Keep an online (research) notebook
I think some people eschew blogging because it can be frightening to expose your thoughts to the world. However, I’ve come across people who keep their blog private, as far as they can, ie they don’t tell anyone about it and don’t promote it in any way.
So, you might ask, what’s the point of that? Well, it’s a way of keeping research notes if you are currently undertaking a course, or simply a place where you can “do your thinking”. There are other services, such as Evernote, which are arguably more useful or this than a blog. However, have found that a blog is the best solution I’ve come across for quickly putting up a photo, say, with some notes about it, perhaps as an aide-memoir for me to pick up again when I have more time. Evernote, despite the fact that you can include photos, isn’t the same as far as I’m concerned, but it is a matter of personal preference.
One limitation of Evernote, and possibly other, similar, services, is that it’s hard to share all of the notes you’ve made, unless you email them or tweet them out.
Reflect
To my mind, it’s essential to reflect upon one’s practice. The idea of reflecting in the form of a blog follows on quite logically from the previous suggestion. If, for example, you try a different approach to the way you teach, say, data protection, it would be useful to not only log what you did, for future reference, but also how it went and how you could improve upon it.
What can make reflection even more powerful and useful is allowing other people to comment on what you’ve done. If that is done in a supportive and professional manner, it can be very useful indeed.
Keep a progress record
I’m all in favour of classroom-based research, by teachers and other people involved with initiatives or events. For example, if you have been instrumental in introducing a Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT) programme in your school, it could be useful to document its progress, both for yourself and for others thinking of going down the same road.
I do think, though, that blogging for your school and blogging for yourself are two different things. The aims are different, and the rules are different. For example, you may want to use or imply “robust” language in your blog posts. I doubt that doing so on an official blog, or even a personal blog post about where you work, would be terribly appreciated by your boss.
So, a more personal version of a progress report type of blog would be a more focused version of a reflection kind of blog.
Review
Teachers and others often have the opportunity to look at sample resources. Writing an online review of them can be beneficial both to yourself – because writing about something helps to organise one’s thoughts – and to others who may be thinking of buying that resource. This leads me on to two further considerations…
Be the “go to” person
There is no harm, especially as far as career prospects are concerned, to use a blog as a way of establishing yourself as an expert in a particular area. Writing about new developments in that area, offering your opinion, and writing reviews of relevant resources are all grist to the mill.
Share the love
If you come across something useful, why not tell people about it? If you’ve given some thought to a new Government decree, why not share those thoughts? (Your opinion is as good as anyone else’s.) One of the things we in education are really good at is reinventing wheels. Sharing your thoughts and discoveries can help to reduce that tendency, even if only in a small way!
Enjoy writing
One of the nice things about blogging, if you enjoy writing, is that there is no pressure. You don’t have to write to a specific word count, or to a specific deadline, or even to a specific style. You can just enjoy yourself.
