[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.
[…] to connect. And enabling comments is an easy way for that to happen. As I said earlier, I have also realized recently that I often say more interesting and substantial things on other people’s blogs than I do on […]