After years of reading numerous blog posts from dozens of educators I have been inspired and motivated to setup a blog of my own. Four educators that I really admire (two I've met in person, one I've skyped with numerous times, and one I have not met) have given me loads of ideas to use in my classroom and really stretched my thinking are a big part of this motivation. Thanks, gentlemen - Greg Kulowiec (The History 2.0 Classroom and @gregkulowiec), Eric Langhorst (Speaking of History and @ELanghorst), Stephen Lazar (Outside the Cave and @SLazarOtC) and Josh Stumpenhorst (Stump the Teacher and @stumpteacher).
I've thought about blogging before and tried my hand at it (twice) and have given up (twice). Why? Probably because I'm not so sure that anything I have to say is really all that interesting or worthwhile...I suppose that's because my two previous attempts were blogs about prolonged time overseas. They were more a way to keep in touch with family than anything else.
With this new blog I hope to accomplish a couple of things. One, it will first and foremost be a place for me to reflect on education and my own teaching. I have no illusions that what I write here will be profound or transformational...but should I pick up a few readers along the way, a comment here or there, then that's just fine too. Second, I hope to share different teaching strategies and projects that I'm doing in my classroom. I work with a tremendous team of teachers and have a lot of support, so I hope to share some of our successes (and occasional failures as we try something new that doesn't quite pan out).
So, because I have to start somewhere...I'll consider this the start.
I recently started Blogging myself mainly as a way to reflect and process too. It's fun to read about other teachers travelling a similar journey. Good Luck, look forward to reading about your projects and strategies
ReplyDeleteGood luck with it. I think the key to doing this regularly is to be writing for yourself.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who continues to struggle with finding my own blogging voice, I wish you nothing but luck. I look forward to reading more about your classroom.
ReplyDeleteRyan, I recently started blogging with my teaching partner (about 2 months now) and it has been extremely rewarding! It takes reflecting and collaborating to a whole new level... Congrats on your new endeavor. (and glad to see a soccer fan in the midst!) ~ Celina
ReplyDeleteThanks all for the positive feedback/encouragement...Stephen, I think you said it best - to keep doing it I need it to be for me, organize my thoughts about what I'm doing, why I'm doing it, and whether or not what I'm doing is working/sound practice.
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