one reason I love teaching: student blogs

Students teach me things all of the time. Like today. While reviewing newly created blogs, I discovered at least one student had created a blog for JOUR420 but hadn't written a post yet. Her features in the side rail caught my eye, though, and I learned from her BBC link that Palin was to be McCain's choice for a running mate. I learned something, and the student didn't even have to post anything! Here are the student blogs created so far.
http://ninedaysfromtuesday.blogspot.com/ Erika Strebel
http://kaejournalism420editing.blogspot.com/ Karlie Elliott
http://thefabulousworldofwords.blogspot.com/ Colleen Loggins
http://claireditingclass.blogspot.com/ Clair McInnis
http://nicolenejati.blogspot.com/ Nicole Nejati
http://shopper603.blogspot.com/ Laura Hettiger
http://journ420newsediting.blogspot.com/ Katie O’Connell
http://mresmusings.blogspot.com/ Eric Heisig
http://editediteditedit.blogspot.com/ Trisha Ruiz
http://skantor2.blogspot.com/ Susan Kantor
http://www.margueriteday.blogspot.com/ Marguerite Day
http://abetcha.blogspot.com/ Elizabeth Lardizabal
http://nutmeg0331.blogspot.com/ Meghan Montemurro
http://mustreadgood.blogspot.com/ Stephanie Poquette
http://eschmidteditingblog.blogspot.com/ Elyse Schmidt
http://jon-ski.blogspot.com/ Jonathan Abdnor

But I don't want to mix advertising in the news section!

Editors strive for consistency, but doing so can bug us for other reasons. The Democrats are holding their convention in a building named the Pepsi Center. Editors use formal names of places -- even if they'd rather not offer free advertising to the corporate sponsor of the venue. Al Tompkins at Poynter has rounded up perspectives in his blog post.

Holding the Bag of Bread

I just completed an amazing two weeks in Zambia. One afternoon our group stopped at a market in Ndola to buy snacks and drinks. I kept my seat in the back of the van while several others entered the store. Five boys approached seeking food or money. One man from our group came out of the store with a big bag of bread rolls to give to the boys. He handed the bag to the tallest boy, expecting him to pass the rolls around. The boy held the bag by the neck, tight in his fist.

"He won't share those," our driver told us. The driver got out of the van and divided the rolls among the boys.

"I'm that boy," I thought. "I'm holding tight to my bag of rolls. My spot at the table. My money. My American passport."

Now what will I do with that awareness?