I started this blog for fun, really - somewhere to ramble. But after a series of posts today, I've been struck forcibly by the sense of community and sheer usefulness of blogging as an educational tool. After reading David's comments to previous posts, I checked out his blog and from there visited the blog of one of his students - and suddenly realised I could probably offer some useful input here.
After all - who tells you how to be a teacher? You have methods lectures in college (and yes, I think the whole college bit is a lot more high-powered than it was in my day) and you visit schools, where you may or may not observe good practice. You watch, listen - and then are left in front of a class to do it yourself. You might have helpful comment from the teacher present - or they might take the chance to get on with their marking and not really give you their whole attention. Schools are really pressured places - because there are all these people waiting to create mayhem, given half a chance. The only way to avoid this is to keep on top. It's a miracle any of us learn anything.
But here in the blogsphere (do I really like that expression?) we have a place where problems, advice, solutions, experiences - all can be parked here for scrutiny, disagreement, or simply to be ignored. At the moment I'm not doing this for any reason other than enjoyment - and because I really enjoyed teaching, and dealing with boys' classes, and all the nonsense as well as the fulfilment, for over 30 years. And I was good at it. So if I can help anyone reading this - fine. And if not - I don't care. And that's fine too.
I just found your blog via your sons'---what a whirl is this blogosphere!
ReplyDeleteI'm a teacher and writer in Canada who's planning to move to Scotland next year and hoping to do something with blogging and classrooms, sometime, somewhere, either as a teacher or a writer. It's really encouraging to see that some Scottish educationalists at least are alert to the huge learning possibilities of blogging.
I remember the day Kennedy was shot too. My Grade 5 class---P6 in modern Scottish parlance---had just been dismissed for the day when a classmate ran up to me in the corridor, breathless with the news.
Cate Simpson
My author site (very low-tech):
www.livejournal.com/users/iwritebooks
Email:
iwritebooks AT gmail DOT com
Thanks for visiting Lesley's site. One of the reasons I encouraged my students to take up blogging was the hope that they'd think more carefully about what they were learning and that other people's comments would help that process.
ReplyDeleteAs for why you blog... you seem to have much the same reasons as me. The subject of my first ever post (Why build a blog?), and a intermittently ever since, is the importance of giving teachers time to play with technology. That's why I started my blog, and why I keep doing it. It helps me develop my thinking, and I've learned all sorts of stuff while doing it, but mostly I do it because it is fun. :-)