#Rockstar Meme: 1 Year Blogging Anniversary

I was recently invited by an amazing woman, Joan Young, to participate in the #Rockstar Meme -- How Blogging Rocked Your World. This is such an honor, and the timing couldn't be better as I celebrate my first year anniversary of blogging.

Why blogging?

Blogging helps me reflect, process, and focus, which provides clarity. I think in brainstorms, adding ideas and eliminating others as I rule them out. The process I go through to write a post helps me decipher ideas and connect new meaning, leaving me with a sense of calmness and closure.

Expected blogging benefits

It's expected to be an organized place to keep notes on my learning. Saving time is another expectation because I spend much of my time answering emails about tech integration. So, it helps to post it on my blog.

Unexpected blogging benefits

I didn't realize the connections that evolve from blogging. Until nine months ago, the only blog I followed was my best friend's. The change happened when I stumbled upon a Tweet about the Edublogs Teacher Challenge, which pretty much opened Pandora's box in such a great way.

Connected and inspired

I thrive when I'm having fun learning, creating things, connecting, and making a difference in the lives of students and teachers. My batteries recharge when I'm around others who have the same passion.

Blogging connects me with innovative and passionate educators. I go to their blogs over and over because of the inspiration they give me. They recharge my batteries.

The #Rockstar Meme

Created with Sketchpad & Aviary

Those who inspire me the most through blogging are the #Rockstars that I'm passing the meme baton to:
This meme, started by Miguel Guhlin, is about how blogging rocks your world. The typical meme expectations are to link back and comment on the originator's post, and pass the meme baton to five others.

I believe memes are for recognizing others as inspiration, and it's not actually expected they write a post.

Final thoughts

If you want to be inspired, I highly recommend the five bloggers I named because they are #Rockstars!
  • Who are your #Rockstars?
  • How does blogging rock your world? 

Comments

  1. Joan YoungOctober 22, 2011 at 5:48 PM

    Tracy,
    I am so pleased that this coincides with your blogging anniversary. You are inspiring and so giving to the blogging community, with your posts as well as your thoughtful comments. Thank you for mentioning me! I am so happy to have met you and connected this summer at ISTE! Who knew a tour with Ronnie Burt would lead to so many great connections ;-)
    You are a rockstar!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Denise KrebsOctober 22, 2011 at 7:58 PM

    Wow, am I ever humbled and pleased that you have included me in that amazing list of inspirations. Thank you so much! Blogging has rocked my world, and I am excited to start thinking about how I will respond to this meme. Thank you so much, Tracy! What fun!

    And congratulations on one year of blogging at wwwatanabe!

    Warm regards,
    Denise

    ReplyDelete
  3. Kathleen MorrisOctober 22, 2011 at 8:09 PM

    Hi Tracy,

    Thanks so much for your kind nomination!

    I am so glad I have got to know you over the last year or so. You're definitely a valued member of my PLN and I have learnt a lot from you.

    Your positive attitude towards life, teaching, technology and everything really rubs off!

    I'm not sure if I'll get to do a post but I want you to know I appreciate the nomination!

    Kath

    ReplyDelete
  4. Tracy WatanabeOctober 22, 2011 at 9:33 PM

    Dear Joan,

    I thank you for being the person you are, so open, passionate, and inspiring. Within the first hour I met you, you taught me how to send a picture in Twitter, something I didn't know could be done. Then, throughout the ISTE week, we kept crossing paths... and continue to do so.

    I'm so glad Ronnie Burt organized the Edublogs ISTE Meet-Up to tour Independence Hall. That's just another example of Edublogs bringing people together.

    Kind regards,
    Tracy

    ReplyDelete
  5. Tracy WatanabeOctober 22, 2011 at 9:48 PM

    Dear Denise,

    It is very obvious how much blogging rocks your world. You are transparent and passionate about learning, and it shines through all your digital footprints because your beliefs show in your actions. Thank you for being a #Rockstar!

    Kind regards,
    Tracy

    ReplyDelete
  6. Tracy WatanabeOctober 22, 2011 at 10:04 PM

    Hi Kathleen,

    I believe that every post you write is a #Rockstar testimony of how blogging rocks your world. Just this past week you wrote about the Benefits of Educational Blogging. You continually take students, parents, colleagues, and teachers from around the globe under your wing and help them grow. You have such poise and always know how to encourage others. Thank you so much for making a difference in so many lives. It is such an honor to learn with you.

    Kind regards,
    Tracy

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sheri EdwardsOctober 23, 2011 at 1:17 PM

    Tracy, I am humbled and honored to be in such Rockstar company! Denise, Kathleen, Sue, Linda, and you have so inspired me to keep going, keep blogging, keep working to help students work today in ways that support their futures. I have not yet met you or any of these kind people, and yet I know that each of them would respond to questions and help out when asked. And just reading their blogs to learn a new idea, strategy, or connection is so helpful to my students and myself. So, really, I am so honored by your kind words and inclusion with these master teachers! Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Sheri EdwardsOctober 23, 2011 at 4:28 PM

    Hello Tracy,
    I have passed the baton on:
    Sue Waters with Ronnie Burt Encourages at Edublogs and blogging how-tos
    Silvia Tolisano Shares so many HowTos in Language Arts and Digital Learning (Skype; Blogs)
    Marsha Ratzel Shares about Google Apps, Blogging, and Other Technologies
    Larry Ferlazzo Shares “Best of” Websites, ELL; So much to share!
    Nancy Carroll Inspiring Fourth Grade teacher using technology
    Paula Naugle Inspires Skyping and Blogging in the classroom

    http://askwhatelse.wordpress.com/2011/10/23/blogging-meme-you-can-do-it-too/

    ReplyDelete
  9. Tracy WatanabeOctober 24, 2011 at 9:49 PM

    Dear Sheri,

    You have helped me so much this past year. What you don't know about me is I'm the lady who never spoke out at a staff meeting, with the exception of once when I was standing up for the benefits of PBL. Now, I spend approx six hours a week, training educators. I can't do it without a strong network of people helping me grow and recharging my batteries. You are definitely someone that helps me grow, reflect, and encourages. So, thank you for everything.

    Now, I'm going to venture over to your blog to read about your amazing #Rockstars!

    Kind regards,
    Tracy

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Directions for posting:

1) Choose "Comment As" first. If you don't have a Google/Blogger account, you can choose Name/URL and type in your name, then place the web site that best describes you in the URL (i.e. www.ajusd.org). Or, you can choose "Anonymous".

2) You may need to press "Post Comment" more than one time.

It is always wise to copy your comment before pressing "Post Comment" just in case something happens.

3) Type in the word verification.

4) If you did everything correctly, it will state, "Your comment has been saved and will be visible after blog owner approval." If you do not get that message, please try again.

Click here for a tutorial on how to comment.

Thank you!

Popular posts from this blog

Quality Blogging and Commenting Audit Meme

Image
Silvia Tolisano (@langwitches) challenges us in a meme to audit blogs and comments to raise awareness of quality blogging. I'm honored that both Kathleen Morris and Sheri Edwards tagged me in this meme. Here is Silvia's meme challenge : Select a blog post or blog comment to audit (Professional or Student) Take a screenshot or copy and paste the post or comment into your blog post (be sensitive whether you want to reveal any names or references) Include or link to the rubric you use to assess the quality of post or comment Audit the post or comment by describing your train of thought regarding the level of quality you would assess your chosen post or comment Suggest how you would coach the author of audited post or comment to improve Tag (at least) three educators and challenge them to audit a post or comment Leave a comment with the link to your audit post on Langwitches Quality blog posts I created a few variations of checklists as guides for qu...
Read more

Striving for Higher-Order Thinking and Depth of Knowledge

Image
A little over a year ago, I read Higher-order thinking is the exception rather than the norm for most classrooms on Scott McLeod's blog, Dangerously Irrelevant , and have been mulling it over, wondering if our school district is any different. Over the past year, our teachers periodically collect data with their teams on the types of questions/tasks they ask students. One teacher records teacher questions and the other records student responses on a shared Google Doc ; then teams sort through their own data, plotting teacher questions by Bloom's Revised Taxonomy , and student responses to those questions/tasks with Webb's Depth of Knowledge (DOK) . The 2012-2013 data showed we were not very different from other districts; therefore, our teams set their own goals for higher-order thinking and depth of knowledge. The data so far for the 2013-2014 school year shows questions asked of students are up and down the Bloom's ladder, equally distributed (with a little...
Read more

Craft and Structure, Deeper Thinking, and Tech Integration

Image
What type of thinking does the Common Core ask of students when it comes to Craft and Structure? Analysis. Analyzing the author's craft and structure is a shift for students to do, and a shift for teachers to design tasks and questions that require analysis.  This is the critical thinking we want students to engage in. Shifts The big shift in this is the analysis. What does that look like at the elementary level? How do you teach Craft and Structure? There are many ways to teach craft and structure . Make sure students are analyzing the text , not just identifying the answers . Craft structure close read questions from tracywatanabe Every spring, our school district uses Title IIa funds to pay teachers to attend training. This year, our Spring Academy focuses on various aspects of Common Core... and teaching Craft and Structure is one of the sessions. I was charged with creating a training module for the K-6 sessions. Training Document: ...
Read more