Thing 1: Blogging

There's nothing like ruining a fresh blank page with smears of ink across the page.  There's anxiety of how the words will sound, fears of ruining the pristine white with something less than perfect.

That's where we are now, in an adventure of expression and learning.  It's a part of why I love education and teaching; embracing uncertainty, taking risks, and finding the perfection in imperfection.

So: Who am I?

My name is Nate - I've been working in the Rochester City Schools for 10 years, most recently at East EPO.  I've taught English for 7.5 of those 10 years; the other years have been spend with data analysis, data coaching, and assessment coordination.

I'm taking part in this program for the same reason I do anything: challenge and exploration of ideas.  I enjoy experimentation and sharing those experiments.  I've been drawn to technology for many years for that reason.

I spent my time during this lesson exploring some of the alternatives for blogging.  It's a resource I have used with my own students as a part of being a model technology classroom for two years, and I've enjoyed seeing the medium evolve.  I absolutely see the value in using blogs to empower scholars to be more than just consumers of media, but producers as well.  I decided to go with blogger because of familiarity and integration with my google credentials.  I would probably go with Weebly for the classroom because of the ability to integrate student accounts under an administrative account (and I like the modular approach).

Like Paul stated in his blog, there are a lot of opportunities for interaction, expression, and authenticity using this medium.  I am looking forward to exploring this as I start looking at all these "Cool Tools!"