Entry 5

Dear Dr. Jones,

Now that we are in week 6/7 of the semester, I feel I am starting to fully grasp some of the key ideas and concepts.  I am starting to consider the strong connection between reading and writing, as well as, what and how these processes work in digital form.  I am getting inspired by the ways teachers are using technology in their classrooms.  I am also learning specific, purposeful ways to incorporate technology into a classroom.

To begin, I am gaining a great deal from writing this blog.  As you know, my last experience with blogging was less than what it could be.  Perhaps the vocabulary blog from last semester did not extend my thinking because there was not a conversation.  I think if we were to comment on others' words, it might have solidified our thinking.  Anyway, the format of this blog, essentially mini essays, has allowed me to think more deeply about the readings and my own reactions to the readings.  I find that even while I read I stop and think about ideas that I agree with or find puzzling.  In part, I stop to think about what I may write for the blogs, but its turned into a habit of thinking.  Interestingly, as an undergrad I used to stop and think consistantly and constantly while I read.  I enjoyed my readings much more because I was actively engaged in the texts.  I think somewhere between graduating and the pressures of graduate level courses, I forgot some of my own reading strategies.  This blog has helped me gain them back.

The act of writing about my thinking from the readings has also helped me understand the concepts we are learning.  I am making more connections between texts and the world.  I feel more connected just participating in a new media (Hicks, 2009).

Looking back at my first two entries compared to my third and fourth, there is a noticable difference in how I approach the reading content.  At first, I rellied heavily on the reading alone, discussing each text.  My last couple of entries include questions that I feel passionate about.  Blogging as our response method to the readngs has given me more flexibility in what I present to you, the teacher.  If we were asked to write a three page reflection to hand in, I would likely write about each text and make sure to state key points of each text.  This blog has allowed me to allow myself to question the world based on the texts we read.  This in itself is refreshing and reinvigorating.  With my new found questioning, I find a stronger voice, especially in the teaching field.  As you know, I do not currently teach, which leaves me feeling less confident in my assertions.  This blog offers me the public space understand my own thinking.

To answer the question of how often I think when I write, I say more than I used to.  Of course we are always thinking, but the deep, actively engaged kind of thinking is what I assume the question is referring to.  Certainly the amount the thinking changes based on each task.  For instance, while writing in my personal journal I am thinking at least ninety percent of the time.  The other ten percent is my metacognitive awareness of being consice and sense of story.  For academic purposes, I would say I might think less simply because I tend to over rely on texts.  I am however starting to shift my thinking and allow myself to pause and ponder what I actually read.