Bud the Teacher

    Yesterday, in honor of my 100th blog-day, I asked how long it takes for something to become a habit.  I got several comments on the subject, so I thought it was worthy of a bit more attention.  The word habit, it seems, is tricky.
    Specifically, the tension, as I see it, lies somewhere between Nancy’s concern that she doesn’t blog enough:

    I find I am only able to blog every two or three days. I am trying to
not see this as a problem, but I am afraid of getting out of the habit.

    And Steve’s concern about one connotation of "habit."

   

I hope that blogging never becomes just a habit. A habit is something
that you do regularly without thinking. I’d much rather see you not
blog for 5 days and then post something that really makes me think,
versus just every day for five days in a row just because it’s a habit.

    Good points in both cases.  I want to develop a healthy habit (insert happy and positive thoughts here) of checking in, reading and thinking in a transparent way through my blog.  But I never, ever want to use this space in a non-thinking or critically-negligent way.  I agree with Steve that it’s far better to take some time off and come back with something tot say rather than to blog drivel for the sake of keeping my blog fresh.  Steve said it this way at (or is it "on?") his blog:

   

I do have to admit, as much as I love writing and blogging and sharing
and collaborating, I do find it refreshing to take a mental break from
it as well. It may sound crazy, but NOT learning for a few days does
sort of recharge the batteries. I do feel a little out of it. I’m sure
that there have been some amazing things written in the past week which
I missed completely. But that’s alright, there will always be more

    The smiley face, by the way, is his — not mine.  I wouldn’t know how to create one of those things if I wanted to.  And that’s a pretty big if.
    Anyway — Is there a better word than habit?  Practice, maybe, or process?  I want to be a blogger — not a habitual drivel offender.  Mrs. Ris said it best in the comments when she said that blogging "feels right."
      Just wanted to clear that up.

    Spent some time tonight in conversation and collaboration with Darren Kuropatwa, a blogger, high school math teacher, and really neat guy up in Canada.  He and I have been emailing back and forth on the idea of putting together some conversations on blogging and other tech stuff.  Had a great chat about blogs and our classrooms — I did an awful lot of listening (and fiddling with my recording equipment — luckily, his Mac came to our rescue!).
     We’ll be putting the podcast up soon — but we both were so jazzed by the conversation and the potential of all of this technology and what it can do to connect people and facilitate learning — that we couldn’t resist a quick post to share our excitement. 
    Look Listen out for the podcast in the next few days.  In the meantime, go and see what Darren and his students are up to — you’ll be impressed AND you’ll learn a lot.

I can’t make it this year, but maybe next.  Thanks to Mr. Sizer for the link.