Thanks for the presentation

I wish I could personally thank you for your marvelous presentation to our school about the Internet, especially regarding the positive things you had to say about blogs. I wish I could tell you how grateful I am, but I am afraid.

Once upon a time, I touted to my colleagues how we educators need to embrace this genre for the advancement of literacy among our kids, but my ideas were not well-received. Some of the teachers I spoke with merely pooh-poohed the blog. They said that it would not encourage students to become better writers. Some teachers met me with skepticism. They expressed fear of the blog. They said that it would only perpetuate negative behavior among miscreants. Some feigned utter disinterest in the blog. To them, it was no better than IMing and was a waste of time.

However, one of them was lying to me. She had been the most vocal about not being interested in the technology, but she was secretly reading my blog until I wrote something that she could use against me. Not once did she say that she had laughed at one of my stories. Not once did she convey concern when I wrote about my problems. Instead, she waited until I wrote this post to let it be know that she was indeed interested in my blog. The post proved her point, that blogs were bad. I became a pariah after she emailed a group of women the link, and for months I endured scathing comments every time I passed certain people in the hall. Saddly, I learned that even the adults in middle school can behave like bullies, and the only joy I felt for the remainer of that year came from my students.

It was and still is a painful experience and a lesson that has left me mute about the wonderful educational value of writing a blog.

I also want you to know that every other presentation we've had at our school about teens using the Internet to create writing has been negative. Our students have been told numerous times the multitude of bad that has come from the Internet. I understand that the presentations have been to warn kids about using these media responsibility, but never before you spoke have they been encouraged to use technology for creativity and expression. I just love how you explained the blog for what it can be: a place to sort one's ideas at the end of the day.

Thank you.