Reflection

KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON

vs

NOW PANIC AND FREAK OUT

This is a photo of my son, Christian, at work with CB2 in Chicago. The carpet that greets patrons to the store is from WWII propaganda offered up by Great Britain to help citizens with the stress that was prevalent during this time in history. His shirt is the antithesis to that message. The crown at the top of the shirt is even upsidedown to represent this. The question I am asking myself in my reflection of the read/write web and my venturing into it is the same; do I keep calm and carry on, or is this the time to panic and freak out?

I had the privilege to visit many sites this week that were posted to assist teachers with their practice of the teaching of writing. Two sites that I chose to respond to were "Two Writing Teachers" at http://twowritingteachers.wordpress.com/ and "Raising Readers and Writers" at http://raisingreadersandwriters.com/. A wealth of support was offered at both these sites. One, from "Two Writing Teachers" lead me to a new resource; Troy Hick's, The Digital Writing Workshop, which I immediately ordered through the Amazon link embedded in the blog posting.

I will continue to visit these blogs for further assistance and links to other information that will aid me in my own learning and in providing valuable resources for teachers.

On the receiving end...it was wonderful to have my very first post to my very first blog from my daughter, Erica. She, being a writer herself, understands the importance of teaching it. I was also encouraged by my web-classmates' postings. I respect their perspectives as teachers who are currently practicing their craft. Through this experience, I am beginning to understand just how much I have yet to learn - that's where the panic comes from.

The calmness comes from knowing that I am further along than I was just a week ago in terms of my journey with the integration of technology (21st Century Skills) and the teaching of writing. In this sense, I am going to "carry on" with my learning.

I am truly becoming less and less afraid of what I don't know and more and more excited to learn. What a blessing!