There have been times when I’ve felt guilty about failing to blog about something. Usually, I feel like I’m missing an opportunity to share something with other educators, and then I rationalize it by affirming that nobody is depending on me for this, and if they don’t get it from me they’ll get it from any of the other numerous bloggers out there that people are subscribed to.
A comment by Miguel has really turned my thinking about that upside down though.
Blogging for me is an aid to remembering what I have learned…
[snip]
[Blogging… ] 1) Helps me remember what would otherwise be lost in a day’s worth of thinking and reflecting.2) Allows me to easily find those reflections in written form–in my own words and referencing the source.
This comment really got me thinking about two situations in particular. How many times have I gone to Google in order to find a resource, only to find a link back to my own blog right there among the top search results? It happens on a fairly regular basis. The second situation is how often I need to find a resource or solution that I’d already figured out but have since forgotten. I wind up returning to Google and trying to follow the same trail that I followed previously to figure out where I found the solution to.
It makes me wonder just how I’m very likely under-utiliziing this blog. With Miguel’s comments in mind, I realize that there’s a ton that I could and probably should be blogging, just so I have a record of all these little solutions that took some time and effort and I know I’ll need again some day. Share them on the blog and then other people could be getting some benefit from the effort and I’ll have my own record to refer back to.
There you go, my first resolution for 2007! To do more blogging the purpose of being used as a record for future self-reference.
Del.icio.us.
Firefox 2.0, Del.icio.us extenion to replace my Firefox Bookmarks. The key is to not only tag things like mad, but also annotate them. It’s quick, down, and dirty. Run a little script to incorporate the linkrolls onto your blog or allow del.icio.us to post your daily links to your blog.
Get creative with your tagging. “mustread” for me pushes that link to other linkrolls on my site. “toread” are important things that I want to come back to.
Del.icio.us has actually become my primary form of blogging. I hop onto Wordpress when I want to get reflective and build on an idea further.
I don’t follow Miquel’s blog, but I’d say that’s just about the most important reason I blog. When any number of problems, pieces of information, and resources and jumping out at me, it’s nice to have a way to get my thoughts down and be able to come back to them later.
Although I wouldn’t go so far as to create feeds for my “must reads” (the feed would be huge and I would get depressed not keeping up with it), I do have the feed from my Jots bookmarks on my site in case someone else finds them interesting.
I do a combination similar to John Penderson but my blog is inevitably a storehouse for what I need to focus on. It also allows me to store projects and be able to share them with people easily. No big attachments to get blocked in email.
I don’t make feeds but I tag w/ toread etc.
Steve - You should have a look at what Jim McGee says about blogging and his blogging practice. It’s exactly along the lines of what you are suggesting: bookmarks for your life.
[…] Finally, after writing instructions for quickcasting for the umteenth time, I decided it was time to organize my life with a blog. Steve Dembo has posted a similar resolution for 2007. I realize that there’s a ton that I could and probably should be blogging, just so I have a record of all these little solutions that took some time and effort and I know I’ll need again some day. […]
Great point!
I was just about to reflect on this general point myself. I see my own blog as sort of a resource for those teachers that I’m helping to see the benefit of maintaining a professional blog, and for blogging with their students.
To convince a teacher that blogging is worth it, that it helps us grow as professional educators, helps us to do our job, and unleashes lots of energy, learning, and growth between educators…..this point is very helpful.
Blogging myself helps me keep track of my own learning. The more I blog, the more I develop a sense that, “I’m onto some important learning here - I should blog about this.” Then, as I’m writing the blog, I deepen my understanding as I put my reflections into words, that solidifies the learning.
As you point out, a very important side benefit is that others can learn from your reflection!
Sorry if my reflections here are a “duh!” no brainer for those of you reading that are more experienced in the edublogosphere, but this just resonated with me, and stimulated me to express my thoughts more completely. Thanks, Steve!
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