The Blog Days of Summer #1 - Ready, Set, Go!

Have you found success in blogging? I am a struggling blogger and I'm not proud of it. I recently watched the movie, "Marley and Me" for the second time (yes, I sobbed just as much as the first time) and found that a particular scene reached out to me in regards to my blogging dilemma. One of the main characters had always imagined himself as a reporter, but somehow ended up being a columnist. His boss complimented him on the success of his column by saying, "you know what makes this work, you put yourself into the story."

Ready...Put Yourself into your Blog Posts - Write Like You Talk

Why take the time to blog? I started this blog back in December 2013 with the intention of wanting to share treasures of learning moments with others in my professional learning network and beyond. I have and will continue to benefit from so many that bravely put their stories out there, and I felt that it was time for me to be a contributor in this way. With that in mind, I have actually placed "The Blog Days of Summer" on to my calendar and I am going to make it happen. 

Set... Schedule a Time and Space for Blogging 

Why should teachers blog? To answer this, I need to think back to a time before the "blog" was invented.  Miss Williams, my 6th grade teacher, allowed two boa constrictors to slither around the classroom, she sat on a bean bag chair while teaching, and drove a bright green VW van. My mother worried that I wasn't learning all that I should in that classroom, but I was inspired and challenged daily. Mostly, I remember listening to her read the stories that she had written, herself. I thought that she was the most incredible writer in the world! I wanted to be just like her! This is where I first learned about the power of voice and word choice for creative writing. We even took time to write our titles and names of our stories in fancy calligraphy. Teacher blogs can serve students in many ways from academic modeling to developing a powerful home/school connection. It is especially powerful when teachers and students join together in a class blog space.  For some examples of teacher blogs check out Top 20 Teacher Blogs shared by Scholastic. 

Go... Find a Purpose and Audience and Start Blogging