I’ve been blogging in one form or another for the better part of twenty five years. I’ve written one so many topics and subjects - all starting from the age of 14 or so. If we were to travel back to those original writings I'm sure we’d find problematic prose and controversial conversations. My thinking, and beliefs have changed significantly in the intervening years between middle school and the days of 2021. I’ve spent some of my pandemic time writing blogs, but I’ve also been facing a growing reality - my personal blogging days are probably coming to an end.
I’ve wrestled with the purpose of this blog for the entirety of its existence. There were times when I thought getting likes, Twitter retweets, and (for lack of a better term) clout were the driving force and I had to reconsider and refocus my intent. There were times where this blog helped me process feelings, struggles, conflict, ideas, and the experiences of being a new teacher. The world of personal blogging has become a faded facade in the face of podcasts, video produced content, and major education content providers becoming the platforms of choice.
At the start of June, I was preparing for our local Kids College program, a summer kids camp where the students have a variety of choices of classes they can take from art to writing to podcasts to robotics and back again. I taught our podcast class and as the week progressed I started to wonder if creating my content through the audio and/or video formats might be a better choice. Maybe I needed to shift my creativity into a different medium to craft a more meaningful message. Maybe I still have plenty of things to learn when it comes to digital media and this would offer me the best opportunity to pursue that challenge.
The reality is that there’s always a chance I’ll have something specific that warrants returning to the written word. The power of prose remains electric - I could never stop writing. I look forward to producing with more creativity as I go forward and I hope you’ll join me in the additional digital spaces I’ll be occupying for the foreseeable future.