Why do I feel guilty?
Comments(4) | I was just catching up on Ewan McIntosh’s blogs and feeling guilty. Ewan seems to post a new blog every hour of the day except when he’s delivering presentations about blogging. And me? Once a month or so I look at this blog that I’ve started and think ‘I should add to this’ and then promptly forget.
I think I feel guilty because one of the points of a blog is that you can record fleeting moments and ideas and move on and I find that difficult. I blame the teachers. When I was at school many many years ago we were exorted to plan, draft and revise a piece of writing before it was deemed respectable enough to be seen in public. Just putting an idea quickly on paper (or now, online) does not come easily.
So I need to learn how best to change. Do I force myself to post something every day or so and take the risk that I might not have anything intersting to say? I’m not sure.
Anyway, why bother? So many blogs are only read by their authors that there’s little need for another. Do I have anything to say that’s of interest to anyone?
I decided to focus this blog on ICT and education because I know quite a lot about it. I’ve been in education in various guises for over 30 years and have been involved with computers since the first Commodore Pets (which were probably made before Ewan was born!) so I have a lot of experience and a lot of opinions (some actually considered) which I’m happy to share.
Old habits are hard to break – I found myself reading over what I’d written so far and making amendments.
Right. Stop feeling guilty. Start recording passing thoughts. Don’t worry about revision. life’s too short.
Now just give me a moment while I check this over before publishi
Hi andy,
If you are trying to catch up with Ewan you have set yourself a rather tough challenge;-)
I guess it depends on your focus, I blog to note interesting things, play with some tech and test out things that I hope the children will eventually play with. Mostly really for myself, but it is nice when someone shares an interest.
I think we might have reached a tipping point is Scots Edu blogging now, eLive brought a flurry of posts:
eLive and the Scots Edu Blogosphere and flickr activity.
I also think it would surprise you how many folk read blogs, with RSS readers it is easy for me to keep up with occasionally posts from lots of folk with out checking sites every day.
Hi Andy,
I don’t spend a lot of time blogging or reading blogs – strictly 30 minutes max on each part, sometimes one hour on one and none on the other. I also go for weeks sometimes without posting and then have a run of thoughts. Like you say, I need to note down these passing thoughts or I forget. But once I’ve written them they stay in my mind somewhere, to be brought out at a later date and, above all, affect the way I teach.
I don’t think anyone needs to post unless they have something they want to say or note down, for themselves or their audience. My blog started out with only two readers and grew with time as I wrote more and became better at writing quite well first time round, without edits. And sometimes my posts just aren’t that good at all… C’est la vie
When I started a blog Andy I thought I would use it just to let people know in my local authority where I had been and what I had been doing. I was tired of having the same conversation in every school I went into, when there was a much more effective way of comminicating. It was also a great opportunity to think out loud. I couldn’t believe how many people outside of my area bothered to read it. I agree with John and Ewan – sometimes posts don’t come out too well when they are written at first – the great thing about comments is other people can then be involved in the formulation of our ideas.
Up until the Scotedublogs meet-up last week, I hadn’t met in person a number of people who greatly shape my thinking – without blogs, I would never have known this!
As the others have said, I think we all have these feelings when we start blogging. But as we grow into it, we find our groove. And everyone’s is different. I, too, thought that no one would read my blog when I started, but you read it today. And maybe most of what I write about isn’t earth-shattering, but it sometimes touches a chord in someone else, and that is a priceless experience as far as I am concerned. And, as Ewan said, by writing all this stuff down, it stays with me. I can go back to it whenever I want. And as others comment, my own thinking is broadened.
I have said many times before that the best professional develoment I have ever had has been through my blog and the blogs I read. I am happy to add your blog to that list.