My Boonbloggle

As I was reading Jon Beckers post, Reflections of a new-ish blogger, I knew exactly how he felt. I’ve not been blogging as long as he has, nor have I been in education as long, but following the ‘big names’ on twitter and reading and commenting occasionally on their blogs does feel a lot like that cocktail party or even worse - high school. Then after reading the comments, the Diigo sticky notes, and the subsequent follow up over at Classroom 2.0, I had a new thought - Glad I didn’t write that! I mean, I would like a few followers, and some good discussion, but that’s a little more ‘recognition’ than I’m after right now. But it shows that the network does work both ways and that if you say something that resonates with people it will eventually become part of the discussion. Which lead me to my analogy of the Edtech network.

I see the “river of information” as more of an ocean of ??? (insert whatever word suites your mood). Like an ocean, more ideas are constantly being added, but once they become part of the conversation they never leave (and if they do they are soon recycled back through as a new and exciting). I can reach out and grab ideas and information that is days, months, years, even centuries old. That’s why we all have to be so careful about what information we put out there. Who knows when it’ll come back to bit you. So how does this relate to the present cocktail party discussion? I see every blog post, podcast, wiki entry, VT, etc, etc, etc, as a drop of water in the ocean. Granted, some drops are a little larger then others and they create a bigger ripple (this blog would be at the molecular level), and it seems that name recognition has something to do with that size, but as the ripples flow outward each of us is responsible for extending its reach, altering its course or adding to its momentum with our own ripples, no matter how small they may be. If the initial disturbance resonants with many other small drips the result can be just as big a wave as if one of the big players completely fell in. Maybe that is democracy?

Ripples by tcatcarson

I just talked to our high school English teacher. She was asking for help linking her students blogs to our school website!! To many of you it probably seems like a joke that I would actually be excited about such a small step, but considering where we were a year and half ago it represents a huge improvement and a snowballing of ideas.

Now, I know I can’t take all the credit for this, but it gives me a sense of great pride to know how far our school has come. When I started here 2 years ago we had 12 ‘working’ PC’s that were used for free time, to rewards students with games, and occasionally a little internet research. Since then we have added 30 laptops, a server, a couple of data projectors, and a document camera, and most of it is being used every day in pedagogically sound ways. We have added a web site (nothing special, but a start) a wiki, and now blogs. The big thrill for me is how things are snowballing, last year I think I was the only teacher to use a computer in class on a regular basis, this year I have to fight for the laptops, or the computer lab or even the data projector. One of my biggest challenges now is scheduling.

Had it been just me I probably would have just locked myself in my classroom and given up on the rest of the school by now, but I have a very supportive principal and two other teachers that started/returned this year who are eager to try and incorporate new ideas. It was that bit of additional weight that allowed us to start the ball rolling. I don’t know what the critical mass is, but I do know that one or two dedicated teachers/administrators per school can be enough (It helps if your willing to give up weekends evening and vacations for a couple of years). Don’t give up. Keep offering to do PD’s, suggesting websites, showing off what your students have done, forwarding interesting articles and blogs, ’share’ your network with them. It doesn’t have to be full on war, just lead by example and let them know you are there for support.

Well, here is my ‘first’ blog post. I say “’first’” because it’s actually my third…or forth, attempt at blogging. I always start with good intentions, get one or two posts under my belt, and then life seems to get in the way and things die off. This time I’ve taken a more aggressive approach; paid for the domain name and hosting, spent hours learning Wordpress and adjusting the look (still not happy with the theme) and days contemplating what I’m going to write about (still don’t know). So here it goes…. again.

First the name ..My Boonbloggle. When I made the decision to try blogging again the first thing I thought I needed was an audience. After all, one of the first things they teaching you about writing in school is, ‘know who your audience is’. I could write to my students, some might actually read it, I could focus on educational technology (my passion), I could write about life on the rez in Northern Sask, I could write to other science teachers or high school teachers, Saskatchewan teachers, teachers in my division etc. etc. etc… Part of the problem is that I read so many excellent blogs I could not imagine what I have to offer that is not covered a thousands times by others.

During this internal debate I was also trying to think of a cool title, like CogDogBlog, or Langwitches. Something geeky, like me, but also cool, I wish. Boondoggle popped up from somewhere and soon became My Boonbloggle (as Boonbloggle was already taken).The Dictionary.com entry for boondoggle says

“5. to do work of little or no practical value merely to keep or look busy”

Perfect. Killed two birds with one stone. Cool-geeky (Kooky?) name and I don’t have to worry about an audience. I’ll write for the sake of writing. If others read it, great. If they read it and enjoy it, or think about what they have read, even better. So that is where this ride is going. Nowhere. And everywhere. I don’t have a goal other than to keep writing. I’ll probably write mostly about Edtech, but teaching, family, life, and everything else is fair game. Hop on board, who knows where we may end up, but it is sure to be a bumpy ride.