I am not gonna lie, I am feeling tired, a bit burnt out and lazy. It is Friday morning, I have a few preps to get some work done, but I am mostly caught up, so it is the perfect time to do a quick write up for the second meeting of our blogging club. The problem is I don’t really feel like doing it.
This is where modeling behavior you like to see comes in. One of the biggest questions I get from new teachers to blogging and interacting with the social web is, “Where do you find the time?” The answer is I don’t find the time. Time is not something that is found; it is made. It is shaped. Expanded and collapsed. It is used or misused. So while I could just relax and maybe surf the web, or perhaps work on my Areas of Interaction wall display, or finish up the work on my ESL oral assessments, I am choosing to take twenty minutes and quickly jot done a few ideas about our second session. Why? Because I believe in the value of routine and writing and reflection and blogging. Time is a choice, or better stated a series of choices.
While some may see the use of twenty minutes as a frivolous hobby, I see it as professional development. I see it as my chance to reflect on the work I do. This reflection and growth professionally and personally is one of the most important aspects of my life. I see it as time well spent, not wasted. We are all busy. Take a look at Dean Shareski’s thoughts on the subject of busyness, but we have a choice on how we use our time. So without further ado. A quick recap:
1. I came to the conclusion that perhaps many of the participants are not ready or willing, or need to commit to this level of involvement with their own reflection. They do not want to create a professional blog where they ponder the merits of online communication and community building. They simply want to learn how to use the tool to create a space that will help them connect with, and engage with their students and parent community. I also learned that this is okay. We cannot expect that everyone will find value in one model of blogging. The secret I think is to offer people exposure, show them the options and help guide them to where they want to go, not where we want to take them.
If our elementary school art teacher wants to create a platform to share student work with a wider audience, instead of writing about the process, that is totally okay. I need to find out where she is and help move her to where she wants to go. So many times technology enthusiasts want to show everyone everything at once, and are shocked that perhaps a teacher doesn’t want to follow.
2. I got a good sense of what everyone wants from their blogs and we began to discuss and explore design and platforms. Teachers are using Blogger and WordPress themes. I did some research to try and find the best tool for embedding slideshows on a Blogger account and feel I found some great choices to offer. The question for me, however, is how can I empower the teachers to find these options for themselves? How can we demonstrate to teachers that there is value in taking time to research solutions to the problems they face? How can we show them that struggling with technology is what learning looks like, and in the long run figuring out how to do something for yourself is not wasting time, but actually it is them learning?
I don’t want to take anymore of your time, but I am curious of what you think. If you are one of the teachers here at SWA, please leave a comment, and let’s see if we can carve out a conversation as we help build the tools you need. Take ten minutes and try to hash out your thoughts. They don’t have to be complete or perfect. This point cannot be better made than by reading over this post and highlighting the many typos and mistakes. A blog is a place to reflect and talk, not to write your opus.
I want to close by saying how great it is that you do make the time every week to join us and learn about something new. Thank you. Your time is valued and appreciated, because I know you could be doing a million other things.
Jabiz,
I think you hit the nail on the head by saying that leading by example is the best way. But I think the examples should come from all of us, as we step out and try new tools, new platforms, or new widgets, it might inspire others to spend 20 minutes or so and find whatever tools they can best use.
Thanks for the extra work you’re putting into this. In order to lead by example, I, too, will put in extra time today and this week’s newsletter on my new class blog rather than send it out as a PDF.
There. I’ve said it. Now I’ve just got to do it…
Adele
Thanks for the support and enthusiasm Adele, but keep in mind a blog need not be “extra” time. You were spending the time already on a news letter, the blog is simply a tool that allows easier and wider access to the work you have already done. You could even, if you wanted create the PDF and simply embed it in your blog, so parents can download or print if they want. See Scribd: http://www.scribd.com/
Here is an example:
http://mrraisdana.blogspot.com/2010/09/grade-8-assessment-overview-power-of.html
I am so glad that you are Kaia’s teacher, because I get to reap the benefits of your desire to communicate her learning, and I get to learn more about you and your teaching, so I can help her at home. Everyone wins.
Jabiz,
It’s extra time only in the beginning, as I’m building the site. Ultimately, I believe I’ll use less time communicating through the blog than I would doing newsletters.
I’ve started the class blog. Let’s hope the rest of the parents like the fact that we now have a blog… I’ll send a note out this week asking if they want it to be password protected or not.
I helped Mel build a blog last night, too. Maybe all the EY classes will have blogs soon! I think it’s a perfect tool for communicating with parents of young learners.
Thanks again for your guidance.
Jabiz,
You are correct about the time issue. It is a commitment one needs to make and then actively choose to use time wisely; not easily done. Actually, I’m writing this response during Blogger’s Cafe, so one possible solution to help encourage is exactly what you are doing, offering a time and a place to do it. People always find it easier to make a good choice we others are doing it as well. We have so many possible distractions in our lives as educators — marking, planning, meetings, etc. It is easy to not make the difficult choice. For the two years I was Dean of Students in the middle school, I intentionally forced myself to blog, but I set time limits for myself which helped make it possible. Many times I’d say, “OK, I have ten minutes to write a post.” And, due to many other pressing matters, I’d stick with the time and post after my ten minutes of writing. I think everyone can commit to ten minutes a week, which is one blog post a week. 52 posts in a year — and that ain’t bad. Of course, once the habit is built, the writing will expand and continue. Keep fighting the good fight!
Interesting comments – I can sense your passion for blogging (and totally agree by the way). I believe that encouraging teachers to find a few other teacher blogs to follow is great motivation. They see examples of topics as well as embedded material and tools as well as hopefully develop a relationship to make their own blogging more purposeful. They will see that there are so many other people learning as well.
This of course, does not answer the ‘time’ issue but that seems to be the perennial excuse for many things. Once the connections are made, the time seems less important as we are gaining so many positives.
Interesting to read over this – i think you hit the nail on the head in your first session where you said that you have to work out what you want to do and then find the technological tool to help you do it. This might be easier said than done – as some people may just want to “learn how to set up a blog”.
I walked away from that first meeting disturbingly confused about what i wanted to do/share – partly because i didn’t really appreciate the forum and partly because i hadn’t given any time to thinking about it – i just wanted to learn to play around a little and explore new territory.
But things are moving. Firstly – i am loving blogging on personal level and it’s getting me thinking about a lot of things that i want to share and reflect on in my personal life. It’s cathartic and a great way to stay connected.
More excitingly though – i now know exactly what i want to do and how i want to set up my professional blog – i’m excited about it – not just about the potential for what will be on it but excited about the process i will need to go through to get what i want up there.
Anyway – i’m excited about it and ready to experiment! Watch this space!
thanks for your effort on this