23 Mobile Things: 1. Blogging & Registering

Hey friends.

Ok, so a group of colleagues and I are doing this 23 Things thing. It's a thing.

I'm on the fence about the idea -- I'm not hyper keen on all the direction to my exploration, but then again, sometimes a little direction drives you to something you wouldn't have discovered on your own. So here goes. It's always fun to learn collectively, right? And I'm sure by about number 7, I'll have had all sorts of revelations that made this endeavor valuable.

The way it works is each of the 23 Things has an objective...something to explore or learn about, and then reflect on or share through a blog post. Let's be honest. I don't intend on following each objective/reflection to a T, but I do intend to fulfill each objective in a manner and blog post that makes the most sense for my purposes. What can I say? Honey Badger don't care.

So, let's get started! The first Thing* is to create a blog. Ummmmm....NAILED IT.

(*I'm not actually 'registering' as I'm not eligible. I am, in fact, doing this just for the fun of it)

Speaking of blogging...
[Insert tangentially related anecdote to spice up this otherwise straightforward blog post]

As I took a peak at the The first Thing, it reminded me of the first time I had my students create blogs, which by my ever failing memory, was about 7 years ago. I laugh now because I wasn't equipped with the pedagogical tools to make the most meaning of it. You see:

....The first time I had my kids create blogs, I had them write about anything. It was probably valuable for them, but contrived in its context to our class.

...The next time I had my kids create blogs, I swung the pendulum far the other direction, and had kids blog only about content that directly correlated to our class. It was contrived in its use of a personal writing forum to write about things for which one is not personally connected.

...Fast forward a few more years of refinement, and by the last year I had my students create blogs, I had them write about anything so long as it was thoughtful, reflective and meaningful. I then asked them to find connections between those posts and the work we were designing in class. Their blog posts and reflections were a starting off point for sharing with me why and how they would adapt the curriculum to their interests and motivations.

Take from that what you will. That said, for me, realizing that thing was well worth at least 23 Things or more.