Seth Guiñals-Kupperman

From High School Online Collaborative Writing

I'm a physics teacher living in a fantasy world in which students--if coaxed appropriately--will passionately engage the material and work in groups to solve problems, overcome misconceptions, bridge understandings and build group working skills all in the context of doing physics.

But we're not there. The first step on the long path of everyone doing science and loving it is experimenting with methodologies--trying out some things and seeing how they fit.

One piece central to this end is making student thinking visible. Where are the misconceptions? Where do the passions/interests lie? What methods do they fall back on to solve problems with and how reliably do they use new methods? (And how quickly do they pick them up?)

Blogging is the simplest way to make your thinking visible. This year I asked my students to keep physics journals, but next year I may change it t give us something more. Blogging for students gives them the chance to not only share their thoughts and questions with me, but with the whole class. The conversation need not end when our 43 minutes is up--it can continue on in cyberspace in our own little virtual community.

I am not a master blogger. I'm not even very internet savvy. But a workshop on blogging helps me get the opportunity and support necessary for me to walk the path as a learner I expect my students to walk months from now. Not only will I have the insight to answer questions, I'll have the experience of being exactly where they may find themselves to call back upon.