Module Two reading reflection

Return to Blog

            I used to blog when I was in high school, and my blog at high school is the idea of shoebox as mentioned in the reading “why I still blog.” Blogging at high school is like writing in a diary where I wrote about everything make me happy, sad or moved, such as getting a birthday gift from my parents, failing in a test, or having a fight with my best friend. I know it sounds boring for others to read, it is full of precious memory for me. Being attracted by the other social media such as Wechat, Webo and RenRen (RenRen is like Facebook, Webo is like Twitter, and Wechat is like Skype) and being busy with studies, I gradually stopped blogging. The place I used to blog seemed to be a forgotten corner. However, when I heard that I needed to create a blog for ENG 704, I was so surprised. I was excited at first because I believed I was familiar with the use of blogging. Later, I felt worried because I didn’t know what I need to say in my blog. After reading Why I Still Blog and Choosing a Blog Platform by Dr. Lanette Cadle, I am motivated to return to blog for three reasons:

            Blog can help me construct my identity. In “why I still blog”, it is said that blog gives a long, dimensional vision of the person behind the words, and this is the primary function of blogs. I have never realized that who I am in others’ eyes through a blog until I read this essay. As a graduate student of English major, I need to work out my own ideas focusing on research, and blog is the place where I can investigate my scholarly identity. A scholarly identity is constructed through developing ability to read and to write academic reflections contending with our own ideas. In “choosing a blog platform,” Dr. Cadle mentions that she hasn’t found anything better for reflection, for long thoughts than blog. Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ and Facebook can’t take the place of blog because each of them are only one facet of an intricate construction. Only blog is the place which offers us the considerable space for critical thinking, speculating and reflecting.

            Blog can supervise me to be responsible for my writing. As mentioned in “why I still blog”, blog has the feature of instant publishing. Bloggers become authors who should be responsible for their writings through a single click. If our writings are to be read and commented by the public, we will be more serious of writing. For example, when I heard that my first reading reflection might be commented by my classmates from ENG 704, I proofread it many times before I posted it in my blog. I benefit a lot through the process because I learn to revise my essays by myself.

            Except for those, blog is a useful tool for teachers. According to “why I still blog,” there are three Ps of blogging, and the third P is pedagogy. First of all, teachers can use blog to connect with their students. Through writing in a t blog, teachers and students can create an academic community, which help to shorten the distance between them. What’s more, even teachers are in the same department, they have different research focus. Blog provides teachers with a space where they can share and refer to each other’s research focus. Since I plan to be an English teacher, familiarizing myself of using blog in my study will be helpful for my teaching field with my students and colleagues in the future.

            There is only one thing I should avoid in returning to blog, which is not to treat blogging for academic use as a task. Treat blogging for classroom use as a journey, and blog whenever we want. Except for what my instructor requires me to post, I can also write down other reflections when I am inspired by academic research and share it with my instructor and classmates. Blog is an unlimited space for development, and how we treat it will influence how much we can benefit from it. I look forward to seeing what I can obtain from the returning.     

Works Cited:

Cadle, Lanette. “Choosing a Blog Platform.” Just a Blog. Personal blog, 7 Jan 2015. Web. Jan 2015.

Cadle, Lanette. “Why I still Blog.” Kairos: Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy. PraxisWiki, 5 Oct 2014. Web. Jan 2015.