Reaction to Brian Crosby's "Learning is Messy" Blog

In September/October 2009, Scholastic published "Top 20 Teacher Blogs" and categorized them according to the blogs' specializations.  For instance, there is a "Best Student Teacher Blog" and a "Best Special Ed Blog".   After reading Brenda Sherry's "Teddy Bears Go Blogging" and publishing my first blog post, my attention was caught by #18, "Best Classroom Use of Blogs," awarded to Brian Crosby's Learning is Messy. Scholastic quotes Crosby: "It is the strongest resource I have experienced in 28 years of teaching."  Scholastic also explains that they love it because of Crosby's undeniable creativity in the classroom and in the blog itself.  I scoured the blog for evidence to support Scholastic's judgment.  Scholastic's right.


In the upper-right hand corner of the Home page, Crosby has a subtle motto: "Roll up your sleeves and get messy."  Implicit in his blog title and motto is a belief in taking risks.  The graphics in the margins and on the header are of arts and crafts in disarray: a masterpiece of finger painting along the borders of the screen with a textured palette of colors, a crafts table covered with newspaper, glue, scissors, tape, paint brushes, yarn, broken pencils, and scraps of construction paper.  The traditional arts and crafts table is juxtaposed with a blogger's crafts table.  He seems to be saying that learning through online and digital media can be equally "messy" as learning through yarn, glitter, and glue.  But the messiness should not deter a devoted teacher from taking advantage of all available resources in facilitating learning.  The appearance of his blog provides this subtext.


He has been blogging for over four years and his topics range from technology in the classroom, public policy, outdoor education, and ESL teaching.  In line with his motto, he believes in a hands-on approach that gets the students to problem solve and apply their learning to community service.  Having thirty years of experience with "at-risk" students in Nevada, Crosby shows his passion for teaching in various ways.  He posts entire lesson plans on educational technology, letters he has written to government and media officials regarding education (specifically the bad rap teachers are getting in the national conversation), and anecdotes about successes and failures in his own classroom.  He places a great emphasis on professional learning communities and ongoing education.


But the most useful aspect of his blog is the tab that provides links to his students' work: a class Wikispace, a class blog, responses to the links, etc.  This section provides a model for other teachers.  After seeing his award-winning work, I am confident that I can replicate in some capacity.  I intend to "roll my sleeves up and get messy".  I will use his blog as a resource while I begin to integrate more technology into my classroom.