I often try to articulate why I think blogging has been such a transformative action for me. Seth Godin and Tom Peters have articulated it brilliantly in 1 minute and 37 seconds. They are both marketers, but what they say is relevant to anyone who writes a blog. Watch this.
Then start blogging.
I’ve mentioned recently that my friend Nina has started writing a blog focusing on the early years classroom. She’s doing amazingly well, but already the questions have started.
Why are you doing this?
What do you think will come of it?
etc, etc, etc.
Anyone who blogs has heard it all before. The lack of understanding from some and their disbelief when you explain that you willingly do it in your time away from your workplace, is a more common reaction than the ‘good for you’, comment you might be expecting.
Reading Robert Darnton’s article yesterday, I was struck by something he wrote about the changing nature of publishing;
“The eighteenth-century Republic of Letters had been transformed into a professional Republic of Learning, and it is now open to amateurs—amateurs in the best sense of the word, lovers of learning among the general citizenry.”
This is why we blog.
We are lovers of learning.
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Funny, isn’t it?
You build up to something pretty big in your life and the adrenalin runs high. Event happens – all goes well and you have no need to feel bad about anything BUT…… you feel flat and wasted afterwards.
That’s how I feel.
I shouldn’t, but I do. I’ve been reflecting on the last four months and the incredible shifts that have happened in my life and the amazing things that have happened, and I’m exhausted just thinking about it. So, what has happened?
I’ve discovered a new community of teachers (and some students) and I’m learning from them.
I (and my students most importantly) have been involved in a global project that has extended us in ways we never thought possible.
I’ve learnt how to use Skype and found the world a very small place indeed.
This thing called Twitter has changed the way I find out about new ‘stuff’.
Writing this blog has taught me more about myself than I ever thought posssible.
I’m writing! Pretty amazing in itself – can knock off a thousand words in no time flat now. Would have scoffed had someone told me I’d be writing my own personal thesis six months ago.
My school sees me as a technology leader and innovator – cool!
I’ve presented at a major conference about why I think schools need to make the shift.
I average 6 hrs sleep a night (if I’m lucky)
And therein lies the rub. What I’m doing is charging my mental processes but it’s draining my physical state and is leaving me a bit vunerable at the moment. As I learn more and more the demands on me grow and I’m finding it hard to balance everything that is expected of me. I know this feeling will pass – I think what is needed is 12 hrs solid sleep to rejuvenate the weary bones.
This energised me earlier in the week. I tweeted Garr Reynolds about how my presentation was modelled on tips he provided at an authors at Google talk. Amazing traffic on my blog overnight led back to a tweet Garr himself put out about my post and what I had written about SlideRocket. Then when I checked junk email I discovered that Garr Reynolds was following me on Twitter.
WHAT! ME! Humble little blogger from Melbourne, Australia. I just had to capture the page with his followers for posterity’s sake. Look real close – that’s me – right under Guy Kawasaki. There’s my fifteen minutes – might as well stop right now!
*Lovely dinner last night in Melbourne with fellow bloggers Jo McLeay, Sue Tapp, Lauren O’Grady, Tony Richards, Al Upton, Howard Errey, Pam (from Sue’s school) and Helen Otway. Great to meet f2f and discover we can talk offline equally as well as we can online. Tony recorded a podcast for edtech crew. I think it’s being posted this Sunday – listen for my psychic story!
This morning I was skyped into a conversation about blogging on Darren Draper and Robin Ellis’ Open PD session. I found out about it via a conversation on Twitter with Sue Waters, who was musing about the difficulties of waking up at 5.00am (or earlier!) so that she could take part. Sue’s an incredibly generous person (and prolific blogger and twitterer) who is always willing to champion others and bring them into the fold. I’ve only been communicating with her a short while, but already this is blatantly evident. I always admire others willing to share the knowledge around – it’s the mark of a good teacher.
I had problems with ustream and the skype call dropped out a couple of times before we finally established connection, but it was well worth taking the time before work to get involved. Things like this make me realise that I am part of an incredible network of educators who are all focused on moving us forward. I’ve said it before but it is the stand out impression I’m left with after entering the edublogosphere. It’s like I’ve discovered the staffroom I always wanted to be a part of except that it exists in a digital environment!
On another good note, I had parent teacher interviews tonight and showed many parents our blog which is set to private. I discussed the notion of moving it to public in the future so that our students could connect with classrooms outside of our walls. Mostly positive reactions to the idea with comments referring to myspace and facebook and the internet presence the kids already have. Very interesting. I sense a shift in the air.
I’ve been talking a lot recently about trying to get balance in my life – kinda feel like things are a bit out of control and I need to work smarter not harder (favourite saying of my husband!!) This is looming larger as I face the prospect of the start of term two tomorrow and all that that will bring with it. We have our Project Global Cooling concert on Saturday the 19th of April and this is going to mean full on commitment for the next two weeks along with parent teacher nights and the expectations of my job. To top it all off I read Will Richardson’s latest post that referred to a New York Times article (In Web World of 24/7 Stress, Writers Blog Till They Drop) about bloggers who have suffered heart attacks and died recently. It seems that the pressure of posting regularly and pipping other bloggers at the post may have contributed to the deaths of two prominent bloggers in the technology arena. These are bloggers who get paid per post. I don’t get a cent yet feel some of that pressure. I have to admit this is self inflicted as I set myself the onerous task of trying to write a post a day this year- sometimes I do think I am my own worst enemy.
I’m about to set myself another onerous target and announce it publicly here. All this blogging has led to a sedentary state of affairs and all that comes with it. I used to be an avid exerciser (are you getting any clues about me yet- my obsessive compulsive addiction to things- I’m learning things about myself as I write!!) I used to be proud of my biceps and triceps but no more. Something needs to be done. I have an impressive set of weights in my back room but haven’t been near them in months. Time for change. Tomorrow sees a new lifestyle that marries with my networked life. I’m introducing Twittercise and encourage you to join me, particularly if you live in Australia or have a complimentary time zone. I’m going to tweet on Twitter when I’m starting my Twittercise session and hope it may prompt some of you to get out of your seats and do a bit of good old fashioned exercise. It may be walking the dog, doing sit ups, or pumping weights. Whatever works for you. We have to recognise that the sedentary online lifestyle is doing our health no good. Balance is very important and a healthy body and lifestyle contribute to this (as well as the regular blog post!). Hope to see some of you readers joining me. I’m jennyluca on Twitter – look for the tweets – probably around 7.00 – 7.30 Melbourne time all going well. Our new approach to our networked life starts tomorrow!!
Lucacept - intercepting the Web 