Jilian’s English 207 Blog Another amazing bgsu blog

On the whole, I think that blogging throughout the semester, especially for a course like this, was helpful. It allowed me to further develop my thoughts and pose any questions I may have had. In one of my education courses this semester, we discussed the importance of allowing students to write down their thoughts instead of having to constantly participate in discussions or even allowing students to write down their thoughts and then encouraging discussions. Having students write their thoughts allows the teacher to assess what was learned and what perhaps needs more work. I think that writing anything is a very helpful tool, so this blog was helpful.

That being said, there were a few drawbacks. Sometimes I could not think of anything to say and some of the blog prompts felt repetitive. This isn’t meant as any sort of insult and I hope it isn’t viewed that way; rather, I do understand how this could have happened. Much of the class focused on literacy and since we had something like 40 blogs, it seems natural that we would re-visit concepts. This is probably because our own personal concepts of literacy were developed throughout the semester and I’m sure that you (Brittany) wanted to check on that. 

My only other bone of contention is that I was never sure how much to write. Sometimes it seemed unfair that I wrote so much (if you’ll look at my blogs earlier in the semester, they were a lot longer) and some of my classmates wrote something like three sentences, and it would seem that we all received the same credit. This isn’t anyone’s fault; I think I was just unaware of how much I was supposed to say. I never felt I did the concepts justice by only spitting out a few sentences to just get credit, but at the same time, I wondered why I should put forth more effort when other people were fine giving so much less. 

As a future teacher, I think I would love to have my students blog. I realize this could be impossible with the lack of technology in some classrooms, but I think it would be very useful. It could be useful in all classes but I think it could be very useful for my future English classes. I could have students submit rough drafts, have them post questions, and make sure that they were writing a couple of times a week. I really would enjoy using blogs as a future teacher.

I have used a blog in one class before this. It was my EDIS 231 (Teaching Students with Exceptionalities) course. I have to say I really did not enjoy having to blog for that class. Why I liked blogging for this class is because we were constantly given prompts. We weren’t simply told “Make sure you blog twice a week” and then left to our own devices about what we could possibly say. I might have had more to say if I learned a single thing in that class but, alas, it was a waste, I learned nothing, and I lost a lot of points because I forgot to blog every week. Possibly because I found it difficult to blog about something I never learned. 

I actually already have a personal blog. I think I’ve had it since 2005. So I can’t say whether this course or having to update this blog has affected how I view my other blog. It possibly made me wonder how many people see my blog without my knowledge. 

Other than this, I’ve always viewed writing with the utmost regard. I’ve been writing ever since I knew how; I don’t know how many half-finished novels and short stories I have saved on my computer or how many have been lost throughout the years due to computer changes. My opinions on blogs vary, although I see the personal ones as good outlets. Sometimes it seems nice to know that your thoughts are out there and even if you don’t know if someone is reading them, possibly someone is and they can relate with you. I just think that blogging is a helpful way to encourage people to write and I believe that the only way one’s writing or writing style can improve is by constantly writing. This blog helped with that.