Thing 4

Can anybody hear me? Does anybody care?

Those are two questions that went through my mind when I learned I would be creating and maintaining a blog for this course. The answer to those questions came with the first comment I received from a fellow classmate. Okay, so what if it was part of the assignment for “Thing four” and the person will receive a grade. It still served as validation. Out of a full class they chose one of my blogs to comment on.

Blog commenting is essential for creating and maintaining a sense of community. It promotes interaction between author and reader. Comments allow readers to become an active participant instead of a passive observer. Comments can help guide the writer, letting them know the topics that readers are most interested in. Also, interesting and purposeful comments can draw additional attention to your own blog.

For the assignment I commented on the following five people; Ashley Irwin, Christy Washington, Davie Wallace, Whitney Wise, and Kayla Kitchens.

Ashley’s “Thing 3” post caught my attention and was extremely relatable for me, which is why I chose to comment on it. I wanted to let her know that she was not the only person who enjoys writing but was anxious about sharing her ideas in a public venue.

Christy’s post for “Thing 2” grabbed my attention because she mentioned redoing her avatar to make it “more fun.” I had redone my avatar for the exact same reason.

I commented on Davey’s “Thing 4” post. I wanted to let her know that I appreciated her commenting on one of my blogs as part of her response to assignment 4. I read her reason behind choosing my blog to comment on and felt as though she might have misunderstood my original post. I wanted to let her know through my comment that even though I have relied on statistical facts in the past, I am very excited to interact and benefit from other people’s ideas and experiences through blogging.

Whitney Wise’s “Thing 3” post shared many of the same reasons and strategies that I had mentioned in my response to the activity. I also shared a personal experience that related to the topic.

I selected Kayla’s “Thing 2” to comment on. I have been fortunate enough to have Kayla’s assistance in setting up and navigating my blog. I wanted to tell her thank you for the help and confidence boost she has given me and to tell her that she needs to give herself more credit. She knows a lot more than she lets on.

 I selected http://cranberrycorner.blogspot.com/ as one of my blog sites outside of 3040 to follow and comment on. I am currently creating a unit plan for one of my other classes. I came across Cranberry Corner while researching activities to incorporate. I commented on a blog that detailed an ecosystem activity. I had seen the activity on other sites. However, this was the first time someone had listed a step-by-step guide, which I found useful.

The other blog I selected to follow and comment on is http://girlinflorence.com/ . I hope to relocate to Italy when finished with school. The blog covers a wide array of topics relating to the region. I commented on a post asking for more details and to praise some of the pictures she had taken.