Blogging Around

I read Marika's blog about how much she liked blogging this year, as the free writing let her self-express, despite having it as an assignment.

"I think it's nice that you found a form of self-expression through blogs. It seems like your thinking really benefited by having this forum. Do you think you will continue blogging without it as homework?"

Kyle talked about how blogging has helped open his mind, and led him to start his own blog, which he thinks lets him be comparatively more creative and individual, as opposed to narrow prompts.

"Kyle,
To start, I'm pretty impressed you have a personal blog getting 60 hits a week? Are they all people you know?

It's interesting me that you don't really few this as a blog. Blogs seem to be about whatever you want them to be about. After all, most journalists syndicated and staffed now write blogs supplemental to their columns and/or reports. Seems like they have dictated scopes on what to write about.

If that doesn't convince you of some merit of having a prompt, defer to your opening paragraphs- this helped you think about things you wouldn't normally consider, which probably helps your thinking process and can't be arrived at without some external challenge.

At least you get the best of both worlds.

Mitch"

Albert made funny comments on how to finish his short story, reflecting on the feeling of futility accompanying the process.

"Albert,I think your musings on how to write your short story are both hilarious and also serve to shed light on how difficult the writinhg process can be. It's nice that in the face of such adversity you still retain humor."

Metacognition: Blogging

Blogging this year has been interesting. I usually enjoy going through the thought/writing process, even though it sometimes has felt forced and tedious. Reflecting and thinking about what we've learned in class outside probably has helped me internalized some of the information better, although on occasion the given prompt has been in the wrong direction given the project at hand. When I've gone to start writing my blogs, I've found that the first 2-3 paragraphs that fall out of my head suit the purpose, but it would be nice to have to rustle around the attic if not for a little longer than in a different place. This may have to do with the way I approach the prompts; a duty or a conversation starter. I feel like too often, despite the best intentions this homework assignment has seemed like the former, and I don't think it has to. Giving prompts similar to the "do you mind" questions we've been faced with in class, or even reverting to the prompt "answer a do you mind question" would let students focus on a subject that currently piques their interest. To keep it centered on the curriculum, the assignment itself could say connect the answer/insight arrived at from answering the do you mind question to X aspect (project or discussion) of class. I was pleasantly surprised by the utility of blogging, and I think going through a similar process mentally for more of my other classes should be useful in the future.

Blogs seem like they should be written when the blogger has something to blog about. Unless you used to be called journalist.

Best of Week: Michael K as Moses

Although this entry may seem self-serving, as I thought of the idea I'd like to share, I only bring up Michael K as Moses because it is somewhat fresh in my mind as I didn't have the chance to talk about it in class.

When Moses was a small boy in Pharaoh's court, as the Midrash tells us, in order to test his viability as a rival to the King, Moses was presenting with a crown containing hot coals, and a crown without coals. Moses, being a smart child, went for the non-coal-crown, but, wanting to give Moses a chance at getting to the burning bush, an angel changed his hand at the last second, causing Moses to burn his hand on the crown, instinctively touch his mouth to cool it, and give himself a permanent lisp.

Like Michael K, Moses was unable to effectively communicate with people. We already discussed other parallels between the two in class, but the most important difference is that Moses had Aaron to talk to the people, completing his narrative/role, and making him a great leader.

This makes me think about the importance of being able to communicate with people, and that you can be god's own son, but if people don't want to listen it doesn't matter what you have to say. I'll strive to communicate well with people in life, but understand that it might be a mater off chance whether or not I get an "Aaron." (Or if i deserve one for that matter) Better yet, I could be someone else's Aaron.

Carry it Forward: Compassionate Imagining

Compassionate imagining seems like something that will have a great impact on my life. Compassionate imagining is the notion of projecting your compassion onto another thing, person, or yourself and imagining a circumstance that would alleviate the concern of that compassion.
It's valuable to me more as a way of understanding how people think than it is as a tool for life, since I do or don't do it subconsciously regardless. However, understanding that people like to compassionately imagine, or understanding people's or my own thoughts in that context greatly enhances my ability to contextually and comprehend the reasons for people's thoughts, the roots of them, and how to deal with/handle/understand them. For instance, instead of scoffing at someone's empathy for an only slightly misfortuned person or thing, I can instead appreciate that it is only their own misfortune they are trying to alleviate.