lets get PERSONAL.

Mayra Lozano

"I Don't Really Want to Go into Personal Things in This Blog": Risking Connection through Blogging, by Carlton Clark, Professor, in Collin County Community College. Out of all the blogs/passages this of course is my favorite. I myself am not a huge fan of blogging or its addictive way of life so I could not relate to most of these passages. My first time blogging academically was just a week ago and for me it was quite an awkward experience. Blogging has its pros and cons which are debatable. Like Carlton Clark had mention the good thing about blogging is that if allows the student to share emotions without having all the attention drawn on him/her giving him/her and anxiety attack to speak in front of the class. “I don't want my students to feel intimidated. The reason the average student doesn't speak in class is because they don't feel safe; they are afraid of being judged”- Clark. I think it’s a double bladed knife because yes it’s a good way of self expression for those who are too scared or shy, but speaking in front of the class is something that all students are going to have to overcome sometime in their academic career. Speaking in front of their class is good way to exercise speech skills and gain more confidence in speaking publicly which is a great asset. Another reason why I like this blog more than the other is because of all the effort and trust Clark wants to put in with his students. “I can establish a dialogue or sense of trust, which I would expect to carry over into the classroom” – Clark. I really love when teacher make you feel almost at home when walking into their classroom. That vibe just allows you let loose and share more, while also having another reason to actually go to class and enjoy it. And the final and most important reason was that Clark did make blogging an academic thing, and he did have blog assignments, but he’s not being terribly judgmental on what is to be blogged and how. As long as he sees participants and print outs he’s satisfied. “I require that students print out their blogs for me once a week. Not only is it impossible to monitor everything my students write on their blogs, I do not even want to take on this role. The point of the blogging lab work is for my students to write, for themselves and real readers, not to write for a grade. My hope is that the blogging will become self-motivating. As readers respond to their blogs, my students may feel like blogging more” –Clark. He understands is that the whole point of blogging is to share expression without restrictions. And grading horribly hard would change ideas, opinions, and emotions that could possibly arise in a blog or blog comment.