"Life In The 21st Century"

What I love about blogs (and bloggers) are that they have a very "take it or leave it" attitude once that posting is final. I will admit though, that much thought goes into what's being put out there on the web. I also know and respect the fact that from what I have read, it appears that every post is very carefully composed and reviewed. It's like a never ending "newsroom edit" session.

So with educators, we are sharing with the world who we are as people; as well as our pedagogy toward learning and curriculum. In earlier times you couldn't show that human side of who you were. It was always "well this is the way it's been done." You also were advised to put on that stern face from September to December so that the students NEVER, EVER, saw you smile. What? A teacher smile? Ghastly...that advice always bugged me when I started teaching. So my hopes are that blogs will change that; so what if a student sees a smile before December? I would burst. I include the following quotes and links on what I think are making blogs a human exchange and not just a passing fad for the 21st. century visionaries. The Blogger.

Head of School, Dr. Lewis (new blogger) today writes...
"It is wonderful to be in a classroom. It gets me out of the office and away from my e-mail, voice mail and grumbling parents, teachers and staff. It helps me truly understand why I am doing what I like to do: educate children and be a major influence in their lives before they go off to college."

The Joi of blogging by H. AMIR KHALID
"Blogging is also much more interactive than maintaining a website, he says. Essentially it is an ongoing conversation between the blogger and his or her readers. You can spark off a discussion, or reach out to an audience, whether it’s just family and friends or the world at large. "

Blogging blossoms in British election -Reuters
"The blogs range from discussions on tactical voting to simple rants about politicians only being interested in themselves
Bloggers are split broadly into two camps--those taking themselves seriously and those poking fun at the whole process."

Blogs have liberated: the educator, the journalist, the philosopher, the students, the voter, me... but most importantly, the people. There are even PhotoBloggers...

Photoblogs Photo blogs capture slices of everyday life Alex L. Goldfayn
"Photo blogs are the evolutionary offspring of text-only Web logs, or blogs, where anybody can write anything for posting on the Internet. Photo blogs let users post photographs and diary-like descriptions."

Blogs are freeing our minds from the thoughts, of the "AHAAA" moments that were once, just discussed in the faculty room. Now you can literally "think outside the box" online.
Bloggers have very logically taken a stance on NOT waiting for "the papers" or "the journals" to come off the presses before reality strikes. Teachers, Librarians, Writers are all (very rapidly) becoming purveyors of information. It's just that teachers live it and don't always consider themselves the "experts" outside of their own domain.

Just think of all of those teachers we had when we were growing up. Whether they were good, bad or indifferent, if they had blogs, we would have more today. Certain things would probably make sense, like "why is this teacher always frowning?" You can't just be a teacher and forget the human interaction. That one day of instruction will live on in the life of your student forever. Our profession provides the human side to something that was once forbidden