Why blog?

This blog post is part of a 10-day blogging initiative started by @tina_zita back in January. I saw some amazing blog posts from many colleagues during the initial challenge, but wasn't able to contribute, myself... until now! This is blog post number 6/10.

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I have to say, this blog challenge has been pretty fun so far. It's to nice to just have TIME during the March Break to sit, write and reflect. And apparently, I'm not the only one who thinks so:

But blogging is about more than just writing.

It's About Reflecting

Many of my posts during this challenge have come from draft posts I created in the heat of the moment. I usually title them, and sometimes even jot down a point or two on the topic. But then that's it... weeks later, as I take the time to write out my thoughts on the subject, I have to ask myself: what was it I found so important at the time? What impact did this have on me? Does it still have an impact on me? How have I changed my perspective because of this event or topic?

We have so many amazing/crazy/aha moments day to day, but how many do we actually remember and reflect upon later? It may be weeks or months later, but an aha moment can be just as relevant, if only we can think back to what produced the aha in the first place. I love that blogging gives me a chance to sit down and remember (in a coherent fashion!), and tease out what I learned from my experiences in the time since.

It's About Sharing

I love this video: 

I'm trying some new things in my classes. Some of them are big things, a good many of them are small things, but most of the time I'm just tweaking things I've seen elsewhere, trying to get ideas to work for my particular set of students. But maybe some of those things might give another teacher an idea to try something new. Or maybe I'm working to solve the same problem as someone else.

If we don't share, we can't learn from each other or grow as teachers. It's hard to bounce ideas off each other when no one is sharing their ideas. So this is my little contribution back to the collective learning of my PLN.

It's About Learning

I always find that when I take the time to blog, I find myself suddenly getting caught up on others' blogs, too. Perhaps it goes back to the point about sharing - the more I write, the more I want to read what others have written. There are a good many teachers doing amazing things with their students: taking risks, making global connections, trying things I would never have thought to try. 

The conversations that begin after reading a blog post, or about a blog post in Twitter, help me push my thinking, question what and how I teach, and inspire me to become better. I've learned so much from teachers with whom I have yet to meet face-to-face, and yet I feel like I know them through their writing. I know I certainly wouldn't be as active in reading those blogs if I wasn't an active blogger myself.



It's all well and good to be able to write when we're on break, but taking the time to blog regularly in the middle of the busy-ness that is school is tough (I don't know how @avivaloca does it!). If it pushes me to become a better teacher though, it's well worth finding the time. Do you blog as often as you'd like? How do you schedule time to blog?