Metacognition: Blogging This Year in English Class

At the beginning of my sophomore year, Mr. Allen told my English class that we would be keeping a blog throughout the year as a way to document our thoughts and how they change over the next few months. At first, I was a little hesitant to keep a blog because I had never blogged about anything before and wasn't even exactly sure what keeping a blog would entail. Soon enough, I became more familiar with the concept of blogging and managed to navigate my way around the blogging site. I found that blogs were a good way to stimulate my brain to think about things that I never would have thought about before. This happened because of the different prompts that Mr. Allen assigned in order to give us an idea of something to write about. I thought that the prompts were helpful for the most part because it can be difficult to just start writing about any random thing. I also found that even within the guidelines of a prompt, I could basically write about whatever I wanted (unless instructed to write about a specific topic). My favorite prompt was "blogging around" because it gave me the chance to read about my classmates and learn things about them and the way they write. Although I can read my classmates' blogs whenever I want, this prompt was kind of a reminder to me that every time I write a blog, 28 other people are writing them as well and it can be very interesting to read their opinions on a topic that I have written about. Occasionally, I look back on my own blogs as well. I found that reading something that I wrote at the beginning of the year is a good way to really hear my voice when I write because I don't necessarily remember writing that specific blog. Overall, I feel that blogging was a fun and creative way to get my classmates and I thinking and writing without worrying about having a specific format to write by.