Just listening to @dougpete on the Jisc podcast and he has forced me to write when I don’t have any time to write. He says there’s no such thing as a bad blog.
I have been hearing the same question over the past little while: where do you find the time to blog? Briefly, I am: finishing my MA and looking for a supervisor for my thesis; completing a post-baccalaureate certificate in Instructional Design; developing 2 webinars for my professional organization; reading my Twitter feed (this is time-consuming!); setting up my students in a blog and connecting with other educators to share/comment on them; guest-moderating a Twitter chat next week; on a PD committee for our faculty; preparing a presentation for a conference in November
And I still made the time to write this blog.
What I don’t have time for:
- Television
- Reading for “fun” – the educational stuff is fun
- Procrastinating
Why am I doing all of this?
My PLN on Twitter is inspiring, and each exchange leads me to a new perspective or idea. I feel my classroom experience is transforming into a better, richer experience for the teacher and students. I’m an ESL teacher with many years notched in my belt, and I’ve never felt more involved or interested in my profession.
Blogging is just another way to explore and reflect – what worked, what didn’t work, what inspired. I think promoting others’ successes is powerful. Reading someone else’s ideas makes me appreciate their care for their students and their bravery to share publicly. So now I share, too.
What has inspired me:
- The Syrian refugee crisis
- My colleagues
- My students
- K-12 educators – good golly, can we college educators catch up with them? They are doing some fantastic things in classrooms
- Doug Peterson’s reflections
- Twitter chats
- The myriad of ideas (even ones I don’t agreed with) that I come across every day on Twitter
- The positive vibe from educators blogging and sharing on Twitter
- The connections I’ve made with people I’ve only met virtually
I really don’t have the time to edit this blog. But I really wanted to share. Thanks, Doug.
Anna Bartosik - Researching PD in 280 
I’m not sure whether to be proud or ashamed for this post! I appreciate the acknowledgement and will say that I enjoy your writing when it happens. I think that the key here is your use of the term connections; that’s so important. I got pushback on Twitter this morning about why teachers just don’t talk to each other face to face. I guess I just took that for granted and never considered it an either/or situation. I’d absolutely never be an advocate for anyone to cocoon and not to talk to other professionals. I do like the fact that blogging is a relatively permanent artifact for thinking and sharing and, ultimately reflecting when you look back at your thoughts.
p.s. sorry about the podcast; it was a request from Jisc. I think like most people, I hate my voice. At least, I wasn’t singing!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Doug,
You should be proud.
I do my share of collaborating at work, but connections that are made online go beyond the personal – we’re online and on Twitter because we want to be there – these connections need more nurturing because the contact is limited, but also less, because we have a common goal. It’s too bad that you got some backlash for your post, because online connections are authentic. Speaking to one of the converted.
The podcast was the only reason why I had time to write – I listened as I wrote, and yes, I hate my voice, too, but thought it was nice to put a voice to your words.
LikeLike
[…] Not Just another Bad Blog […]
LikeLike