So, here I am again late Sunday night at Starbucks. I just finished grading a stack of papers about as tall as the cup of coffee, now empty, sitting beside them. All of my students’ averages are up-to-date, and I noticed an interesting phenomenon:
In second period, the top three highest averages are Agueda, Yvette, and Maribel. All bloggers. The only blogger in that class who is lower down the rank is Samuel, who stopped blogging after his first entry.
In third period, same story, only more of ’em. The top four averages are Noemi, Jonathan, Jerrica, and Eva. Somewhere down there is Andrew, who only recently started posting again, after a long absence. See a pattern?
It continues: In fourth period, the top two averages are Santana and Richard, and of course, down the list is Ernesto, who owes me a dollar because he hasn’t blogged in two weeks.
Finally, in 5th period, the top two are Daniel and Nancy, although neither has blogged quite as much as the top students in the other classes. And go figure, 5th period has a lower average than any of my other classes. Somewhere in the middle of this class are Juanita (who hasn’t blogged in awhile), and Isaac, who just started this week.
Basically, in every one of my English classes, the top two students are bloggers. And 11 out of the 16 current students who blog are at the top of their respective classes. Either the best students are more naturally drawn to the notion of blogging, or perhaps my little experiment is beginning to take hold? Perhaps those who blog communicate more–with each other and with me–and are more “in the loop.” Perhaps those who care enough to blog also care more about their grades? Probably a bit of all the above. Anyhow, it’s late, and Starbucks is going to kick me out pretty soon. Here’s to blogging, and what the new week may bring…