Blogs, Diaries and Time Machines

When I started my first blog on LiveJournal.ru I should never have thought that it would turn into something huge (and I don't mean huge mammoths or large pandas on junk food). Well, It actually hasn't turned into anything out-of-the-way, yet it HAS provided me with a good deal of new experience and knowledge that eventually turned to be helpful in both taking up a new hobby and teaching.

But let's start from the very beginning!

Some people (let's take my grandmother, for instance! Oh, what lovely honey cakes she bakes!) might well be unaware of what on Earth the word "blog" means. Believe it or not, but blogs are everywhere! I'll try and prove it now.

Just imagine that your good neighbour has recently created a time machine! "Woohoo", you think, "now that it's been created, I can go to the future to check if I get wrinkled in 30 years without applying to plastic surgery". But take it easy, my friend, we are to travel to the past, not the future, because it was long, long ago that "forefathers of blogs" were run by people. These blogs were known as "diaries".

Yes, that's exactly what a blog is in general understanding of the term. The only thing that differs a blog from a diary is that the latter one is made for others read it on the Web, whilst the first one is written to be never revealed out of the locked drawer in your bed table.

But how does blogging correlate with teaching a language? Oh, there's a great connection in between.

First of all, blogs are being run all over the Globe by people of all races and nationalities, of various views and interests. So, there's always a possibility you can once pop into a wonderful blog of some English-Speaking person on the topic you (or your students) are extremely interested in!

Secondy, blogging or at least reading blogs is much fun for both the reader and the writer, since some (not all..) bloggers appear to be talented writers, gifted interactors or, at least, nice people to say an akwardly cute "Hey there!" to.

And the third reason is that when a teacher starts blogging for whatever reasons or purposes one follows, he or she reveals his/her personality which is always good for a teacher (we love revealing... I mean.. "boasting" of our knowledge to pupils, right?)

I am not to dwell on the subject of blogging right now, for am planning to post an article of major pros and cons of blogging for teaching purposes a bit later.

What I like in blogging is communication, feedback and self-development (you always have to check your articles more or less properly before posting them on the blog you're running (the same could be said about students, for your blog could be run by them, too) - you don't want your students to find more mistakes in your posts than are made by them in their essays, do you?).

If this post left you even more puzzled than you were beforehand, do not hesistate to ask any question disturbing you! I'd be eager to answer any of them!

Yours,

The Wee Teacher

Picture taken from: tommykovac.blogspot.com