Reflections of Reflections...

I am relatively new to the blogosphere. Sure, I follow a couple of friends’ blogs, but not regularly. So as I am learning to blog myself, I must also explore the blogs of my cohorts. Upon searching for different blogs related to my major, secondary education- natural science, I found a large variety of blog styles. Some were self-righteous and dramatic, others boring and ineffective. This blog, on the other hand, I actually enjoyed—Reflections of a Science Teacher:

http://sanmccarron.blogspot.com/2010_02_01_archive.html

It is the blog of a fairly interesting science teacher. She has included on her blog specific strategies and lessons that she has implemented in her classroom, her take on issues facing the educational community, and personal observations of nature and people. She makes connections between the different areas in her life- teaching, nature exploration, science--and has some interesting ideas. She has included resources and links to other sites to find out more information on certain topics she covers. She also reflects on other bloggers and the ideas that they have shared.

I like what she has done with her blog and I wonder what role blogging will take in my career. I like that idea of sharing teaching techniques and classroom stories with others. I think that it is a valuable venue for swapping ideas but a few questions come to mind. Do her students read her blog? When it comes to sharing class anecdotes, when is privacy an issue? How does her boss and fellow teachers feel about her blog? When is it too much? I seem to appreciate concise blogs and scorn the long, self-important ones. Is blogging best used as a tool for personal reflection or can it become a public journal, allowing students, parents, and school administrators read and weigh-in on classroom happenings?

Overall, blogs are what you make them to be. They are as important as you are willing to make them. They can be funny, educational, and inspiring, as well as boring, dramatic and embarrassing. I am looking forward to keeping a blog but I still need to do some exploring before I decide how it will play into my professional career.