What Could I Possibly Have To Say?

December 19th, 2006

What Could I Possibly Have To Say?

Well, it has officially been well on two weeks since I decided to start my own blog - with a rush of ambition and desire, I put my self out there and decided to add my voice to the clatter... yet it fell with a deafening silence: What could I possibly have to say?

In starting something off, I seem to have put a lot of emphasis on starting out big. This was my topic sentence of sorts, my way of putting my thoughts in a random, yet seemingly organized method. This is what I am going to write about. Yet, how do you put an umbrella over something so tenuous as my practice, my teaching? Is it possible to state all that I do succinctly enough to satisfy the millisecond attention span required of the web?
Don’t get me wrong, I myself am addicted to the web and am resisting the urge to change my mp3 currently playing, seek out new material and research the latest information on The Polar Express for our party on Friday... yet here I am.

The purpose of this blog, if there is only one, is to get myself writing again. I wrote my master’s thesis in 2003 and haven’t wrote much since then. I have taught, and conversed, and added to the dialogue in other ways, but nothing so obvious as writing about teaching. So this blog is meant as a collection of my experiences and narratives related to my practice, all with the purpose of improving it. I am hooked to the action reflection cycle, as Jack Whitehead calls it - ever aware of that voice of dissonant within my teaching, then working towards addressing this value clash - thus improving my practice.

Well, look at that. Already I have dropped some educational names, spouted some philosophical blurbs about teaching and am well on my way to beginning. If I just get this out of the way, then I can be free(er) to pursue my current teaching - the literacy and numeracy behind what I do, the beliefs that underpin my actions.
I guess it all comes down to belief: I believe that what I do is important. So important is it, that I cannot do it in isolation. Therefore here I am. I will continue to put myself out there, as the action is enough to get started. The (perceived) audience is enough to keep my honest and motivated, and the form is free enough to allow me space to create.

Once again, Thank You Mr. Falker for your continued inspiration. I may not own slick gray pants or butterfly ties, but I too will one day be the deep caring professional that makes a difference in my students’ lives.

MisterFalker.