I just ran into this blog through WiredEducator on Twitter – http://tinyurl.com/5wqr9w3.  As I’ve mentioned before I really do had all intentions of actually being consistent in my blogging, but I often find that I have a good 2-3 week run and then have no posts for 4-5 months.  This blog gives 7 pretty good reasons why all educators should blog.

I especially like items 1 (Practice what you Teach) and 4 (Expand your Classroom).  Practicing what you teach is the quality of a good instructor.  I have the same philosophy about leadership as I do about teaching…I do not expect my students to do things that I myself will not do.  If I believe that writing is an important skill for my students, then I should also write.  Not just once in a while, but often and using different modalities.  At Morningside we will begin having our freshman class create e-portfolios of their written work.  I plan to integrate this into my General Psychology class.  I have not yet thought what all I want my students to place in their writing portfolio – certainly the process of their major project in the class – but possibly other things like a personal blog that has them look for psychology concepts in their daily lives.

Item 4 – Expanding your Classroom –  shows in reality a 2-way street.  Not only can my students read my own blog and see what interests me and what I am up to outside of the confines of the classroom, but it also allows for others to read about and contact me in a form of professional development.  This is a way to share what I am doing with anyone else that might actually read this.

So with that said, perhaps these 7 reasons to blog will remind me to use this forum in more different ways.  Not only when I feel the urge to write, but also to give shorter posts about interesting articles, research, shows to share with others, to use as a way to catalog some accomplishments and small goals reached, and of course to learn more.  Knowing that I have a blog to maintain should give me some more incentive to pay attention to the new things I am learning and run across.

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