David Warlick authors a blog titled 2 Cents Worth that I follow occasionally and respect for his insight on many topics revolving around education and technology.
His most recent post, Christine Hunewell’s A Blogger as Writer is about what’s the purpose of blogging. Here is an excerpt:
“I love Christine Hunewell’s lead up to this blog posting (A Blogger as a Writer), that she’s had it in draft form since last fall. She hauls it out periodically and works on it some more, and then slides it back away for more reflection. Christine goes on to write…
‘Usually I post late in the evening, just before the end of my day. Throughout the day, I think about an idea, a notion, the content of the day’s post. I find myself composing phrases at odd times. If I come up with something I really like, I often make a note to myself. I even started a running list of ideas about which to post – old stories and memories, things that are on my mind, that sort of thing. When I finally do sit down to blog, I have my dictionary application open so I can check spelling and reference the thesaurus. I compose the day’s post, then I reread and revise. Mull over my choices of words. Vary my sentence structure. Make sure the paragraph flows. Try to be concise but clear. I work hard on the ending trying for a big finish. When I think I’ve got it right, I publish – and then shut down for the night. But in the morning with coffee, after I’ve caught up on the news, after I’ve checked email and the weather, I read the post again. If it needs tweaking, I do it then. I find it helps in the revision process to have that little bit of distance from the original writing session.’
As I read this, I got the sense that she really isn’t writing to an outside audience as much as she is to herself. It’s bread crumbs, dropped to mark the place where she is and how she got there. She (we) are laying a trail to ourselves. When I write in my blog, I’m trying to describe myself, where I am, who I am, and, perhaps even more, how I got here, why I think and believe what I do. I’m laying a trail to myself, as much so that I can find my way back, as much as for others. Hunewell continues with a question…
So here’s my question: Could the same thing happen for kids who blog? Does it? Does their sense of audience drive them to work harder at writing than they ever thought they would? Might they find they actually like to write? I wonder.
I think that the answer is, yes, that audience does drive them to work harder. But perhaps the real value of blogging is in the laying of trails for ourselves. Blogging, or any kind of reflective writing, serves to connect us to our world, to take our perceptions, and try to make meaning of them in relation to the real world that they reflect. Sometimes we find that our perceptions are wrong, and sometimes that comes from the writing, and certainly from the conversations that ensue. But sometimes, it’s in getting it wrong that real wisdom comes.”
David was right on the one part with blogging being about leaving bread crumbs for yourself to reflect on. An important part of growth is to experience and then reflect. This is why we should encourage more people to get into blogging. They will need to have effective web hosting, so it might be wise to direct them to https://www.hostiserver.com/.
The second part, and what I think is actually more beneficial, is for other people to trace your bread crumbs, or as I call them, footprints to see where you came from and what they have to do to get to where you are now. This is going to be a real impact on education.
For example, if a college student idolizes David Warlick and wants to be just like him, then he/she has the opportunity to go back and trace his footprints and see what it took to get to where he is today. Now David has the ability to mentor hundreds of people with one single blog or footprint.
