This is the third week the my English 3 class (11th grade) has been blogging. The first week they responded to a statistic and question and several responded to each other. In the process, Tate came up with a really cool comment. Last week they wrote a little longer entry tied into the literature we’d been reading. This week they wrote short essays responding to 3 prompts, again related to our literature.

After finishing his own great response, Grogan commented on another student’s post. I might add that the student he wrote to is in a different hour. That’s one of the cool benefits I’ve discovered about blogging with them—we’re no longer limited to a conversation just within our own class. Now students in different hours can comment and work together. Anyway, here’s Grogan’s comment to Ashley:

While her point of view differs entirely from my own, through her writing I have come to see the point of view of the settlers.

YES! That’s awesome. This is becoming a great DISCUSSION place for us. We can share our ideas, our thoughts, our opinions, and we have a terrific opportunity to debate, learn from each other, and add to the conversation with respect and in a safe environment. What we write has an effect on others. What we say matters. We learn to appreciate and understand other viewpoints. COOL!

I can’t wait to see how this continues to build and grow.

Last week in English 3, the students were asked to participate in our first blog. The prompt was about the number of Google searches performed monthly, and the question was about to whom we asked these questions B.G. (Before Google).

In responding to another student’s post, Tate included the following comment:

I think that the internet has expanded the chance of human knowledge as a whole because we have different things such as wikis and the sort where we essentially share a brain with the rest of the world.

WOW–This kid gets it! He understands the “flat world” concept. (Without having read Thomas Friedman’s book yet, btw).

I LOVED the way he stated “the Internet has expanded the chance of human knowledge”. The opportunity to grow as the human race is unbelievable. What an exciting time to be alive. Now, if we could just harness all of this for good instead of for evil…. (Where’s Superman when you really need him? Or how about Beowulf–now there’s the ultimately good superhero!)

Last year I was considering having a drawing of Plato’s Cave added to my classroom, perhaps at the door. (You know, come out of the darkness, become aware of the rest of the world, expand your horizons, etc….) Now I think maybe I should have a brain that looks like the globe.

Sometimes I look at these kids and think, “Wow–I’m so lucky to be a teacher, and to teach where I do.” Of course, there are plenty of days when you couldn’t pay me enough to put up with some of it, but then there are days, and there are Tate’s, and it’s all worthwhile.