I’ve kept a blog on and off for about 10 years now. I’ve had this blog for about half of that time, though I’m hit and miss on keeping up with posts. I love to talk to people about starting a blog, and I often hear questions like

• What if no one reads it?
• What would I write about?
• I don’t have anything valuable to contribute.
• How much time does it take?
• How do I get started?
• What site should I use?

Here’s the thing – I think that, as a teacher, I need to continue a writing practice. I’m continually asking students to reflect and write, and I believe strongly that we shouldn’t ask students to do things we are not willing to do ourselves.

So, I blog because it’s my way to write and reflect. Like our student, I prefer that to be in an authentic way that is published to a real audience. The easiest way to do that is with a blog!

I think that teachers need to share their successes with each other so we can all improve. We need to be discussing our challenges so that we can collaborate to solve problems. We need to be looking at the big issues in education and the world around us. These big problems aren’t going to solve themselves, and it’s going to take everyone working together to make real change.

So if you’re wondering about starting a blog, I would encourage you to do so. Here are my standard responses to the questions above –

• You’re going to read it.
• What you have to say is important
• Your voice matters.
• It takes as much time as you put in.
• There are lots of blogging platforms. Just pick one! 😀

If you still aren’t sure what to write about – check out my ReflectionEDU post for one way to frame your posts.

Even better – just choose something you care about and start writing. I care about developing a reflective practice, but that may not be your platform. You do you!

You can do it. I’d love to read it when you do. Please post your link below or tag me on Twitter!