Comment challenge - the second half of the month!

My goal right now is to finish the comment challenge before the day is out (after all, this is the last day of May). Again, I did not keep up with this and I thought I would be more on top of it. However, I know that I am sorely over-extended. Regardless, I will still learn something to this even though I am again late to another party! Here goes:

Day 16 Go back and catch up on something
No rest for me on this challenge as I am behind. Time to go back to Day 14. I am off to create a post asking questions and elicit discussions and responses. This was a great challenge to change how I write posts.

Day 17 Five in Five
Not sure how I will read and comment of 5 blogs in 5 minutes without cheating and leaving a superficial comment. Unfortunately I just cleared my reader but think there is 5 new ones there now.

Alright, this was tough. I can't even read 5 in 5 minutes let alone comment on them meaningfully (one was tough to grasp - edupunk?)

The one great thing it gave me was the ability to not be wishy-washy about the comment and actually make one. Maybe I should time myself more!

Day 18 Analyze the comments on your own blog
The posts that generate the most comments are my original ones. Posts about my action research generated the most, plans for global collaborations, pd at school, etc.

I do receive some comments when I comment on another's post but it is usually the original author. These posts are still good as this blog is again the mulling of topics by me. However, more original works need to be created by me.

This really is not about getting more comments, it is about being a generator of ideas as I believe I can do this. Or, a teller of stories of learning in my class...Hmmm....

Day 19 Respond to a commenter on your own blog
I already do this - except for spam comments. I learned this from Vicki Davis as well as learning that you should visit the blogs of thos who took the time t visit yours.

Day 20 Three links out
Now this is cool - generally I try to find a link from another blogger I read but have never tried going one more further. Actually I think I did this once but ended up so far away from what I intended. It was a good journey though! I have found a great environmental blog this way as well as a zen blog. Not my normal fair, but worthwhile to not read all about education and technology!

Day 21 Make a recommendation
Okay, this I have done in the last month but before the day of this challenge. Someone wanted an example of an app being used and I supplied a link to a specific page in our wiki. I do need to use this more often though to continue the connection of others.

Day 22 Highlight a favorite comment
There have been a few that I would highlight as they are people I admire who took the time to come to my blog and recognize my fledgling voice. We are all busy people and the time spent to do this is always appreciated. Of two that stand out are Clay Burrell for recognizing my science education viewpoints and offering encouragement

...Both your analysis of the problems and your proposed solutions are spot on, in my book. I see the same ignorance of the forest due to focus on the trees in my history classes. To switch metaphors, we teach students to memorize individual puzzle pieces, but not to puzzle them out and construct the big picture they belong to...

and Vicki Davis who was the first to encourage my new voice:

There are those that argue that citizenship is not the right word to use with these skills. I personally, agree with you and cannot think of a better word!

Day 23 What makes a great comment?
What tips would I give about being a great commenter?

• Don't self-promote unless it is needed to make the point (maybe it isn't even needed then?)
• Ask a question to bring a response from the post writer and engage a discussion
• Build upon another's comment to bring the discussion even deeper
• Be sure to link your name to your blog so we can learn something about you - we really are interested
• Talk about someone we don't know so we can learn from you and them too
• Keep it short but make a point

Tag: comment08