I am one with the blog and the blog is with me!

Before I chose which blog platform I was going to use, I decided to go ahead and conduct some research on the variety of blogging platforms. Naturally, I conducted a search for blogs that focused on topics that interest me. This meant that I went to a lot of Star Wars and Marvel blogs. When I say a lot, I mean a lot! My favorite Star Wars themed blog was https://starwarsaficionado.blogspot.com/. This blog had a lot of great information including fan theories and movie trailers. I also really liked the structure and format of the blog because it was easy to get around. I also enjoyed the http://originalmarveluniverse.blogspot.com/ blog as well. I enjoyed this blog because of the information as well as how it was organized. After visiting many of these blogs, I decided to use Blogger as the platform for my blog because of the aesthetic qualities and ease of use. 

After visiting many of these blogs I came to the conclusion that no matter what topic or theme the blog is based on, there is a vast amount of reading and writing within each blog. Although you may go to a Star Wars themed blog, you will practice reading because most of the information takes form in written words. This is great because we are forced to read when visiting these blogs which is awesome considering that we are living in an age focused on video based information. I think that one thing that helps with all of this is the fact that we have all become information hunters or informavores (thanks Frank Schirrmacher). We love to seek and find information via the web or social media platforms. I believe that this is a major reason my blogging has been such a great tool because it allows informavores to find and post the information they have acquired to a platform that other informavores can access. 

As far as concerns regarding blogging I would say that it is important to remember to be cognizant of the intended use of blogs. Not all have creditable information and some are very biased. I think if you understand that and use it as guide to possible legitimate sources or as a tool to get students to read and write, they can be fantastic tools. I have used blogs with my students in the past and they seem to enjoy them very much because they get to voice their opinions as well as read about how other individuals view the world. 

I also believe that blogs can be a great way to relay routines, lessons, and assessments to your students. I have also used as an assessment tool when working on analytical writing with my students specifically when working on primary source readings. It is so easy to post an interview or diary excerpt on our class blog and have students respond to it by utilizing their critical thinking skills. It is so much fun to read their posts and comments and see how their brains are working. I LOVE BLOGS!