Reflections

So I already appreciate the reflective nature of blogging. Since my last post--how many minutes ago?--I have been thinking about my post and how my goals and ideas for this project seem a bit more formalized because I put my thoughts into writing. In addition, I can't stop the mental debate I am waging over public vs private--a new complexity I hadn't pondered until it popped into my head as I blogged.

Another beneficial aspect of the blog: I am writing with a sense of audience. To me, my audience is Jessica. I know she will read these posts, and I hope to communicate my thoughts so she can respond and we can build toward a stronger paper. So I am already digging the idea of using blogs in my classes because students could possibly comprehend audience on a deeper level.

Oh...and as a teacher who assigns collaborative writing assignments, I think a blog could help mediate the issues of students with different schedules and/or students who don't live close to each other. This situation is germane to my partnership with Jessica. I wanted to travel home this weekend, but I felt as if I would be "abandoning" Jessica just as we began this project. Her response: "We can use the blog." Awesome. While I did remain on campus this weekend, I see this blog as a crucial component for the advancement of our research project. Plus, if so inclined, Dr. Pagnucci could peek in on our progress to offer input or to watch over the amount of work the two of us are doing--which would also benefit my teaching because collaborative assignments always run the risk of certain students "doing all the work."

On another level, I felt compelled to respond to Jessica's blogs. I want to carry my weight in this project and her initial posts caused me to ponder her statements and motivated me to offer my own. I trust this trend of mutual prodding will continue, which will make the two of us more productive as well as more insightful during this process of researching and blogging about, well, blogging.