog. Even better than that, lets talk about blogging with writing a blog whilst also looking at other blogs for ideas!

Its like a tv, inside of a tv, inside of a tv...

But again, I digress.

Blogs (what a funny name) transformed me. The transformed the way I teach, the way I learn, and the way I interacted with my students. 

I had used a blog within my classroom for nearly four years before I moved on to the current position am in today. It was appropiately named: charlestonsclass.blogspot.com ! This was before I truly understood why 24/7 learning was important. I really just wanted my students to engage in a forum outside of school where they all could participate (and not feel like their voice wasn't heard or overshadowed) on their own time with their own devices.

My first blog posts were never really the in depth mantras that most blogs were all about. You know the ones. The ones that talked about their days, what they had to eat, and where they wanted to vacation. No, mine had none of that - the were makeshift educational forums for students. We bantered, debated, and participated in some pretty amazing discussions.

I posted articles to read, videos to watch, and games to engage in - and my kids would take it all in and bring that knowledge to the table the next day to get down and do some serious work.

Even before the phrase entered my vision, I knew that I was doing something different. I had flipped my teaching and therefore, had flipped my classroom.

By the time I was ready to join the Tech ranks, I had over ten-thousand visits and at times, nearly 200 posts in an hour! (our Fast and Furious study guide hours - thanks to http://waterforsixthgrade.blogspot.com/ and Mr. Dan Klumper  for tons of inspiration: and he doesn't even know it, until now!)

I taught Professional Development about blogs to my district and shared the wealth of what I did with my students. I created a Terms and Conditions sheet for parents and students to sign and my students had to hand that in before they could even step into the digital realm of our class blog.

Blogging Terms and Conditions

Need some ideas on why to blog? Check out this list from EDUblogs.com

I bring this up because blogging is just so important for education and serious learning.


Writing (or typing if you see it that way) is not going to go away - it will just evolve. 

Engaging your students is never going to go away - it will just evolve. 

Teaching will never, ever go away - it will just evolve. 

How will you evolve?