Building Community with Technology

Image from Microsoft Word clip art

"[W]riting is powerful for building a classroom community - that is, a safe haven where all the voices are heard, known, and respected ..."
-Regie Routman, Writing Essentials, 2005, page 45

Joining the Conversation

The comments on my previous post got me thinking beyond classroom community to the community I have with my cohort - how important that has been to my development and growth this quarter. What's really surprised me is how much of that growth has come from the conversations on mine and others' blogs.

I didn't approach this quarter committed to entering into a conversation with my blogging ... I used my blog primarily for my own reflection, knowing that from time to time people might drop in to listen. Similarly, my comments to others have been mainly encouragement  or support as shown in these comments.

But I am beginning to realize that writing builds community. In the cohort classroom the past few days we have shared visual stories through our Pechakuchas and our Digital Literacy Vignettes.  They were amazing and made us all feel closer to each other as we shared our voices with people whom we trust.

We can build this in our classrooms when we are teachers, too. We can use  writing to help our students bond with each other and help them give a voice to their amazing ideas. One of the things I've learned this quarter is that it is essential for students to write for an authentic audience.  After watching the digital stories over the past few days, I realize what a powerful way of sharing these technologies can be. There are some great examples of children using digital storytelling on  Kathy Cassidy's classroom blog - a place where each child has his or her own blog page!

So back to blogging ... Sometimes I look at others' blogs and feel like they have such important things to say that I should just listen quietly, but there are some fantastic conversations going on out there! I have been under-utilizing this tool. I do want to join the conversation. I do want to be writing for an audience not just for myself. I do want to hear comments and feedback about my thinking.  Check me out next quarter ... I'm getting in on the conversation! So here's a try at moving the conversation along rather than merely encouraging. I'm trying and I know the people in my cohort will support me as I try!

I want to go back to the idea of growing as a result of others' blogs.  This post really inspired me.  I was content to keep my blogging just between me and my cohort, but if one of them can face their fears, so can I! Here are my tries: I asked Picture Book A Day about what the follow up activities are for the rich children's literature posted on that blog, but my comment is currently awaiting moderation.

Here I For the Love of Kindergarten started out with my old ways - encouraging a teacher that her non-commercial, "regular" blog was right up my ally, but I also asked for more information about how she's using technology in her classroom - she made a brief mention of using her laptop to complete assessments, which sounds pretty awesome!

Posting to others' blogs was actually pretty cool and amazing.  It was a good feeling to see my comments pop up as published and feel I had joined the conversation. My final thought is that community is powerful and a digital community can be powerful, too ... if we take advantage of it by joining the conversation.