I had an interesting revelation today. This blog will turn ten years old in a little over a week. I used to blog a lot more than I do now, and I have tried to figure out why. I am no less interested in educational issues than I was when I started blogging. I am still invested in blogging as a way to learn and reflect, too. So what gives?
One reason I started this blog ten years ago is I needed validation. I was not getting it where I taught. I was not teaching with other folks who were invested or thinking about blogging or, in some cases, even in reflecting. It was not an easy place. I needed to find my people. I was chatting with a work colleague about my blog today, and I mentioned that I didn’t blog as much after I started teaching at my current school, mainly because I am validated at work. I don’t think I realized it before, but I think blogging was a way for me to connect to other teachers so I didn’t feel like I was crazy. There were other people out there I could talk to about the issues that concerned me, and I had to go outside the school building to find that validation. Now, I tend to have more of those conversations with work colleagues. It’s refreshing.
However, I do find blogging to be a great way for me to think and reflect. Writing is the way I learn, and participating in the Slice of Life weekly writing challenge (is it a challenge? or a meme?) has given me a reason to blog. I have rediscovered why I wanted to blog in the first place. I even wrote a post about an educational issue that concerns me yesterday. I haven’t done that in a while. I really do miss the regular interaction with folks who read this blog as well as the thinking that writing here allows me to do.
Today I went to the Multicultural Teaching Institute (day one of a three-day conference). I am enjoying it so far. This conference gives participants plenty of time to think and talk to each other. It’s active, and I’m engaged. I really like all the journaling they are asking us to do. It’s like my English classes! We each received paper-cover Moleskine notebooks for journaling, and I love mine! I want to have a whole stack of them. I was able to talk about an incident that bothered me this year in a comfortable space and get a few tools for dealing with a similar incident in the future. The food is also great. Often, big conferences skimp on food, if they provide it at all, and it’s refreshing to see such care taken at this conference, mainly because when you gather teachers together, you need to feed them. If you are looking to learn more about diversity issues or multicultural education, I definitely recommend this conference. I think at this point, my mind is a little full, and we have just started, so I don’t have a lot of major reflections aside from the fact that the facilitation is great, and the teachers I have met so far are great. I think I will be learning a lot.
So, no creative writing for me today. Really just some reflection, and that’s a slice of my life today, too.
I have to remind myself at times that my blog often functions more as an online journal, as you say, a way to think through teaching. I, too, started blogging as a way to find my peeps. I have to remind myself, too, that not every post will hit its mark and that I don’t need to write a novel or a long short story to make a post valuable, if only for myself. I’m not much of a creative writer, so I’m defining SOL based on my own needs. I guess they can kick me out if that’s not okay!
Your post yesterday hit a chord (sorry I didn’t comment). As I was writing my slice today, I shared part of it w/ my son, and he told me I needed to include Shakespeare in my list. I told him I was focusing on American lit. 🙂
I know we agree about Shakespeare. Not including him in an American lit course makes sense to me. Not including him at all, as you and I would both agree, does not. I guess I took a leaf out of your book and decided the Slice would be whatever was on my mind that day.
I, too, became a blogger because I had so many things I wished to share as a teacher and no one in my school to share them with. I have now actually retired but I still enjoy the “virtual company” of this community of bloggers. Look forward to hearing more about the International Conference you are attening.
I don’t know what I will do when I retire. I enjoy the work so much. I know I would enjoy NOT working, too! But you know what I mean. I will have to stay plugged in to the community somehow.