As I look back on a semester of blogging, here is a list of awards I have given to my own individual posts.
The winner of my “most professional post” goes to my writing coach profile from blog post #2. The writing coach profile was presented as a post that our writing students and their teachers would be viewing, which I felt added an extra need for “professionalism.” The format wasn’t too difficult as the post was about myself, but I definitely tailored the post for a specific audience. Knowing that the post would be viewed by students in some ways limited how I might have expressed/introduced myself otherwise. Not that that is necessarily a bad thing; as it is important to know your audience and to practice restraint some times, especially in more formal or professional settings.
The post I think displays the most multimodal play would be Blog Post #3- discussing my own writing process. The reason I chose this post is because it made the most use of different texts: from the opening and closing images of Nick Miller, the Spotify and Youtube links, and the quotes from the Spandel reading, this post made the most of different mediums and types of text. While the structure of my post didn’t change, the willingness to provide external sources was much more apparent, and I think providing various resources and types of resources if incredibly important.
My choice for my most creative post comes from Blog Post #7 in which I created my own mini multimodal ad for Carl Hiaasen’s Flush. The reason I chose this post is because I thought the process of creating the ad was a great example of play, experimentation, and creativity as essential parts of the learning process. If not for this posts requirement for multimodal creativity, I would not have felt the need to try a new program like Canva, nor realized the value it provides as an educator and creator. I think this post and assignment opened up new opportunities to embrace and encourage creativity, not only for my students, but in my own learning and creative process.
For the last award, the post I think was the most rooted in civic engagement came from Blog Post #4 and discussing my own experiences with digital storytelling and multimodal composition. The post focuses on zines as a way to not only encourage students to express their own thoughts creatively, but also acknowledges and amplifies those works done by others in predominantly marginalized communities. The focus on accessibility and ease of production/distribution emphasizes the power of such a simple form. I think at the heart of the post is the belief that no matter the form, it’s important to find ways that are accessible for students to express themselves how they see fit.
Final Thoughts
As I look back on the semester and the blogging community we have created, I am reminded that we are all unique individuals with our own perspectives, from which we can all learn a thing or two. Giving students space to express themselves freely and providing opportunities to share in their thoughts, interests, and related texts facilitates critical thought and perspective in ways traditional teaching cannot. These blogs reminded me that we are all in this together, free to be ourselves, constantly learning and growing as we go. Finally, a nomination for the peoples choice blog feels unfair considering I can’t honestly say I spent the same amount of time reading everyones work, as I admit there are a few sites I hadn’t made it to before this post. So instead here are a few I can think of that stood out to me for various reasons;
Collin– The structure and layout of his blog makes it so each post can be read on one page which I thought lent itself well to identifying his voice and growth throughout the entirety of the process.
Fatima, Eli, Melanie, and Kayla– All had very engaging and inviting writing styles that felt equal parts efficient and authentic.
P.K. and Jordan– Both wrote in ways that felt vulnerable and honest in ways that I felt were valuable to my own learning.
Jayme and Mackenzie– Felt very polished and professional in an encouraging way- like “mentor text” blog sites.
Check Your Tone 
I appreciate the shoutout 🙂
I can tell you took the time to read many blogs, which I did not end up doing. Thanks for supporting the community!
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