The Why

So many people that I am friends with and have the fortunate opportunity to work with are bloggers. I get asked quite frequently if I have a blog.  My response is a flat out no.  I have been reading blogs for years and getting lots of good ideas to incorporate in my classroom or with the teachers I work with, so I guess I could say that I am or was a consumer of blogs.

A big push when starting new initiatives at my school now is get to the why.  Why are we doing this, why is this what's best for students.  Teachers (and all people I truly believe) want to understand the why.  I do as well.  So I began to reflect on why people blog and why I should blog.  I was trying to convince myself why this would be a good thing for me.

The first why I have is that blogging will be good to help me reflect.  I am always grappling with ideas and strategies that I want to use with teachers and students.  I am always grappling with what the best way to share information is.  I truly believe blogging can help me with this. I'm also afraid/nervous/worried with the reflection piece that blogging will make me feel vulnerable.  This completely pushes me out of my comfort zone.  Vulnerability is not something I am comfortable with at all.  But I truly believe this will be a good thing!

Another why of why I feel that blogging is something I need to do is the sharing piece.  For so long I have been a consumer of blogs.  I feel that is about time that I start sharing some of my ideas, and I can do this through blogging. Another hope I have with this piece is that by sharing I can get some feedback from other passionate educators to push my thinking even farther and make the good ideas better so that I can continue to grow.

Yet another why to add to this growing list is that I really want to improve on my writing skills.  I do not see myself as a writer at all. Not even a little bit.  I remember writing the infamous five paragraph essay in high school English class.  They were called "Timed Writings" back then.  And come to think of it, I never got one of those pieces back. I never remember receiving any feedback on what worked well and what could be tweaked.  How did anyone expect me to grow as a writer if I did not know how I did on any piece of writing?!  Craziness!

Here's another reason why I feel that blogging will help me. It will feed my own professional development and passions.  This could also lead me out of my comfort zone of simply reading tweets and blogs and hold me accountable by sharing what I'm learning, researching, and am passionate about.

Finally, a huge reason why this is so important to me is that I need to become a responsible digital citizen and to become part of the global digital learning community.  Becoming a parent has really changed me.  I need to model how to leave a positive digital footprint on this world for Gracie as well as my students.

I want to take this opportunity to thank anyone who read this and any feedback you have.  I truly appreciate you helping me on this journey of continued growth and welcome the opportunity to grow and learn with you!