Aug

8

The unexpected consequences of blogging for one year

Filed Under Blogging in and out of the Classroom 

Whoa, this week is Teachers At Risk’s first anniversary. Imagine that! A whole year has gone by. I’ve written 164 posts and created 19 podcasts on a variety of topics. What a learning curve it’s been- exciting and energizing for sure. I’ve had wonderful support from Lisa and Chris. Thank you both. Together, they gently but firmly pushed and pulled their mom into the digital world of blogging. Lisa, bless her, rescued me from the unintended consequences of typing the wrong key for the umpteenth.

I’ve also had amazing support from Jason. Thanks Jason. Jason really knows what he’s doing when it comes to producing podcasts. He kept encouraging me to start podcasting and spent his valuable time helping me with some of the technical aspects of producing my podcasts. We talked on Skype, and he showed me using the camera in his computer how to do things and then sent me a hard copy of the instructions as well. It didn’t matter that there was an ocean between us. It was so cool! He’s an excellent teacher, by the way.

I encourage you to check out A Buddhist Podcast that he does with Karen, his wife. I look forward to listening to each new show. There’s always something inspiring to take away. It deserves an award. In fact, A Buddhist Podcast is in the running for an award. Take a listen and then vote for A Buddhist Podcast. Karen also has her own daily podcast, Joyrise. I enjoy listening to the quotations and the music that goes with them. Listening to Karen read the quotations makes me stop and relax for a few moments and gives me something to think about.

What did I expect when I started blogging last year? I didn’t really know what to expect. I just wanted to share what I’d learned during my teaching career. I’ve been teaching a long time and absolutely love working with the troubled, troubling and troublesome teenagers I see all the time. I wanted to share the insights and strategies that have enabled me to continue to love teaching despite everything that goes on in and out of the classroom.

Much to my surprise and delight all kinds of other wonderful things happened. Not only did I get to share what I know, but I had the opportunity to dialogue with some great people that I would have never met if it wasn’t for my blog and podcasts. I met Jason through his podcast. It’s interesting to see that people from different parts of the globe have more things in common with one another than differences. I think sometimes we forget that, but if we just scratch the surface a bit we see that we are the same in important ways. We all suffer the vicissitudes of daily life and just want to want to be happy.

While writing my blog, I’ve often wondered is anyone really reading this, and if so do they find what I have written of any value. I’ve gotten lots feed back in the form of comments and emails and that’s great. Feedback is so motivating. Recently, much to my delight, I was approached by a publisher who was interested in using two of my articles from my blog in an upcoming book. Of course I was flattered, but I was really pleased because the book when it’s published will enable me to share my insights and strategies with even more people. That’s important to me. That’s why I started my blog. I didn’t expect to make any money by blogging. But it turns out I did, and that was another unexpected consequence.

I wonder what surprises Teachers At Risk has in store for me this year. I can hardly wait.

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Comments

3 Responses to “The unexpected consequences of blogging for one year”

  1. John Lloyd on August 11th, 2007 9:07 am

    Congratulations! It’s great that your posts have caught the attention of the publisher, but it’s even better that you’re celebrating the anniversary of the blog. So many blogs get started and then get neglected. It’s good to have yours continuing in good health.

  2. Elona on August 11th, 2007 10:11 am

    John,
    Thanks for the encouragement. You know the challenges of writing a blog. You have been writing yours much longer than I have been writing mine. I encourage people to go and check your blog out. It is packed with useful ideas and valuable insights.

  3. Elona on August 11th, 2007 10:18 am

    I forgot to mention that I have put the link to John’ds EBD blog in my blog roll so that you can just go there to access it.

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