Hello All or Noone,
I come to you tonight after several weeks of not writing an entry on my blog. I attended OpenPD this week learning from Sue Waters and others about blogging. I learned that it takes a committment to get your blog to be read and even though it may be read, you may not receive any comments. So Why? Why continue to write a blog?
I guess my main reason for plugging away at writing a blog is that if I write a blog, then I can talk with administrators, teachers, staff, students, parents, and community members about writing blogs.
I started this blog on Edublogs because I knew that more than likely I could keep edublogs from being blocked by the content filter at school because it seemed like it had an Education feel. I (we, Lindsey has taken over) started a blog at blogger.com for our family in order to keep our families updated on what is going on with our lives.
A blog can take many forms including personal, professional, hobby, career, memories, journaling, informational, opinion and can be thematic or can bounce from subject to subject depending on your desired audience. Learn from others how they blog or what they blog about by reading their blogs using a RSS reader such as Google Reader or Bloglines.
So I guess the answer to my own question, “Why continue to write a blog?”, is just because I should and why wouldn’t I.
Keep Learning and Sharing,
chris
3 responses so far ↓
1
Sue Waters
// Apr 12, 2008 at 1:47 am
Hi Chris - it’s actually a good question why should I blog. I’ve mentored a lot of people on blogging in the past 9 months. Definitely I’d have to agree there is a certain level of commitment to be being a blogger and it has to be something you want to do.
My blogging is an important part of my personal learning; but I also like helping others. There is several parts to blogging; the posts you write, the comments written on your posts, the comments you leave on other people’s posts and linking between posts on different blogs to increase the conversation. The comments and the linking expands the learning because it provides alternative views that make your mind think — often setting you off in a totally different direction.
If you check out my early posts (look in the Archives on my blog) you will see my blogging skills have come a very long way. And it has taken time to build a community - first people need to know about your work but more importantly they need to connect with what/how you’ve written so they feel engaged enough to respond by commenting (that is where the skills of writing a good post come in).
I’ve learnt a lot and have a lot more to learn. The 31 Day Project had the greatest impact on my blogging skills.
2
tlehmann
// Apr 14, 2008 at 4:26 pm
From a personal note I like your idea of a blog to keep in touch with family members, especially those that you don’t get to see often. What a GREAT idea!
As far as teaching and learning is concerned blogs help me to record my reflections and learning. It helps me to clarify my understanding.
I plan to start an edublog for those purposes. I use my school blog for student learning and parent communication. It has been helpful to check for student ‘ learning.
3
Claire Thompson
// May 2, 2008 at 11:56 am
Hi Chris,
I’ve also gone through times when I wonder why I am still blogging–I feel guilty that I am not posting enough, and at times that no one seems to be reading my blog. But I’ve realized that my blog has to be for me. I love it when people comment, but if a post I’ve spent hours on doesn’t generate any comments that’s ok. It’s ok because the reflection part of posting is important to me and it’s ok because it is still helping me to become a better writer and educator.
I reached your blog from a comment you left on one of my posts. So thanks for your original comment and I’ve enjoyed reading your posts.
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