Take Aways from HOT Blogging Article

Let me preface this by stating that my struggle with blogging is keeping the posts short! So I decided to write my reflections in a Word document and only post small snippets. Here are two paragraphs from my 2-page thinking process...

There are two pieces from the Zawilinski article that I want to act upon. They are both from the HOT blogging stages. In the “Prime the pump” stage, students prepare for a class discussion by reading others’ posts and comments. Then, during the discussion, they share others’ posted comments, not theirs. This year for LINKS—our monthly course for new teachers—we’re trying individual blogs. I would like to structure our face-to-face conversation about the online discussions using a similar format. It would ensure "better listening" of what others are saying (i.e. deeper reading) and I also think it would help the online communication remain at an excellent level.

The second quote that resonated with me came from the “Make multiplicity explicit” stage:
“Students read their classmates’ responses, noting which are similar and different and in what ways, and these responses show students how diverse perspectives can further deepen and enrich one’s own thinking (p. 658).” My ah-ha moment was connecting this with the equity work we are all engaged in. Digital writing is a way to give every student a voice, even the ELL who has difficulty producing perfectly edited text but can record a podcast. By sharing perspectives and experiences and by asking students to focus their thinking on understanding the other person’s point of view won’t we build a more tolerant, more equitable community? It’s a win-win situation!


P.S. Did you know that the International Reading Association has an ongoing "Blogging in the classroom" discussion on Facebook? Check it out!