The Word of the Day....Enlighten

Well...I did it.

I entered back into the Blogging Arena with a brand spanking new blog. Not sure why, but it was a natural and seamless fit. I resurrected my old blog last week and had the students comment on a post titled "collaboration"...you can see it at http://nriemann.edublogs.org.

Since then, I have observed how other teachers on my Twitter PLN have used blogs, and I have to say that there is some good stuff out there.....I suppose the reason I got away from blogs was that I did not know how to connect a blog to student learning. I did find some success, but I felt that I was too much in the drivers seat, not enough student input....I drifted away and forged ahead in new directions.

Well, the neat thing is, those new directions brought me back here...new ideas, new ways to enlighten student minds.

The word of the day (and title of this blog) is enlighten. I want students to walk away from my room mentally exhausted as they were forced to think, dialogue and collaborate.

I want to enlighten my students.

How do you 'enlighten' your students? How do you use blogs (and for that matter) any form of technology to create an environment where students can be students and not things occupying space in a chair?

Please share your thoughts...I want to think, dialogue and collaborate a I never have before....

Enlighten...and that's the word.