I appreciated the easy organization of the article. Dividing the uses of blogs into four categories was insightful for me, as I had only considered the Teacher Communication for me as a counselor. I can see where dialoguing with parents, students, and other counselors would be interesting. After the publication of Kid’s Cancer Storys, I had communication from counselors around the country. We decided that we would collaborate with others on what were doing and share ideas. This articled allowed me to understand why we quit communicating. I never thought of email as cumbersome, but it was for that use. Some people wouldn’t reply to all, so others were forwarding and we had too many scattered emails to make it worthwhile.
I also appreciated the categorization of how kids benefit from blogs. The empowerment piece is just so huge for all kids. Kids that feel empowered cause less trouble in classroom instruction. The eclectic nature of how students learn was also acknowledged. I have always appreciated the idea that there are several pieces to the puzzle. I feel the note that some administrators may be concerned helps us all be on alert that the emotional safety of kids needs to be guarded as we move forward into this next phase of education. And finally, bridging the gap between people whose pre-frontal cortex is developed to people who are still in their imagination-development stage with, shall I say, underdeveloped pre-frontal cortex was interesting. I like the idea of meeting the students where they are rather than lamenting that they aren’t where we are comfortable.
I would like to get ideas from other counselors in the country. I looked at other counselor blogs but I didn’t see anything that inspired me. So many of the counselor sites either talked about legislation or sad kid stories. I want ideas.