1) Blogging causes you to reflect. Donald Schon suggested that reflection on, in and through practice were vital components of any professional practice. Teachers naturally think back on what has happened in their classroom, and often wonder what they could have done better. Blogging can help with this process, enabling teachers to keep an ongoing personal record of their actions, decisions, though processes, successes and failures, and issues they have to deal with.
2) Blogging can crystalise your thinking. In the act of writing, said Daniel Chandler, we are written. As we write, we invest a part of ourselves into the medium. The provisionality of the medium makes blogging conducive to drafting and redrafting. The act of composing and recomposing ideas can enable abstract thoughts to become more concrete. Your ideas are now on the screen in front of you; they can be stored, retrieved and reconstructed as your ideas become clearer. You don't have to publish if you want to keep those thoughts private. Save them and come back to them later. The blog can act as a kind of mirror to show you what you are thinking. Sometimes we don't really know what we are thinking until we actually write it down in a physical format.
3) Blogging can open up new audiences. You can become a teacher within an infinitely larger classroom, and as you blog on subjects you think are interesting, you will discover that there are plenty of other education professionals 'out there' who are also interested. People who are interested will eventually find your blog and visit it regularly to see if they can learn something new from you.
4) Blogging can create personal momentum. Once you have started blogging, and you realise that you can actually do it, you will probably want to develop your skills further. Blogging can be time consuming, but the rewards are ultimately worth it. In my own experience, I find myself breaking out of inertia to create some forward movement in my thinking especially when I blog about 'edgy' topics that may be emotive, controversial, challenging. The more you blog, the better you become at writing for your audience, managing your arguments, defending your position, thinking critically.
5) Blogging can give you valuable feedback. As you gain feedback from your readership, you gain a sense of peer review, sometimes challenging and refuting your ideas (tricky to handle, but be open minded and you will learn a lot from constructive criticism) or affirming what you already believe to be true (some feedback from readers adds further value to your blogpost, and it's there for all to read). Affirmation of your own beliefs can be a powerful enabler for you as a professional practitioner.
6) Blogging can be creative. If you persist with blogging, you will discover that you develop new and creative ways to articulate what you want to say. As I write, I often search for alternative ways to express myself, and this can be through images, quotes, a retelling of old experiences through stories, videos, audio, or useful hyperlink to related web resources. You have many ways to convey your ideas, and you are simply limited to your own imagination. Try out new ways of communicating and take risks. Blogging is the platform that allows you to be creative.
7) Blogging can raise your game. Blogging is immediate. As soon as you press the Publish button, your ideas are on the web in front of a potential worldwide audience. Time and again I have heard from other teachers (and students) that they take much more care over grammatical construction, spelling and punctuation when they discover they have an audience.
Italian version (translated by Michele Ricci)
Image source (edited)
Seven reasons teachers should blog by Steve Wheeler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
8) Blogging is fun. I know this may sound unprofessional but why shouldn't teachers enjoy themselves once in a while? If teachers realise the enjoyment of blogging then they may be more likely to encourage it in their learners ans, consequently, afford the learners the benefits of blogging.
ReplyDeleteYou're absolutely right of course @Doug! And it's not unprofessional for people to enjoy themselves during work. I think it was Mohandes Gandhi who said 'find something you enjoy doing and you will never need to work again'
ReplyDelete9. Blogging can develop a greater sense of professional agency and ownership. This is especially important in the U.S., where curricula and practice are being "teacher-proofed" and the ever-growing devotion to high-stakes testing sends the message to educators that not only are they incompetent, they are the Source Of All That Is Wrong in education today.
ReplyDelete(For example, see this open letter to US Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan: http://wapo.st/jT0ggH)
Nice! Totally agree!
DeleteThere are many good reasons to blog. However, fact is that many schools have multiple issues with blogging: 1) policies of blocking blogs and other social networking sites to prevent "distractions" in school settings, 2) major concerns with privacy of student information, 3) a) fear of teachers bad-mouthing the organizations they work for, or b) otherwise exposing flaws and problems within the school, 4) a lack of technical know-how on the part of older teachers, 5) embarrassment at the state of their institutions and classroom practices.
ReplyDelete@Karen. Yes, another good addition to the list. Ownership is an important issue for all professional practitioners.
ReplyDelete@Peter - I understand your situation. I guess it's down to professionalism ultimately, and there is always the option to blog from home, and sometimes... anonymously perhaps?
ReplyDelete10 Provide a venue for professionals to meet up and exchange ideas. Downside no decent beer, pork-scratchings, or tasteful carpet.
ReplyDeleteI agree wholeheartedly! I find it so valuable that I got my students blogging last year! My blog is a place to flex my brain--on issues relating to education and then some. I think the only thing that makes me hesitant to write more about my views of teaching and learning is the fact that the field of education seems so polarized right now. People are so critical--and many times not in a constructive way.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Doug--blogging is fun! But it isn't fun to be bombarded by negative feedback. How can we make education blogs places for positive and constructive dialogue rather than places where teachers judge each other, or remind each other about all that is bad in public education?
I agree wholeheartedly! I find it so valuable that I got my students blogging last year! My blog is a place to flex my brain--on issues relating to education and then some. I think the only thing that makes me hesitant to write more about my views of teaching and learning is the fact that the field of education seems so polarized right now. People are so critical--and many times not in a constructive way.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Doug--blogging is fun! But it isn't fun to be bombarded by negative feedback. How can we make education blogs places for positive and constructive dialogue rather than places where teachers judge each other, or remind each other about all that is bad in public education?
I love blogging, too, but I'm having a hard time dealing with getting NO comments EVER. It feels great to put my thoughts down, and organize them, so I still get something out of it. But I guess what I'm blogging about must not be very inspiring?
ReplyDelete@Audrey please send me your URL and I will tweet it out to my PLN to see if we can encourage you a little :-)
ReplyDeleteThat's way nice of you, Steve. I emailed it to you, but I feel a little pathetic now! Please don't feel obliged!
ReplyDeleteHi Audrey. I know someone who had that problem and it turned out he had a technical problem that ate the comments!
DeleteSome other things that could help (i should turn THIS into a blogpost!) include
A. Promote on social media (twitter, Facebook - on Twitter use hashtags and tweet maybe 3 times over a day or two)
B. Respond to other people's blogposts. Like u just did now ;)
C. Ask a question at the end of your post.
Even those of us who get many comments get many readers who DON'T comment. I get maybe 50 readers on a post and 4 comments and 200 readers on another post and NO comments. It depends on the post and whether your readers are the kind who comment :) My f2f friends never comment online (the max they do is facebook comments) then mention it in a convo.
I began blogging in December 2010. I had only one reason for beginning, I wanted to introduce blogging to my students and knew that in order to do this effectively I had to become literate in blogging. It was not enough to be a reader of blogs, I had to understand the underlying structure and purpose; I had to determine how blogs create meaning. I needed to understand blogging as a genre. I think it is incumbent upon teachers to learn these new genres. We need to be looking forward to the world our students are living in, not back at our own fondly remembered pasts.
ReplyDeleteOne benefit of blogging is becoming literate in new technologies. When I first began it was difficult teaching myself how to create the blog, install gadgets, upload video and pictures or add a map. Each step was tedious because I had to learn to think differently. I would still not describe myself as an expert, but am confident that I can now quickly figure out any tool because the underlying logic of all Web 2.0 tools is the same. Blogging is an excellent way of entering into new forms of literacy. Which makes me wonder, why would any educator choose to remain illiterate?
It's a great way of learning how to do it Heidi ;-) I have always considered modelling of best practice as one of the more powerful pedagogical methods.
ReplyDeleteHi, Steeve, I started blogging last september.Since then I have posted some 125 blogposts. Howeber, as one of the commentators above said, there are very few comments.Still, I enjoy it because it makes me reflect and write. There are readers though even if they don't comment ftequently. I have tried to convince some people among the university staff but they seem a bit suspicious. Unfortunately!
ReplyDeleteI am very excited to be starting my blog. I have always been a secret blog reader and not had the confidence to write anything down. I can now see the benifits of recording my ideas and reflecting on my practice and if other people can take something from it even better!
ReplyDeleteGreat posts here, as usual, thanks! How about Reason #8: to get their students to blog, and maybe, like this: http://agirlsbusiness.wordpress.com/. Enjoy! - Bruce Spear
ReplyDeletethx
ReplyDeleteNo blog comments could well be due to the fact that the blog is not being found
ReplyDeleteA little effort making the blog friendly for the search engines could work wonders
Blogging seems to be, in my humble opinion, the most reasonable choice after having tried all other social plateforms. It is the center of gravity around which all alternatives gravitate.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your valuable input.
I am introducing my students into blogging this new school year. I came up with a list of reasons why students should blog and put them up in my blog for them to read. Blogging has been a great help for me in my professional development.
ReplyDeletemade reference to your blog here
ReplyDeletehttp://weelookang.blogspot.com/2011/09/three-reasons-why-teachers-should-blog.html
Thank you, Steve for your post. The seven reasons are good valid reasons that resonate with my own experiences with blogging. Being a first time blogger, I have to admit that blogging does not come naturally to me. I think it might go back to my subconscious thinking that web surfing was more like walking on rice paper-- It was best to try leaving behind no trace of where you walked (or surfed). Now it is all about creating a digital footprint or footprints.
ReplyDeleteWhile still posing a challenge, it has been personally rewarding to make those initial connections via blog posts, Twitter, etc. and building my Personal Learning Network. Having a busy schedule at work combined with a challenging family schedule (I have two young, energetic boys) make it a little challenging to go to professional development opportunities or to deepen my involvement with committees, professional organizations, etc.. Blogging and reading other professional blogs has helped fill the void that I once felt because of a lack of professional conversations.
May I add that combining written blogging with videos taken from my iPad2 and uploaded to YouTube has allowed me to reflect while being much more efficient!
ReplyDeleteSome great themes in your post, particularly the ownership, and crystallisation of thoughts.
ReplyDeleteAnother is promotion, schools and teachers should not be shy about promoting themselves.
http://gjismyp.wordpress.com/
Some great themes in your post, particularly the ownership, and crystallisation of thoughts.
ReplyDeleteAnother is promotion, schools and teachers should not be shy about promoting themselves.
http://gjismyp.wordpress.com/
Blogging is oddly selfish nd selfish for me. It's cathartic yo put down thoughts and share and rewarding IF you receive feedback. Thanks for your post!
ReplyDeleteWow an excellent article. I am leading a school CPD session on blogging this week and will use these reasons for blogging in my introduction if that's okay.
ReplyDeleteI have written a blog for a year and a half which is just for my pupils and is little more than copied resources from the lesson to help them with homework and similar posts. However by sticking with this over time it has gained its own momentum both with my pupils and from outside of our school. I added one of those maps to show where people are clicking on my blog from. It is SO satisfying to see the dots appear in different continents!!
More recently I have started a 2nd blog which is more about my practice and about my ideas on education. This has allowed me to reflect more effectively and in a more structured way on how I am doing my job.
Anyways my aim for the CPD session is not to talk much but to get everyone having actually started a blog by the end of the hour and a quarter. I have a second session later in June and I plan to get those who have carried on with their blog back in so we can all compare notes.
Finally I met 2 of your student teachers at the recent Microsoft teachers forum in reading last week. They spoke very well on the advantages they have found in blogging and with tweeting. I have included links to their blogs in my pack for the CPD session
I think that if you replace the word 'teacher' with the word 'student' then the reasons for blogging become even more powerful. Might even solve the issue of homework!
ReplyDeleteDo you know of any good sites that host/curate outstanding student blogs?
Great article
Phil
Hi Steve, would it be possible to include your post in One Change A Day blog that we have started to create which will feature posts during 2012 relating to education and change?
ReplyDelete@nicolaavery Yes of course. All my posts are licenced under Creative Commons for non-commercial use and attribution to the author. Feel free under those terms to use whatever you wish from this blog.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Steve :) now live at http://moocblogcalendar.wordpress.com/2012/01/14/seven-reasons-teachers-should-blog/
ReplyDeleteSo true!
ReplyDeleteBlogging for me is everything you have mentioned!!!
Thanks so much for that awesome quote "in the act of writing we are written"
Naomi
Glad you found this useful Naomi. Thanks for dropping by :)
ReplyDeleteFreedom is Blogging in Your Underwear! First thing I thought of as I read this post! (Just blogged on that very thing!) Blogging helps to establish a positive (well, as positive as your blog posts are) digital footprint too. I once read that in the same way an irresponsible digital footprint would be held against you, so too would no footprint at all. Great list. I work at a school where blogging is in its infancy so this might help move some teachers forward. Appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteI find blogging to be an excellent form of professional development. It enables me to collect my thoughts and remove the noise, making me more likely to take action and have a clear vision. I think some teachers are worried about blogging though because of how public it is. What if they say something which their school takes offence to or which gives pupils an insight into their private life.
ReplyDeleteBingo, Steve - perfect assessment of the pluses of regular, insightful or even playful writing. I agree with the earlier comment that these are all great reasons for students to blog as well. I believe that there is a blogger inside of most of us, just wondering if anyone would want to hear. Let's shout out: Yes! We grow when we learn the hearts, creativity, and professional strengths and weaknesses of others. Thank you! Off to retweet and work through the process of opening a private blog to public and fashioning another.
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ReplyDeleteI find your article opens up a lot for thought and discussion. We are, moving away from the use of pen and paper and a blog pretty much functions the same way.
ReplyDelete1. Enables us to think, reflect
2. to share and create an audience
3. to involve others in our learning.
I enjoy blogging, but reading your blog has made me nostalgic about the feel of crisp paper and a pen in hand. I feel the most important thing to learn for al of us as educators, is the use of technology as our thinking tool. Innovation, creation and imagination will all come after that.
That's 7 yes votes from me - I agree with all of those! It is such a good opportunity for reflection, I often come up with new ideas for my classes as I write.
ReplyDeleteVery nice post. Yes blogging brings a platform for teachers to reflect himself and it is a powerful media to share your ideas and views worldwide. Blogging is also helpful to find new and creative ideas.
ReplyDeleteGreat read. I think it's past time that we move away from pen and paper and begin to document things in a way that will be shared among all educational professionals. So much of what we do overlaps with others in their educational paths, so it would be an asset to be able to read about what others are doing. I'd be keen to know more psychology in teaching toddlers from another teacher who has gone through the same thing. Blogging can also be a tool to help establish teachers in their professions.
ReplyDeleteGreat post. I'am going to share this staff at my school. I just started blogging as well. http://leaderinadigitalworld.blogspot.ca. Thanks for all the reasons.
ReplyDeleteAs teachers and leaders we probably feel a mixture of the desire to instruct and explore ( not necessarily in that order)whilst a little bit exposed too when first blogging. Like them really. Purpose, structure and clarity are key. Digital skills development is a genuine benefit of the process as is the cathartic and reflective processing. A few frills and aesthetic design don't go amiss either. I used to think it an indulgengence but it isnt: some bloggers are an absolute credit to our profession.
ReplyDelete