Text of Personality

It's almost midterm, and my class has been blogging for about a month. I wondered what I would find most striking about my students' blogs: an interactive discussion of ideas; an intellectual use of the linking feature to tap into the resources of the internet; superkewl use of graphics . . .

Of course, there has been plenty of that, but what I have found most earth-shattering is the students' construction of their own identities: their personalities and personal details and trials and tribulations all laid out before me. I do not think I would have ever known about Brandi's mugging or Sonya's father's illness or Nicol's car accident or Christina's girlpower trip to Mexico if I had not assigned my students to write blogs.

For all of the lip service about computers are an impersonalizing force, my students have largely used them to disclose much more than they have in our face to face environments. I want to know why. I'll ask them why. If they read this post, maybe they post a reply. One student started to get at how and why she puts herself out there on her blog. I invite more commentary like this - I am honored, fascinated, stimulated, and encouraged by the student blogs!