I believe I have determined through my research and through my analysis in this blog that using the publishing world in the classroom can be a great motivator for students. The reasons for using such influence continue to mount for me because I have learned so much.

1) Those who have “gone before” in the field of professional writing can give real and interesting advice for students who are just starting to get an idea of what it takes to be a writer (both in school and out).

2) Professional writers can inspire young people to challenge their world through the written word and to express their thoughts and feelings.

3) It is an amazing acheivement to become a published author whether that means simply  having a story bound or having a piece picked up by a magazine, newspaper or other publication. To have a student do so would be SO COOL! Those opportunities should be presented to students on a regular basis because who wouldn’t want the chance to publish their work?!? It’s a great motivator to get students interested in writing.

4) By looking at a wide variety of writers both professional and not, we can see that anyone of any background or culture can be a writer even if it seems boring at first.

I learned a lot from class discussions, the conference, and the information I found to use for this blog. I have to say that I found much of this blog work very time-consuming. It was at times beneficial but it was very difficult to write meaningful information in an entry when all I wanted was to get it done sometimes. I think perhaps the requirements were a bit difficult to accomplish especially when combined with the pedagogy project now at the end of the semester. If it were a few less entries I think it would have been much more do-able. That aside, it has been wonderful to learn to see the world of writing through so many different views over the course of this assignment. The publication aspect will definitely be something I try to implement in my classroom.