Response to Will

Will's post on his daughter's conversation about "Pokinitis" was very cute during my first read through. It seems like she is the type of child who is motivated and can actually enjoy talking to her parents...rare these days. In the larger scheme of things, the fact that Will recommended to make a book, then to make it available to people on bookshelves, then to make it as a movie to podcast and show all around the world illustrates the mediums by which students are capable of communicating. Heck, if a young child can do this at home, it can certainly be done in school.
For ELA teachers, this means that we have to give our students the opportunity to do these types of things: mass communication through technology applications. If we do, we are opening them up to an aspect of ELA that I think it particularly important: publication.
For the next generation, seeing the product (end result) of your work is going to be the motivator to keep doing things.

I also found Will's other post on his life very interesting. It was called "Playing With My Kids," and I was so happy to read this post. I had, for a while, thought that Will Richardson was just a bit too obsessed with the blogging thing. Well, it seems like maybe he was. Now he sees other things in his life prioritizing.

Will said something that I have believed to be so true, but people have resisted me: "I really marvel at the people who can continuously carve out the necessary hours every day to write and comment and continue the discussion. And it is great discussion and thinking that’s moving at such a fast pace that it’s getting really hard to keep up with. I have learned a lot. But let’s face it, there are, many more important things out there than Web logs. And I think I need to take back some of that perspective."

In response to this post, I have always thought about people who are not directly involved with blogging everyday. Actually, there are a lot more people out there than some think. And they are not obsessed with globalization, and they go on and perform their daily rituals and do things that are meaningful to them...none of which involve a blog. Will has realized that there are other things more important than telling everyone what you are doing every second of the day...like playing with your kids, making a cup of coffee yourself, washing your own car, talking to someone face to face, and the list goes on. I loved hearing this from the blog-guru. Yes, he is human! So, although Friedman may focus on the whole globalization of the U.S., sometimes it is important to take a step back and say, "what is really important here?"