Thing 4

Commenting is such a crucial aspect to blogging because it is what connects each blogger to one another. They are able to discuss and relate to one another's posts and comments, all the while connecting with one another through their words.

The reading touched on two points that I thought were especially important. The first one was to write something meaningful. People tend to put their entire beings into their blogs and so when someone comments something simple, like "neat blog" or "I like this", with no real content to it, it can make the blogger feel that people aren't relating or understanding what they are writing about. It is important to write a comment that describes what you like about the blog or post and relate to the blogger on a personal level as much as possible. 
The second point I thought was really important in the reading was to remember the power of your words. To me, this is the MOST important of all. As I said before, people put themselves and their lives into their blogs, so when people read them and then comment negative or hateful words, that can be extremely hurtful. Even when you do not agree with something written in someone's blog, remember that you don't have to read it if you don't like it, and nothing good comes from attacking someone's personal beliefs. The words you choose to express can have a profound effect on others, so we need to watch what we say.

I decided to choose to following these blogs:
Miss. Lorrie's 23 Things
Teddy's 23 Bearable Things
Miss I's 23 Things in Government
Mrs. K's 23 Things
Ms. Peterson's 23 Things About Teaching

Additional blogs:
Special Education Strategies and More...
Adventures in Tutoring and Special Education

The five blogs up top are created and managed by my classmates. The additional two blogs are both involving special education. The first blog is a teacher who posts about her experiences, as well as links to literacy and math games for the special education classroom. The second blog is a tutor who works directly with special education students. She also posts several fun and beneficial activities and art projects to do with the kids. 

Since my classmates posts are on the same topics as mine, I just commented on the things I enjoyed reading about in their posts and commented on the similarities in mine. On the additional two blogs, I commented on their activities and expressed to them that I was working to get my special education degree and that their blogs are something that I can continue to follow and use throughout my profession and how much I admired their work.