Recently, I have scowered the internet in search of edublogs. Specifically, I was looking for blogs that I could use as resources as I continue to develop lessons and teaching strategies. I looked at a few blogs and commented on two, but there was one in particular worth mentioning. The was, of course, David Theune's blog (see my previous blog post for my opinion of Theune's teaching philosophy). I decided to check out his blog after hearing him speak in class and it was a great life decision!!
Theune's blog was full of amazing, innovative ideas. The great thing about Theune's blog, and his ideas in general, is that though he is an English teacher, his ideas are easily translated across disciplines. Indeed,most of his ideas pertain to teaching philosophy and tend to focus on student engagement, relevance, and purpose. The second greatest thing about Theune's blog was that he did not just present ideas in isolation. Indeed, Theune had practiced what he preached and then provided an analysis of what went well and what needed improvement. I found this helpful as I tried to envision how I might incorporate some of his ideas into my own planning.
I was so inspired by Theune's post that I worked up the courage to post my own response to one of his blog postings. I basically geeked out and rambled on about my love of Theune's ideas and in a final moment of extreme courage I recommended a book to him. Obviously my meager contribution to Theune's blog was vastly outshined by the supreme intellect present in Theune's own posts; and yet, Theune still responded to my comment (in an impressively quick amount of time). I am unsure why I was so surprised by this, probably because my comment likely did not warrant Theune's precious time, but I should have known from the evidence in the blog that Theune would take the time to reply to me. I was more excited about his reply than I should probably admit, but anyone who has read his blog or hear him speak woudl not fault me for this I am sure. Seriously, though, I challenge everyone to check out his blog, comment, and not feel that level of excitement and honor!!
Check out Theune's blog at this link: http://www.educationaltransformer.blogspot.com/
Dear Kim,
ReplyDeleteYou are hilarious! While I know David Theune is an amazing teacher and very experienced, he is not a celebrity, so I love how you look up to him like one. I wonder if one day you plan to create a blog. I ask this because someday someone may think this about you. The SMAC program is preparing us to be very effective teachers and I am positive that in the future you will be creating amazing engaging lesson plans yourself. So, if you start blogging about your lesson plans, then you too will have followers. I find the idea of this very funny, but really this is how life works. We were inspired by the teachers before us and we will inspire future teachers. It's the circle of inspiration.
Katie
Kim,
ReplyDeleteI love the level of enthusiasm you have expressed for David Theune's blog. After reading through Mr. Theune's blog, I think he brings up an extremely relevant point about making sure to document every thing that is happening within the classroom, craft it, and then make it so that the public is aware of it. While a big component of the MAC program is reflection, I really haven't thought of that within the public sense. I realize now the importance of sharing so that at the end of the day we can truly amplify and personalize student's learning experiences. This gives me hope for the future.
Thanks for sharing