11 From 11: Learning By Blogging

11 from 11 was inspired by @yearinthelife Adam Simpson  to revisit some favorite posts from 2011.  My “twist” on the challenge is to write about the 11 posts I learned the most from writing.  Here it goes…

• Mexico EFL Teachers Rock: This post represents an exciting global collaborative learning experience.
• Linguistics related posts: What is Standard English and Related Questions for Teachers I'll let go of mechanics in this paragraph  Gotta love the Stephen Frye video and the questions in this post.  Three Videos Prove Linguistics is Fascinating is a related favorite.  The Deb Roy TED Talk is a must watch! 
• My Tech and Ed Play With 2.0 Tools: Part 2 Jing  and Part 1 Online Timelines.  I’ve used these tools in the classroom, but creating posts about them pushes me to a deeper level.  I’m a big screencasting fan!    
• Posts created with the collaboration of my students: I appreciated the willingness of my College of Ed. students to share their ideas in Prezi, Online Comic Strips, and Fakebook Integrated in SLA Assignment.  It was a learning experience trying out the sites myself, creating the assignment, and then pulling the post together.  My ESOL students also did a great job of contributing to the following posts: Online Dictionaries and Vocabulary Games Part 2: Lexipedia, Lingro, Shahi, Wordia and Vocabulary Class Takes to 21^st Century Learning Tools. 
• Bringing Writing Alive With Web 2.0 Tools:  It was a lot of fun presenting with Kacey.  We collaborated on the Prezi and presentation via Skype. 
• Gaming Series Part I and Part 2: I learned a ton on this topic.  It was a topic that I hadn’t thought a great deal about, and these posts pushed me to research gaming in education and form some opinions. 
• Worth A Wow: Inanimate Alice: This post spurred my interest in transmedia storytelling.  It also offered fun material for my kiddo and me to explore together. 
• Try Blogging with 180 High School Students! It Works:  Try doing this and not learning—impossible! :-) 
• Illuminated Text and Kinetic Typography Bring Reading Alive: Admittedly, I’d never heard of the terms in the text until I wrote the post. 
• Word Clouds: Taxedo, Wordle, Tagul, and Wordlings:  I was hooked after the first time I tried word clouds.  My students continue to show me new and interesting ways they can be used. 
• What’s a Book? Is This a Book?: These questions still resonate with me, particularly in regard to discussion around digital textbooks.

This was my first full year of blogging for professional purposes.  It’s a unique, challenging, and fun type of writing.  I’ve learned and continue to learn about formatting, audience, social networking, etc. as a result of blogging.  Thanks for joining the journey!