Jun

12

Blogging can be a pretty selfish and alienating activity

Filed Under Blogging in and out of the Classroom, Uncategorized | 5 Comments

I’ve suddenly had the thought that blogging can be a pretty selfish and alienating activity. It has a dark side that I hadn’t notice before because I was blinded by the light.

I’ve been blogging for almost two years now (August 2006) and podcasting for over a year (March 2007) and am one of blogging’s biggest boosters. In fact, I’ve become a blogging evangelist trying to bring the word about the joys of blogging to anyone who will listen. I’ve persuaded some colleagues at work to start a blog and helped them through the first confusing steps.

I totally identify with Mathew when he says “I’ve built some blogging friendships that have both contributed to my teaching practice and been personally rewarding.” I’ve met some wonderful people on line that I count among my friends even though we’ve never sat face to face.

I was thinking about Mathew’s comment and sort of feeling that glow I get when I’m thinking about writing a blog, reading other people’s blogs or leaving a comment about what I’ve read. This of course takes lots of time and that’s what made me realize that blogging can be a petty selfish and alienating activity. All that time I’m spending researching for my blog, writing my blog, reading other people’s blogs, talking about blogging and learning about the more technical aspects of blogging takes lots and lots of time, lots of time away from other things like family and friends.

I’m thinking now as I write this that maybe it’s been too much time away from family and friends. I’ve been saying things to my friends like “Gee, we should get together more. I haven’t seen you in ages. I’ve been so busy.” What I don’t tell them is that I’ve been so busy amusing myself in the blogosphere. Almost everyday, I’ve been telling my husband, Kurt, that I”ll just go upstairs to the office for a minute to check my email and then before I know it, hours have passed and Kurt is sitting downstairs by himself. When I mention ever so casually that I might like to start to video blog, despite the fact that Kurt’s one of my biggest supporters, he suggests rather strongly that I don’t take on too much. What he’s not saying is that he thinks it’s already too much.

I’m spending too much time in the blogosphere and that is selfish and alienating, and that’s not what I want to be or to do. So, I’m going to spend less time in the blogosphere and more time with family and friends. :) And, that’s a good thing.

Sep

19

The unexpected consequences of writing a blog

Filed Under Blogging in and out of the Classroom | 4 Comments

I’m always asking my students to reflect upon different aspects of their lives by writing a journal. I ask them to reflect on things like the goals they have set for themselves, their assigments they do for me or other teachers, their report card marks, the most surprizing shopping trip etc. Although many of my students do not generally like writing, they like writing the brief five minute reflections I ask them to do at the beginning of class. I think it’s important to reflect upon what we do in life. By reflecting upon what we do, we can decide if what we are doing is giving us the desired result. If what we’re are doing isn’t giving us what we want, then we need to change what we are doing. I’m forever telling my students that better choices will lead to better outcomes.

Sometimes when you do something , you really have no idea what the outcome will be. What I mean is that usually when you start to do something you have an outcome in mind, but there are all kinds of other surprising things happen that you never expected or dreamed of . That’s what happened to me. I started writing this blog because I wanted to share with others what I ‘ve learned about teaching. My goal was to write some thing that some people would find useful. that was it!

That did happen. I’ve gotten feedback from all kinds of people to that effect and I’m really pleased about that. But all kinds of other unexpected things happened - positive things. Here’s a list of some of them:

-Teachers At Risk is read in over 80 countries

-I’ve met some wonderful people from all over the globe through my blog

-I’ve written over 175 posts in a little over a year and haven’t run out of things to say :)

-Akismet has blocked 11,844 spam comments

-I’ve had a wonderfully positive review by David Synder of ASCD

-A book publisher purchased two of the articles that I wrote for my blog

- A large school board in the US asked if they could reproduce one of my posts Nine things that my students taught me about classroom management and teaching and distribute it to their new teachers

- I’ve started to podcast as well as blog and am listed in Itunes where people can subscribe to Teachers At Risk

- The opening of one of my podcasts was used as an exemplar at an international conference on podcasting

Honestly, it just blows me away. Who knew what the outcome from taking that first step back in August of 2006 would be. I certainly didn’t. I just wanted to pay it forward and mentor other teachers. I encourage all of you to try something new and see what happens. Take a risk. You just never know.

I’d love to hear other people’s experiences about something they did and the unexpected consequences that happened. If you have time, please share your experience with us.

Aug

8

The unexpected consequences of blogging for one year

Filed Under Blogging in and out of the Classroom | 3 Comments

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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