I have noticed that while many people link this blog — for which I am grateful — it remains low-profile. I know the main thing I can do to change that is simply to update more. That’s not so easy, but I suppose it is something I will have to make time for if I really wish to get this blog “out there.”
I suppose my question (here I go possibly opening a can of worms or worse) is what can I do to make this blog a better reading experience for you? Keep in mind there are some non-negotiables:
- I will not post negative comments about my school, colleagues, students, or their parents. I post under my real name, and I do not wish to bring trouble upon myself in order to entertain anyone else. Actually, to be honest, there isn’t much negative stuff to post.
- I don’t want to feel pressured to update every day. I am a full-time English teacher with three children, two of whom are small children, and I have only so many hours in the day. I would like to update more, but I cannot commit to updating daily.
- I will not post anything I would feel uncomfortable about my parents, adminstrators, students, or their parents reading. In fact, at one time or another, I think representatives from all of those groups have visited this blog, and I am committed to representing myself, my school, and my profession in a positive light.
That said, I’m willing to take suggestions.
I dunno, Dana. You've got a good thing going here — why change?
If there was one thing I'd like to see, It would be more of your class.huffenglish.com activities posted on the front page.
I guess the big question is, what types of things do YOU want to do?
Good luck!
Unfortunately, I think many of the "high profile" edublogs are often that way precisely because they print "juicy" negative stuff about students. That is not the case of the BEST high-profile edublogs but it is certainly true for many. A lot of people just don't like to read positive stuff.
If you're like me, ideas for postings tend to come in spurts — tons of ideas one day followed by days of nothing. If you don't want to actually post something new every day, you can write articles and set them up so that they will publish automatically later. (Ie. you can write three posts on night and set it up to publish one on Monday, one on Tuesday, another on Wednesday.) That kind of evens things out and gives the appearance of a daily update.
Above all, reflective teacher's comment is on the money — this is your blog. You do it the way you want.
One thing that may help is to nominate yrself for awards like this.. I wulda done it for you had I known it was in the offing.. Mebbe next year?
http://2006.weblogawards.org/
Question to ask yourself?
Why do I blog? To reflect? To offer ideas to others? To become notable? Your answer to this is going to help answer what you need to do.
Personally, I think you have a great blog with great posts. I agree with RT about the activities posted on front page.
I swearrrrrr I aint tooting my horn, but yesterday I wrote an entry that would be perfect for a lang arts class, game called "Ghost"
I think yr kids would wuvvvvv it
Lemme know if u hear of any weblog awards upcoming.. I'd be honored to nominate you
You, among udders..:).. like the reflective teacher are sooo kind in all the work/sharing you do
Syb (mex)
PS Also if I can help in yr study of best way to "mark" grammar, lemme know.. You have my e-mail.
Keep on keepin on
You can raise your profile (boost traffic) by leaving comments at other blogs. That kind of exposure does wonders.
Like instructivist says, comment on other blogs — budget some of your blogging time for commenting.
Also, I set aside a block of quiet time (usually early Sunday morning) and write a series of blog posts that I schedule for later in the week.
This gets people who read me in rss looking at the blog every day.
I agree with instructivist as well. I've noticed that since my daughter's birth 8 months ago, my time to update my blog, read other blogs, and comment on those blogs has diminshed. With that has come a drop off in the visitation to The Daily Grind.