Thing #4

I have stepped into the blogosphere clearly ignorant of the size and scope of the blogging community. I joined a blog site some time ago called thoughts.com and simply posted a few comments I thought would be cleaver. However, the idea of doing that sort of thing grew tiresome and was short lived.

Honestly, I believe in the short-run creating the blog and all of the ancillary items necessary to be successful in this class will be intimidating but is necessary to become proficient. As I have made completely clear before in past comments, linking all of this in my mind’s eye is a tough enterprise especially since I am versed in PC more so than Mac. Nevertheless, frequent use will likely make me a believer in the viability of the social and professional blogging scene.

Coolcat, Blue Skunk, Drapes, and ProBlogger are all obvious seasoned, proficient bloggers who share their knowledge with passion and purpose. The ultimate goal of all of them, I believe, is to assist in the development of the blogosphere into a respectful community of informed people who wish to share their knowledge and ideas to better humanity.

I have many interests and see the internet as a rapid path to keeping up-to-date on relevant issues in one of my chosen obsessions. My first career was in aviation and I still have a desire to stay abreast of the current issues that shape the future of general aviation. I chose a blog called “All Things Aviation” because it is written well and laid out simply so that even novices can quickly link to the subject of interest.

I have also begun to follow a “Social Studies and History Teachers” blog because that will be within the purview of my career as a teacher. This blog is well written and has copious amounts of content with which to pad my own lessons should I get my own classroom. There are links to resources for video clips and other multimedia sources that are surely valuable to any teacher, new or veteran.

I chose Janelle Ferrier’s blog to follow simply because she was the first, and as of 1/29/12, the only one to actually comment on my blog. She is obviously sharp when it comes to blogging. Her site is attractive and inviting with content that is relevant to the discussion. Additionally, Janelle seems to be moving right along at a fast pace to complete the “23 Things” which makes me believe that, perhaps, I might learn something from her obvious proficiency.

Next, I selected Erica Paredez’s blog because she sits to my right in class and seems to know what is going on, so if I follow her blog and post nice things perhaps she will be more inclined to assist me when I am in a quandary. Additionally, her blog is nicely laid out and inviting to the reader.

The third person I chose to follow is Grant Brashears because I know him from a prior class and believe he is going to be as interesting in blogging as he is during classroom discussion. His wallpaper on his blog page interested me as I enjoy antiquities and the sort of aesthetics his chosen space offers.

My forth choice to follow is Caitlin Ladd. She was very forthcoming about her former experience with blogging and stipulating that she found it difficult to keep it going. I empathize with that sentiment as I too have had that experience.

Lastly, I chose to follow Kara Wyatt due to her honest feelings about the difficulty in the proposition of using technology as a learning tool. Her trepidation is certainly shared by others in the class who are a victim of the “frustrations” involved in navigating through the technological jungle.