The BSMS Wingspan - An Experiment in Blogging

I have been to several professional development seminars and seen several keynote speakers and read several professional development books which all hail the joy of blogging for educators. (George Couros has a lot to say on the subject... in his blog.)

Ok. Maybe 'joy' isn't the word we're looking for.

Benefits of reflection?

Blogging can be a joy for some, true, and for others it turns into an income. There is no doubt in my mind that Angela Watson's "The Cornerstone for Teachers" and Jennifer Gonzalez's "Cult of Pedagogy" who have branded themselves well beyond blogging are turning a tidy profit (though it is obvious from their passions that money isn't why they're doing what they do.)

However, sometimes, blogging gets labeled as a 'chore' or a 'one more thing' for educators who have kids to pick up and take to practice, grad classes to attend, curriculum to create, and essays to grade. It might seem like a great assignment for the students in your class to blog and comment, but who has the time? And nevermind the time to write the blog and figure out the tech (which can be simple using Wix or Weebly, but gets a little tricky in WordPress for the novice), who has the devotion to post regularly and do the research to support the blog? Ugh, and if people start commenting, to reply to all those comments.

It is taxing.

Or maybe it is fear. Fear of putting ourselves out there. Maybe we don't feel original. Maybe we aren't sure if anyone would even read something if we wrote it. Maybe we think we really just stink at writing.

But here's the rub, if we're not sharing our reflections, our research, our ideas, our epic disasters, and best lesson plans ever, we're committing a disservice to who we are and what we're standing for, aren't we? Nobody gets to hear about the great lesson plan you had unless Tim in 3rd period decides to brag about it in the hallway or at home, and I teach middle school - the chances of that aren't quite as high as you might think. And some folks are fine with that - don't like to toot the horn, so to speak, but how many more people could benefit from knowing your little corner of expertise or what you discovered about flipping your lesson into EdPuzzle last week?

So, I had this idea because I know there's just no time in the day for my colleagues, and I feel like I'm constantly surrounded by amazing educators and staff with fantastic ideas and connections with people and thoughts and lives and sometimes, maybe more times that we like to admit, we don't have time to share.

I made a blog for my building called the BSMS Wingspan. Now, I know there's resistance, and I'm sure behind a few screens were a few eye rolls when I initially sent an e-mail to my middle school colleagues about blogging for our building. But... outweighing that by and far were people who replied and told me they would try to type something up over the next few weeks - even someone who immediately replied with a full post ready to go on the first week. I felt a little like the lone nut at first... and my first follower was pretty fantastic.

And I think I was able to kill a little fear. As an ELA teacher, I was quick to include I'd proofread for the writers and help them in any way possible with the craft. By sharing a blog - no single person needs to feel like the lone nut for long - we're all blogging together.

So, this is a shout-out to the three people who jumped on board so far. I've got a crowd started. I'm working on my movement. If you haven't done so, you can check out the BSMS Wingspan here.