flickr photo shared by mrkrndvs under a Creative Commons ( BY-SA ) license
In a recent Twitter chat the magical panacea suggested for improving education was for everyone to get a blog. Like the regular call that every teacher should join Twitter, I think that the call for every teacher to have a blog maybe a little misguided.
In a recent post from George Couros associated with a MOOC around his book Innovator’s Mindset, he touches on the importance of having somewhere to share and reflect. However, he follows this up with a reminder that this will all be to no avail if people do not also read and comment on each others posts. For this is often where the deep learning occurs. As Couros states,
- It makes everyone smarter.
- It encourages people to keep going…many stop because they feel no one is reading their blog posts.
- It builds community
This is important as it touches on purpose.
So by all means start a blog, but please do not think that in itself a blog somehow makes you special. As I have stated elsewhere, you need to develop your why and remember that as time passes this reason will ebb and flow. If there is anything that I would recommend that everyone did, it would be to get connected, build your network, for perspective is priceless. It is only then that you will realise that without a space of your own you are sometimes limited to what you can say and do.
So what about you? What are your thoughts? If you write a blog, why? If not, why not? As always, comments welcome.
So Everyone Has a Blog, Now What? by Aaron Davis is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Yes, I do write a blog. One of the best things about it is the community that I come to belong to. When I was teaching full-time, I would never have found the time to read posts written by others, or to write posts of my own. In the three years I have been blogging I have found it difficult to connect with educators. While I have commented on their posts, I find there is often no response. Writers seem more willing to develop a wider community. Teachers remain committed to their own circles. I understand that. Teaching is a demanding profession.
Why do you read blogs? I understand your point about time, but I make the time? I do so because I consider it important. Regards connections, I feel I get more traction during chats or as part of a MOOC. Not sure if this says something.
Hello Aaron,
As you know, I am an avid reader of blogs. I believe it’s my resonsibility to “raise my hand” in the comments section. I do this to show appreciation to the author, advance a conversation, and reflect transparently on the content. I started blogging a few years ago because I believe in the power of transparent sharing. I was hoping my words would propel change in teaching and learning. What I have learned after nearly 200 posts is blogging has propelled my personal learning. Bill Ferriter says it better; http://blog.williamferriter.com/2016/06/25/lessons-learned-from-a-decade-of-blogging/
Blogging deepens my learning, widens my perspective, and crystallizes my thinking through transparent reflection. Selfishly, blogging helps me be a better learner. Becoming a better learner – that’s why all educators should be connecting and sharing. Blogging is just one, albeit excellent, way of documenting and sharing our learning with others.
Wow, doesn’t this sound a lot like ISTE-T standards 3, 4 and 5?!? https://www.iste.org/docs/pdfs/20-14_ISTE_Standards-T_PDF.pdf
Thank you for this opportunity to connect and share,
Bob
There is so much in your response Bob:
– show appreciation
– advance the conversation
– openly sharing
– deepen learning
Blogging is only the conduit which makes this more ‘doable’ as Bill Ferriter would put it (http://blog.williamferriter.com/2014/04/27/do-we-really-need-to-do-new-things-in-new-ways/).
In the end, my life is made richer through the connections I have formed over time.
I am a reluctant blogger. It is taking me outside of my comfort zone as I worry that I don’t have much to offer. I will persevere and hope that it will deepen my learning.