Jonny come lately…

http://www.stageoflife.com/blogging/CartoonsaboutBlogging.aspx

Everyone is blogging! This seems to be a fact or if not a fact then at least a not-too-serious over exaggeration of the fact that a lot of teachers and educators are using online portals to collaborate, create and share their vision for a ‘city on a hill’, an edutopia of the future or at least the next great lesson. This is my 6th year in education and as I look to develop my career, taking a belated step into the blogosphere seems to be an excellent way to give legs to many of the educational thoughts that I don’t always have the chance to air.

I hope to use this site as a canvas onto which ideas can be cast, theories tested and problems or issues shared and in doing so, I aim to clarify and crystallise my own thinking. Along the way, I plan to ‘steal like an artist’ as Austin Kleon would say but also to try and create more than I have done before (new blog posts and discussions count!) and to engage with colleagues both near and far in edu-related discussion.

At the start of this journey, as with any new project, establishing the rules of the game is an important step towards guaranteeing longevity and success in whatever form that may take.

With this in mind, I’m making the following pledges:

• Imperfection is preferable to inertia. Producing something is better than nothing.
• There’s not always something new to say. Education is complex and sometimes we need to spend time reevaluating and remixing pre-existing ideas before we can generate new ones.
• Posts should be positive. Frustrations should be looked on as learning opportunities and no situation criticised unless a solution can be offered.
• Opinions can change and that’s OK. This journey is as much about accepting new visions and principles as it is about justifying existing ones.

However, as General McArthur said, “You are remembered for the rules you break.” Let’s see how I get on…