I wrote and posted my first blog entry on June 4, 2007. Re-reading that naive and hopeful little essay reminds me how far I've come and how much farther I still hope to travel.
My academic goals seem almost laughable: none of the technologies I envisioned using are in place. The best I could do for my students was to enroll them in a district-endorsed Blackboard account. All interactive sites are blocked (including PB wiki), YouTube is inaccessible, student email accounts, even those spun off of a teacher account, are forbidden. We are 19th century citizens of a 21st century world.
Personally, blogging has been an unqualified success. It provides an outlet for creative expression, a venue for professional reflection, and a connective conduit to people from around the globe.
I'm too impatient to wait until June to post this celebratory blog, so there will be a separate "Blog Birthday" message then.
Today, I decided to spotlight some of my own personal favorites from the 200.
Sentimental (tie)
Four Weddings
She Never Existed Before: Mother's Day 2008
Nostalgic (3-way tie)
Happy Birthday to Me!
My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys
Age of Aquarius
Shortest
W00t!
Best (and only) Guest Posting
Fly on Your Heavy Feet
Most Popular
I'm Nobody! Who Are You?
Why Would You Want to Do This?
The Student Voice
Something of Value
Most Creative
The Bloggers
Best Images - Summer
Nature's Peace
Best Images - Autumn
In October
Most Deeply Felt
Stars were with me most of all
Thank you all for sharing this Journey with me.
“200” by xiaming
6 comments:
Thanks for all of the thoughtful posts!
Hi Diane,
Congrats on your 200th post!!
I wonder if the majority of districts will ever open the doors to the consumer driven Web 2.0 tools as we know them.
What are your thoughts on alternative options to deliver the 21st century tools to the students in districts like yours to meet your teaching goals?
District endorsed Web 2.0 services behind the firewall?
Congratulations on 200!
Thanks too for this lovely definition of a blog:
"an outlet for creative expression, a venue for professional reflection, and a connective conduit to people from around the globe"
I'll drink to that!
Joanna
Jackie,
You're quite welcome. Thank you for taking the time to read and comment.
Harold,
I find many of the students to be as conservative as the district, sometimes even more so! I'm not sure that school administrators will be able to find "acceptable" substitutes for the constantly-evolving Web 2.0
I still feel that the best protection for our children is cyber safety instruction. They are not learning it at home or on their own; we must educate our students or we leave them vulnerable.
Joanna,
At this point in the school year, I'll drink to almost anything!
diane
Congrats on your 200th post! I was happy to see that I had already read many of your favorites and I've only *known* you for a few months :-) As for your struggles with your technology hopes and dreams for your school, unfortunately you're among many.....here's to the end of the school year and other options!
Kate,
The joy and wonder of online interaction is how we can find kindred spirits we might never have encountered in "real life." Like you, of course.
That what I want to share with our staff and students: the endless possibilities of connectedness.
diane
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