Thing 4

I love to read cooking blogs. Whenever I can't think of something to make for dinner, off I go to my favorite blog.  I regularly read comments to see how different recipes worked out for people, but I never comment myself.  I have never even thought about commenting myself though.  Commenting is so important to the blogging process.  The various pieces about commenting reminded me how valuable commenting is.  Positive reinforcement helps encourage bloggers and comments can help guide a blogger in developing new ideas.  Commenting creates a sense of community.  A blog is not a private diary.  Rather, people read your posts and comment, fostering a deeper sense of togetherness.  For the purpose of this class, I have chosen to follow and comment on the following blogs: Alexa Aguilar, Catherine Ericson, Stephanie Freeman, Tonya Van Winkle, and Natasha Long.  Other blogs I want to follow this semester are The History Teacher's Attic (a blog for history teachers) and Speaking of History. Since I love history (and want to teach it) I hope these blogs will both help me learn something and become a better teacher.  My comments all try to identify with the comments and encourage the blogger.  I believe optimism is a great quality and encouragement goes a long way when someone takes the time to put their writing in a public sphere.