When
sorting through the variety of Edublogs on the interwebs, I ended up choosing
to write about Ben Gilpin’s blog for a few different reasons. The first being
that his blog is very easy to navigate and sleek in that is very simple to look
at. Many of the blogs that I paroozed that won blogging awards or were followed
by thousands were overly flashy and had so many different links to other blogs
or twitter, pictures, and other visual stimulation that I could not concentrate
on its content. Another thing that caught my attention about this particular
blog was that a principal was behind it. Thus far from what I have seen in the
edublog realm has mostly been written and moderated by practicing school
teachers. Within each of his blog posts,
Ben writes on a pretty general education
topics and his writing often is sprinkled with very motivational concepts and
quotes. For example, one of his most recent blog posts he writes down a variety
of “what if” questions that ranged from what if “gifted students had the same
supports as struggling students” and then “what if people didn’t gossip,” so
his blog posts don’t strictly provide tips for teachers or discuss the
pedagogical practices that research has shown to be effective. Instead, Ben’s
personality shines through each post and his blog acts as place where he can
both reflect on some of his personal thoughts about education, give his
students, faculty, parents of students and community members a chance to get
know him and remind those involved with the school in which he is charge of a
glimpse of some of the current events and weekly schedule.
Overall
I found Ben’s blog to interesting in that he used it in a unique way that seems
often overlooked; many students and teachers do not get the chance to interact
with the school principal, even though his level of involvement effects how
both parents and students view the school and the education that occurs there. Ben’s
blog made me think about how I may use my blog as a means of making connections
with my school community. At the end of each of his posts, Ben shares links to
a videos that he has been into for that week. These videos encompass all of his
interests and many are put there because they are comical and brighten his day.
The videos that Ben post allow his readers to see how Ben thinks and brighten
the reader’s day as well. I like the idea of having a space both positive and
informative where people of the school community can be informed of what is
going on and of who has power when it comes to the education of students within
that community. I wrote a comment on Ben’s “What if..” post where I wrote “What
if all school principals had an accessible blog?” and described how awesome I
think his blog, and the idea of a principal having a blog is.
