Thing #4 Why Blog Commenting is Important

I was unable to complete part two to this "Thing".  As a class we were unable to get the  links to our classmates' blogs in time for the Midterm.


Blog commenting helps to create a sense of a community with the readers of the blog and the writer(s). The blogger wants to "heard" and likes knowing what people think about the various topics he or she writes about. Commenters also like to be heard by the blog writer and by other people reading the blog. Entire conversations can and often do occur in the comments section of blogs. Typically those who comment on blogs are also bloggers themselves. People who regularly read and comment on the same blogs often become friends both online and in real life.
 
Doug Johnson from The Blue Skunk Blog made a great point about saying thank you to people who comment on your blog. He said, "I just think if a person has given up a chunk of life to read and craft a response, I should be grateful." Johnson acknowledged this is not something that is widely done in the blogging community, but I think it's a good habit to get into when blogging and that it will likely encourage readers to comment.

Another point on blog commenting that I really liked was on the Cool Cat Teacher Blog. Vicki Davis wrote in her post about blog commenting that it is important to "Criticize Kindly" when leaving a comment on a blog. I think this goes both ways and that we as bloggers should make sure to be polite and civil when responding to a comment that disagrees with a topic we have posted. It might be tempting to simply delete a comment we don't agree with, but as long as the comment is respectful I think it is important to leave it up and respond to the comment in a professional manner.


The names of the seven blogs (5 from our group + 2 others of your choice) you selected to read and comment on and tell why you selected them
The other two blogs I chose are US History Teachers Blog and New Teacher Talk. I selected them because they are both relevant to me as a pre-service high school history teacher. The US History Teachers Blog has so many terrific posts about how to get students engaged and interested in US History. The New Teacher Talk blog will probably be one I go to for moral support as a new teacher. It is nice to read advice to novice teachers from those that have been in the "trenches" of teaching for a while.


Discuss the comments that you chose to make and why you made them
The comments I chose to make on my two personal choice blogs were both ones about how I was excited to find their blogs since I am currently getting my M.A.T. 
I also told them I will be reading their blogs in the future for moral support as well as ideas I can incorporate into my future classroom.