blogging on blogging on blogging

It has been a real treat for me reading your blog posts over the past week about the blogging assignment. Though I try to limit my participation in the blog to comments (and occasional announcements), this week I wanted to offer my own meta-post (meta-meta post!) on the topic.

This is my first semester fully integrating a blog into a class. I have used discussion board posts previously, and this blog space for posting reading questions, but never have I invited full and regular participation of the kind we have been doing this semester.

I adopted the blog this semester three reasons:

1. To provide a free and open space for the exploration of ideas and class materials guided by the course participants

2. To foster a stronger collaborative classroom community--one that encouraged learning from each other, and not just from the professor

3. To encourage the habit of writing in small pieces that build throughout the semester, rather than "binge writing" on midterms and long papers

Reading through your posts, and observing our class over the course of the semester so far, I am thrilled to see evidence that all three goals are being met.

#1: Several of you have noted that you enjoy the open-ended nature of the assignment, and how the blog allows for various interpretations and voices to emerge.  I was struck by this, too, in reading your reflections on your posts and seeing how various points of view and approaches to the material have emerged: posts focusing on language, character, performance, issues of power, gender, etc.  I was honestly surprised to see how many of you noted that this was not the kind of assignment you were used to writing, and I didn't realize just how specific we as English professors tend to shape your writing. This has been  one of the most rewarding aspects of the blog for me, as well, as I frequently find myself responding to posts that helped me to think about a passage, character, or issue with the plays in a new and exciting way.

#2: I loved seeing the comments from several people about how much they enjoy reading the blogs, the comments from others, and being exposed to other ideas in the class. Particularly for students who don't typically talk in class, a blog is a really marvelous space for bringing out everyone's voice. Brooke put it really poignantly, I thought, "It gives our thoughts somewhere to go instead of staying dormant in our minds." It's wonderful to see so many different ideas emerge in this blog.

Being a part of a community of learners is also great because it lets us know that we are all in it together. Lisa nicely pointed out, "I can see other students' confusion so I know I am not alone with being confused sometimes."

One of the great moments in the blog this semester, too, was Dom's post on divine right. I think this is a great example of how a medium like this one can be a tool for sharing ideas, research, and providing new insights for the class.

A few of mentioned that you would like to receive more comments on your posts, and this is one area that I would like to improve upon in the blog--getting everyone to regularly post and engage with each other in the comments section. I hope this is something that will improve as we finish the semester, because it makes this space vibrant and interesting to have everyone reading and contributing to the posts.

#3: The blog replaces a midterm exam, and I can't be more pleased with the results that I have seen. The posts are so much more developed, interesting, and productive than essays that are scratched out in a flurry of energy. Studies show, too, that we learn much better when we engage with material in a slow and steady way over a period of time, rather than try to cram it in in late night study sessions.

The posts also allow for early building of essay ideas. While the jury is still out on how this will play out, the proposals you sent to me last week (I'll be contacting you all about these this week) show that the blog has really helped to generate some great ideas for final paper topics. As Pete mentioned in his blog, this kind of writing promotes "incomplete" writing, but incomplete writing of the best kind--writing that helps to generate further ideas and exploration of our materials.

There have also been some really wonderful results from the blog that I did not anticipate. As many of you noted, being responsible for writing something on the reading assignment makes your reading much more focused and effective.

I am also pleased to see how many of you have noted that writing the blog posts is helping you to better understand the material and develop your writing. Writing is the best way to compose and develop our ideas. Too often we think of writing as the end product, but writing is really about exploring and helping us to figure out what it is that we want to say about the plays. This has had a great effect on our class time together, as we have had some of the best conversation I have had in any Shakespeare class that I have taught.

 So, this is all to say that I have enjoyed reading and engaging with your posts and that I hope we keep up the good work until the end of the term!