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About Blogging

Blogging is diversity and sharing.
This is a photograph that was taken from the net and that was used in a presentation by Margarete Oliviera and I in the CTJ seminar this year. It exemplifies diversity of peoples, cultures, ways of thinking and at the same time, united in a circle.
I think this is what we have gone through these two weeks. The last one with the millions of options of different sites and possible activities with all the tools we can find available.
This week brought us the possibilities with blogs; blogs as a form of self-manifestation, an opening your heart to the world, not only to your best friends. Mary Hillis has shown us in her flowgram the fantastic possibility of getting responses from all over the world to such personal topics as "my favorite sweet". Who would have imagined of sharing ones tastes with anybody but  family or at most a best friend. Now here we are, sharing this with people living in Japan or Czecholosvakia for all we know. And at the same time discovering what a vast diversity this world of cultures has to offer us to open our eyes.

Comments (9)

Oct 06, 2008
Dennis Oliver said...
Hi, Patrícia.

What a wonderful post! I related very well to what you said, and I loved the beautiful graphic that you included! (A picture is definitely worth more than a thousand words, isn't it?)

I wish I'd been able to attend the CTJ seminar that you and Margarete Oliviera did earlier this year. Is anything from the seminar online? (I spent some time searching for it at the Thomas website, but I couldn't find anything. Maybe, however, I just didn't know where to look.)

I especially "resonated" with your statement that blogs are "...a form of self-manifestation, an opening of your heart to the world, not only to your best friends," particularly "an opening of your heart to the world." I've seen this happen again and again. One blog that I created for Carlinha's birthday had comments from friends in at least 18 countries!

Best wishes, Patrícia, as you continue your online adventures!

Dennis in Phoenix

Oct 06, 2008
Mary Hillis said...
Dear Patricia,
It is an amazing feeling to find the world outside the classroom opening up to students. They were so amazed to make connections with people in so many different countries and to be able to make contact with other cultures. Conducting international collaborative projects, no matter how small, is one of the most fun and rewarding aspects of blogging! I am so glad that you enjoyed the Flowgram presentation http://www.flowgram.com/p/qszskyjgzcnfef

Dennis and Carla have collaborated through several blogs and probably have some wonderful examples to share.

Kudos on a great blog post with just the most beautiful photo! Looking forward to hearing more about your blogging journey ;)

Hugs,
Mary Hillis
http://maryhillis.blogspot.com

Oct 06, 2008
Carla Arena said...
Dear Patrícia,

You, as many others here, have just a natural blogging talent, and I'm so glad to realize that you truly see potential to more understanding and cultural awareness through blogging. I'm sure you'll find ways to make blogging a collaborative endeavor in your 21st classroom.

Oct 07, 2008
Carlita my dearest,
Thanks for your comments! You know that having them is extremely motivating, so you are doing a perfect job as our on-line tutor! I am sure that with your help we can get anywhere!

Oct 08, 2008
Carla Arena said...
I guess that with the help of everybody in this GROUP we can get anywhere, Pat! It's all about us being inspired by others who are around us.
Oct 09, 2008
Gilmar said...
Hi Patrícia...
I'm "glad" I've had the chance to go through your blog because a VIP student of mine did not show up. I loved your comments and the picture is really amazing. That's certainly the idea of blogging and the funny thing is we come to realise we are really connected. I've just posted something about it in my post and then I decided to add a song as well called "Circle". So when I was reading your comments and I came to the point "It exemplifies diversity of peoples, cultures, ways of thinking and at the same time, united in a circle" I thought "Hey - that's really connection!"
Oct 11, 2008
Dear Pat,
This opening of hearts, sharing of tastes, "discovering what a vast diversity this world of cultures has to offer us to open our eyes" serves also to heighten awareness towards common problems and needs, and maybe even offer a chance to feel part of something bigger which could actually make a difference. A comment on Sandra's posterous caught my attention as the author mentioned using the blog to see "students being challenged to think about real issues or interesting intellectual ideas" and becoming "more civic minded simply because we had a platform for publishing" (Garry Tan). Doesn't that strick a chord with what you and Margarete were saying on your seminar?
Oct 11, 2008
For sure! It does so!! Thank you for calling my attention to that!

Oct 12, 2008
Hi Patricia,
First, thanks for your comments... Well, this idea of expressing our opinions and let our voices be heard without knowing who's out there is magic! We can share materials, beliefs, ideas with people we never met... and that's so rewarding....
Now, I'm into a blog (http://byebyebasic.blogspot.com)I've just created to my Saturday group... I think this is really going to be a challenge, especially to me! I have to find ways to motivate my students and make them feel comfortable to express themselves! And you're right: I might be doing much more learning than my students! And that's what motivates me in this course: it's always good to learn new things and be open to a whole new world of discoveries and challenges!

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