I'm really not much for reading blogs. Other than my few friends who write blogs, I rarely search the Internet for blogs to read or follow. So of course, I rarely comment on anything online. Most of the time, I only see troll like comments that make me want to scream anyway, or they are just one word comments like "yea" or "good point", so this assignment took me out of my comfort zone as a infrequent blog viewer and even more infrequent commentator.
Good meaningful comments can greatly increase the dialogue started by the blog poster. They can allow the blogger to hear other points, or add validation to their original post. I think the two points from the assigned reading that were the most beneficial to me were to leave a meaningful comment and to not be afraid to leave a comment. As I previously said, I never like reading blogs where people only put irreverent one-word comments or ridiculous comments that were totally rude and so far off base that they took the post on a completely different path. I wasn't ever scared to leave a comment per se, but I've just never been in the habit of commenting.
I did comment on the following blogs for the assignment:
CoolSchoolMcCoy -Thing #3
Saragusa- #3
Crane #1
FrankE #3
Cleanup Thoughts #3
I commented on these blogs because we shared similar viewpoints and they had additional ideas to compliment my own blog posts. I made a point to make a meaningful post and let them know what and why I enjoyed about their post.
Outside of of our class I found blogs of two middle school teachers that I found interesting.
http://middle-school-teacher.blogspot.com/2012/08/no-longer-middle-school-teacher.html
http://www.makingitteacher.com/search/label/Social%20Studies
Middle school teacher's blog talked about the change in enthusiasm from 3rd to 6th grade students. As someone who wants to teach middle school, I have heard this from many educators so I was interested to hear her thoughts.
Making it as a Middle School Teacher's Blog was extremely interesting. Her post on incorporating math into science and social studies lined up directly with the other class I am taking this semester. It was great to read that a teacher has been able to do this and have success with it.
I too have wondered about the purpose of one word comments, or giving something a '+1'. While it shows "where you stand" towards the post, it doesn't do anything to improve the discussion. I also liked your point about not being afraid to comment. I made a similar point on my blog - it may not be fear of commenting, but rather reluctance because I've always read and never commented so why change it up?
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