Lessons from Alyssa

For weeks now, my daughter Alyssa has been bugging me to help her start her own blog. She has seen me blog with my class for a long time, she has seen her brother, Matt, blog for school and recently has been watching her class blog go live to the world.

Alyssa has grown up in a world where there has always been Facebook and she’s seen that just about every person she knows over thirteen has it. She also knows that she is too young to have it herself (much to her disgust). To her, blogging is her chance to have her say and connect with the world.

Finally, this week, I agreed and helped her begin her own blog. It has been a fantastic experience for us both. At first, Alyssa wasn’t sure what she wanted to say, but it didn’t take long for her to create a long list of ideas for future posts. She has written (or typed VERY slowly) about her passions (Justin Bieber) and posted videos about her learning and favourite books. She is determined to respond (again typing VVVVEEEERRRRYYYY slowly) to everyone who leaves her a comment. All of these things support and extend her literacy learning.

When reading comments, Alyssa makes notes about where people are visiting from. After she’s responded to everyone, she sits with her mum or myself and we go hunting for locations on the map. This is exciting for her. Her face lights up when she logs in. It’s also exciting for me. The amount of learning that has taken place in the last week is amazing. Her confidence to write is already improved and it’s brilliant to watch.

It has also been a huge learning experience for me. I have had my students blogging all year, each with individual blogs. I haven’t seen anywhere near the output or interest from my students that I have seen in Alyssa and I now realise why. By keeping a tight rein on what students post and making their blogs all about traditional learning, I have killed the passion. I’ve taken all the joy from the experience of connecting with the world. After all, what’s the point of connecting if you can’t tell people about what drives you?

This week, it all changes. Tomorrow morning we are holding a blogging workshop in our class where I will let go of the reins. With the exception of the obvious inappropriate stuff, the blogs will truly become theirs. I don’t know why it has taken a lesson from my seven year old daughter for me to get this, but I’m glad I’ve learned it. Thanks Alyssa!