[Edit: if anyone can help me properly use footnotes, I’d be much obliged! Thanks!]
Ok, so we’re on what, Day 10? And I am still thinking about Day 7.
Here’s the thing: I’ve been falling behind because I am, on some level, not finding the Comment Challenge to be such a challenge.
Let me explain. The purpose of the Comment Challenge is to:
. . . [become] better blog citizens . . . by actively participating in conversations and [share] your learning, especially with those new to blogging . . .
And I get that, I really do. That is, in fact, why I signed up for the challenge. Indeed, I even was initially intimidated by the challenge:
And I even understand the purpose of the Daily Activities, which is to
challenge our thinking, writing and . . . aid in the process of becoming better commenters.
But here is my problem: I think I am already a good commenter, without the Daily Activities.
Task 1 was a good starting place, and definitely uncovered some areas for me that I need to focus on in my commenting. Basically, after the Self-Audit I felt more mindful of how I make my presence understood as I go about life in the online world, interacting with people who have never met me. I realized that at times, my tone is unclear and perhaps not accurate, and so I have been more cognizant of what I say and how I say it.
Tasks for Days 2 through 6 were things that were not unusual for me — i.e., I do these things anyway, fairly regularly. So I didn’t really, officially, do them as part of the Comment Challenge.1 And then I got to Day 7 (even though today is Day 10) and thought, Hmm… what am I really learning here?
Answers:
- I often make comments on others‘ blogs that are perhaps even more insightful than what I post here on my own blog. Therefore, I think I am better at responding to others’ ideas than coming up with my own. Question: What does that say about me? Am I not that innovative? Or am I just too social?
- I don’t need prompted tasks to make sure I am expanding my PLN, communicating with the people in it, and respectfully disagreeing with people. Perhaps others do, but I don’t.
- I comment enough, but definitely since the challenge began, I have been commenting more — which I guess was the point, so … ta-da! Mission (thus far) accomplished.
And one more question for anyone reading this: Is there a word which means “not having discovered something new and epiphanous2 when one was expecting to?”
1(Even coComment was already installed on my Firefox browser at home, though I had not enabled it in a while. The only new thing I needed to do was enable it on my tablet at school.)
2Ok, I made that word up.
Am I becoming a better commentator through this process? I think so, as I was always a reader, but never commented. For me this challenge has made me a better net citizen. I am finding my blogging topic ideas are coming from feed back comments. LIke your comment on my last blog post, I’m now inspired to write a perspective on the writing process from an audio dyslexic point of view. Thank you
I’m not sure the challenge was always about having an epiphany, I think it was more about celebrating all bloggers (not just the “big names”) and about putting as much effort into developing conversations on other’s blogs as we do into our own – in that sense, we would become better blog citizens. Perhaps you already started out as a great blog citizen and didn’t need any help! I know I am very very poor at commenting, despite how important I know it is, so for me, having a specific reason to go out and change my practices – and having a “new” group of people to read and support is very worthwhile.
In a challenge as wide open as this one, there is an entry point for everyone. You just haven’t found your particular challenge yet, but I’m sure it’s there :-). Just as one example, I know people like Kate Foy, http://katefoy.com/?p=240 and Kevin Hodgson, http://dogtrax.edublogs.org/2008/05/04/comment-challenge-video/ have certainly challenged me to think about using video posts and comments.
I don’t expect all of the challenges to be challenging. But as an educator, I am fascinated by how and where other people struggle or what they are surprised by. It helps me reach beyond my own lenses and see how others might respond to a learning experience.
@howhat
I’m glad I could help you to write something inspiring for your blog! This is kind of what I meant when I said that I think I say more insightful things in comments on other people’s blogs than I do on my own blog! Not that this is necessarily a bad thing — perhaps I find it easier to join the conversation than to start one. But I do know I am really looking forward to reading your next post — it sounds fascinating and something I am definitely interested in as a writing teacher.
@mscofino
it’s not that I think I started out as a great blog citizen — my own blogging attempts had been seriously lacking for a couple of years, so this kind of kick-started me again to get back in the game. And that has been positive. I guess what I meant was that before I re-entered the blogosphere, I think I was already good at commenting on others’ blogs, even those outside the “big” names. I didn’t realize this at the time, however. So maybe the take-away for me is simply the challenge of finding something worthwhile to contribute to my own blog! Which in some cases has come out of comments… 🙂
@Diane
Those are both excellent examples. Thank you so much for sharing them here. And you are right — there really is something for everyone. I guess I was just expecting to find more, sooner. But now you have got me thinking about trying new things! I tend to be very text-based myself because it is my preferred medium, but perhaps it’s time to take a risk… Thanks for the push!
Thanks to all of you for responding here — really, I didn’t think that this post would garner any attention! So this has been a nice surprise and I really appreciate that all of you are helping me to think outside the commenting box. 🙂
@Christine
Yes, you are right. Perhaps I’m thinking too insularly and not recognizing the way the Challenge can be seen by others. We are a diverse bunch, aren’t we?
I’m having the same problem – I have commented more recently, but I haven’t found a lot of posts to comment on. I’m concerned if I comment too much, I’ll end up not saying anything. Maybe I read too many writers whose views I already agree with and don’t see stating agreement as necessary. Or maybe I’m still forming so many of my views on education that I’m not at a point where I have a clear opinion of my own. I think I have a decent PLN and I can comment appropriately whether I agree or disagree. I guess what I see as the challenge so far is to increase quantity, which I don’t necessarily agree with. But I have commented four times now this month, when normally it’s somewhere between 0 and 2, so thinking about it actively has encouraged me to comment more but not go overboard (at least, I think).
@Ben
Thanks for posting here and letting me know I’m not the only one! Perhaps the challenge to increase quantity is not inappropriate, if the goal is to be more present and engaged in your PLN – ie., that everyone is particpating.
My main reason for proposing the Challenge was because I know from personal experience that commenting on blogs is a crucial aspect of blogging conversations for achieving the greatest learning. Unfortunately because many edubloggers are reluctant commenters they never experienced this increased learning and so don’t appreciate the need to build commenting into blogging with their students. So my question to your answer “I comment enough, but definitely since the challenge began, I have been commenting more — which I guess was the point” are you learning more as a result of your increased commenting and interaction with others?
For me, my greatest learning from the Challenge at the moment is coming from not doing the tasks but reading the participants reflections on their daily tasks and comments in response to their posts because makes me reflect on my views often challenging my preconceived ideas. I’ve also enjoyed the varying directions it has taken people like the videos and video commenting.
@Sue
In response to your question — yes, I suppose I am learning more as a result of my increased interaction with others. So, then, I guess the point is that increased interaction = increased learning. Which is fine. 🙂 I guess I was ruminating more on the daily tasks more than anything, and how I found the first few to be rather unnecessary for my own learning.
At times, the whole challenge feels slightly contrived, I have to admit. I understand the purpose, but there are times — including when I read other participants’ reflections, and my own! — when I think to myself, “For real? Do we need to think about how to interact with others? Aren’t we all professionals here?” But then again perhaps I am just being cynical. Though I will admit that I never thought of the video / audio commenting side of things much, and that is a very cool new direction for me.
@msmichetti
To be honest with you, as one of the co-creators of the challenge, the idea is probably the farthest thing from contrived I could imagine. For me it took off because I was/am a bad commenter. Not because I thought other people needed direction, or because we can’t all figure it out on our own, but because I needed a focus/timeline/reason to do better. Sue and I had lots of talks about the value of commenting and I genuinely felt I was missing out on the conversation (in favor of posting on my own blog).
Perhaps for you commenting was never a challenge, which is why it feels contrived. But I can guarantee, at least from my end, that the whole thing was more spontaneous than it may appear, and always coming from the perspective (at least on my end) of contributing more to conversations and being a part of the connected learning that’s going on every day.
@christine @sue
I totally agree that a huge part of the value in this experience is seeing how others react, what they’re learning, and how their changing their practice. It’s always interesting to see how others perceive something, especially something that is important to you. I’m also really appreciating seeing the different paths each participant is taking to improving their blogging/commenting. For me this had to be a timelined, themed, event, otherwise I wouldn’t do it. Clearly for others, it may not be quite so necessary. Interesting!
@Ben
I think we’re talking about quality and quantity. From all of the activities so far, the focus has been on quality commenting, but leaving quality comments on a few more blogs than you normally would. I definitely would say that the challenge isn’t about leaving as many comments as possible, but being an active participant in as many meaningful conversations that help propel your learning as possible. Is that coming through to you from the activities? Or do we need to change it up?
@mscofino
I think what you’re describing makes sense — for some. For me it feels contrived, I guess because I think I was doing a lot of those things anyway. Perhaps we’re just talking about differentiation here. I do not mean to imply that the challenge itself is not valuable — it is, and as I mentioned, I am learning new things about the value of commenting. However, for me, many of the daily activities have been too structured and left me feeling like if I’m doing them, it’s simply just to say I’ve done it, rather than to find new meaning.
(Makes me sympathize with my students when I give them a task and they think to themselves, “but why do I need to do this?”)
@msmichetti
So it sounds like to me that you should only do the activities that are meaningful for you. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with self-selecting. In fact, I would almost expect you not to waste your time on something that doesn’t further your learning. Maybe for you the challenge takes a different form and the activities can be seen as support for those who need it (in the differentiation sense) not as mandatory assignments.
@mscofino
That is pretty much what I am doing, I think. 🙂 Making it relevant makes it more of a challenge. Thanks, always, for your thoughts on this. I respect your ideas a lot as I know you’ve been doing this longer than me!
@msmichetti
And yet, I’m such a bad commenter! This challenge has definitely helped me focus on utilizing the right tools for staying engaged in conversations. I’m always learning, that’s for sure 🙂