Does every Blogger give a reason for writing his/her blog on the first post? I don’t know the answer to that, but I do feel a need to put something on the screen to form a Mission Statement or at least offer some type of focus for this path I am about to take. After 34 years as a secondary English teacher and now adding three more years as an Adjunct Professor of Education there is one thing that I have enough life experience in to talk about. That would be Snow Days. If there is one thing I look forward to as a New York Educator, it is a good snow storm. A good Snow Day enables us to sleep in late while everyone else goes to work. That is one of the benefits unique to the teaching profession. However, this probably will not offer enough topics for consistent delivery to a blog. Seasonal topics have a limited time to retain interest of the reader. Most people would not have an interest in reading about snow days in July?
That would leave my other education experiences to serve as the stuff of topics. These experiences are not all those of a polished and perfect professional. My career began when education was less of a science and more of a tradition. New teachers were mentored by veterans, many of whom had less training in the latest educational research. I am also not saying that I always did the right thing. It was just the opposite in many cases I did the wrong thing. It was through reflection and research that I began to change. The uncommon commodity of common sense led the way to that wisdom I would seek. There was no internet, so aside from written material in the library, and what were called in- service courses, the only other source was any good teacher willing to share or collaborate. That was the environment in which I began developing my own face-to-face, real-time Personal Learning Network. The skills I needed were simple; Identify the value of a lesson,acknowledge the value of a person with an ability to collaborate. This continued for years. That is the way it was in the day.
Thank God Al Gore came along for then we had the Internet. I don’t know if he invented it, but they both showed up at around the same time. Coincidence? I think not. The Internet added a new dimension to my PLN. I could now use a search engine to search topics for helpful websites. One search could bring 50,000 sites, so with three searches I could clearly spend four weeks reading websites. The internet may have been cooking, but it wasn’t done yet.
After 34 years of teaching I made the decision to retire. I traveled down other paths after teaching, but none served me as well. On a chance meeting with a helpful Nun on a ferry trip to my Fire Island home, I learned of a position teaching Methods classes in a local College. It was perfect. I jumped at the opportunity and soon found myself in need of a great deal of help.I could only hope the Internet became more user-friendly, because ready or not I was going to need it.
As I started out using my computer to explore the internet for material to use in my Methods classes, I discovered a great deal of material, but there was no person to talk to about it. I had email contacts, but that was a slow procedure to exchange ideas. The other problem was that my contact list was very limited. I guess you might say I had no friends or at least professional colleagues. My ability to use search engines exceeded my greatest expectations. I saw myself as a master of information searches, but it was not enough. I needed to talk to somebody about some of this stuff.
I discovered Linkedin after my wife, Joyce, showed me how she posted her resumé and made a number of professional connections. I recognized this as a way to develop professional contacts and share ideas. I found no help in all the existing educational groups, so I decided to start my own, the Technology-Using Professors group. This led to a discovery of Twitter and Four more educational Groups on Linkedin.
I still needed folks to talk to. I found myself throwing out questions and engaging several twitter members in heated educational discussions on a daily basis.Two people who I met through Twitter volunteered to help with an idea to get folks talking about education and archiving the results.Shelly Terrell, Steve Anderson and I have run that idea as #Edchat ever since. Still needing more people to talk to and a place the deposit these links from all of these sources there was one more addition. a Ning site, The Educator’s PLN.
Now I find that I need another outlet for further expression, and more connections. It was a quest for answers that started me on this journey. It is also what drives me to continue further down this path. I have more questions than answers as do most educators. What I have to offer is a wide range experiences of mistakes and successes in education that people can use or not. I plan to ask more questions than offer answers, but I hope to promote thought and discussion. It is my intention to do this on an as needed schedule. I hope to help frame the discussion for improvement of education with a blend of research, collaboration and a little common sense.
Another choice would have been to Blog my way through Julia Child’s cookbook, but that was already overdone, or using the vernacular, well done.
Thanks
My Island View 
LOL — and I really mean that! I was laughing out loud throughout much of this post! Thank you for being a pioneer of #edchat and a valuable person in my recent venture into a virtual PLN. I have learned many things from you via Twitter, your links and, of course, the Educator’s PLN Ning. I look forward to your continuing insights and comments on our changing educational landscape through this new medium of your blog.
I wish you all the best with your new venture — looking forward to many more lol moments!
Vanessa
You’ve taken the first step. I look forward to future posts. Well done (no pun intended!)
Congratulations! I think this first step is the most difficult one. I do need to follow your example and start my own blog.
Congrats on this blog — not everything can be said in 140 characters or less. 🙂
Love the humor. Love your story. Am so glad to see you blogging. I think you always ask great questions and get people to thinking about education in a new way…perhaps this will give folks a chance to engage more deeply in those conversations.
Great post, Tom! I didn’t know you are of the English teacher tribe too! Great to see your extended thoughts here, but don’t forsake the PLN on Twitter!
Thank goodness it’s not an either/or!
Kim
Love the story of how it all began. Thanks for sharing your words of wisdom!
Katie
Enjoyed reading your first blog and your tweets, keep em coming 🙂
Great post! It is always interesting to read about the journey over time. I think it is great that you are still growing as an educator. I know it can be easy after all that experience to sit back and put things on auto-pilot and keep doing things that work well. Change is risky, but as you’ve proven, very rewarding as well. Kudos.
Hooray for bravery! I’m seeing more reasons why Twitter PLN blogs are important to community building. You’re right – for further expression and connection, blog is a perfect place to converse! I look forward to your blogs. I want to know more about your music interests, too! Keep writing!
I’ll let you know when I start mine 😉
Cheers!
Good Luck with blogging Tom, not that you need it, you already seem a star at this.
Thanks so much for sharing your background… I started as an English teacher too and find I always crave a little character development and at least a touch of the back story. :o) I also appreciate your sharing your journey as both teacher and student. Keep writing! I’m in.
I enjoyed your honesty and look forward to reading more. You are so right in stating that we often learn more from our mistakes. As an educator for 22 years I must admit the reflection of my experiences and collegial conversations are priceless.
Great post Tom! Your educational journey is something I admire greatly. The fact that you are dedicated to always learning and reinventing yourself is a very desirable attribute I hope to emulate someday. I constantly think ahead and wonder what the classroom will look like down the road. How I will adjust to the newest and latest. We have the internet today, but what will we have tomorrow? However, one thing I have always learned from your grand #edchat tweets is that we are always changing the tools, but the foundations of the content, remain the same. That is not to say content is static, but as we evolve our tools, we need to evolve our deliver and our methods for learning. I think you are a great example of this type of life long learning.
You, Steve and Shelly have created an amazing forum that showcases the best in education. I know I speak for all the members of #edchat when I say thank you for creating a forum where we all can shine, share and learn. This initial blog post is a grand statement of who you are as an educator and a life long learner. I look forward to reading on down the road!
Cheers!
Welcome to the blogging world. I expect to read great things (no pressure).
Tom,
What a great way to start the year by subscribing to your new blog! I’m so excited that you will be sharing via this blog. Please, don’t forget to drop by mine every so often to guest blog for me again, especially if you want to do the Julia Child’s challenge!
Welcome to the world of blogging, Tom! I have found it to be a great extension of the conversations that start on Twitter. Writing your own blog and then commenting on other people’s builds the community of learners. We share our thinking, beyond 140 characters, and hear back from our PLN. They share theirs and hear back from us. The comaderie of Twitter is supported and deepened by the exchanges. It is fun to learn more about each of the people that I learn from.
I used to spend summers on Fire Island. I hear the beaches have been quite devastated lately.
Again, welcome to blogging from an old pro of two months! Looking forward to reading your posts!
terrific…a blog.
snow days…love ’em here in north dakota.
thanks for all the work you do here for us.
Well done…you still make me laugh. I enjoyed hearing what happened after you retired. So glad you found that nun on the ferry and maybe you will inspire me to blog. Keep going…waiting with great interest….miss you!
Thanks for this Blog. Having followed you on Twitter for a while I was surprised to find that this is your first Blog post. Enjoyed your message and look forward to you sharing this vast experience of yours with others. As a mature age teacher with only 5 years experience I am always on the look out for quality mentors. Think I may have found a new one. Got to love the net. I may get brave enough to start blogging myself.
Tom, it is with great joy that I read (and smiled) as I read this blog. I’ve felt that, through Twitter, I’ve gotten a glimpse of how you think, and how you teach. One hundred and forty characters can be SO limiting. Your micro-blogging is wonderful. The EDUPLN ning is an ideal complement for Twitter. This blog will give you a greater “voice” – the blog will become an extended Tweet (if you will).
“Any job done well is a job well done”
Thanks, and … keep posting.
David
@dpeter
With only a year till retirement, I am wondering how I am going to miss the company of the other teachers at my school. But like you, there is a PLN out there in cyberspace and the last two years, since I began a blog, have made me a life long learner.
Congratulations on your first post and I am sure to hear you again in Twitter or the ning.
Hi Tom,
I think lots of bloggers give a reason for entering the blogosphere in their first blog – I did.
You outlined your reasons in outstanding fashion. I’m sure the rest of your posts will be equally compelling to read.
The best of luck to you.
Sean
About a year ago I started my blog for reasons that became apparent only after I’d blogged for a while.
Yes, we all write a mission statement and yours is far better than most. All that teaching of English seems to have paid off.
I look forward to having yet another way to learn from a master.
This time I’m going to check the box for a subscription before I hit submit.
Tom,
I really appreciate everything you have done in creating #edchat and the Educator’s PLN. Very much looking forward to reading and learning from your blog posts and I NEVER tire of hearing about snow days, even in July. If that ends up being the case, do we get an extra day of summer vacation?
Tom, you and your blog are anything but “well done.” I mean that in the steak sense that you/it aren’t a ruined piece of meat.
You are definitely rare though 🙂
Welcome to the blogosphere.
I am looking forward to reading more from you. I enjoy your thought-provoking and inspiring posts on Twitter. I appreciate Edchat and the Educator’s PLN though my schedule at times means I am more of a spectator than I care to be. Thanks for sharing your wisdom.
Tom,
I loved the island theme! If I could be anywhere right now, and island would be it! But I digress…
Thank you so much for all of your contributions to education. I’m not just speaking of the contributions that you’ve made to children, but to adults as well – me included. You are truly a pioneer leading the way for others (like me).
Thanks again for all you do to make the world of education a better place.
Marti
‘What I have to offer is a wide range experiences of mistakes and successes in education that people can use or not. I plan to ask more questions than offer answers, but I hope to promote thought and discussion.’
Lovely first post – thank you! The comment above is my favourite & I hope to read, join in with your questioning and learn!
Great opening salvo, Tom. Thank you also for reviving memories of Fire Island. My wife Dede and I are based in London England but she grew up in Babylon, LI & it was 30 years before she finally took me to her favorite place. We dipped our toes in the Fire Island ocean two years ago, during a great weekend at a Babylon High School reunion. Can’t wait to get back.
Tom,
You offer so much in just 140 characters, I am thrilled to get a few more from you. I can’t wait to see new posts from you coming into my GReader feed.
Your humor, candor, and genuineness are second to none!
Wonderful rendition of your growth as an educator towards the 21st Century. A pleasant explanation of how technology can help you grow professionally and personally. I very good read. Definitely can tell it came from an English Teacher. Students in your Methods class will obviously be well prepared to teach in the 21st Century. Keep up the wonderful work, and continue this journey through blogging!
How do I sign up so that I never miss one of your blogs? Can’t wait for the next one.
So glad you started a blog! I look forward to learning so much from you through this.
Welcome to the blogosphere from another newbie blogger. I have a difficult time keeping my blog going. I use it mostly to post my picture of the day and write short notes about them(my version og Julie and Julia I guess) with a few longer posts sprinkled in. Thanks for the PLN too. Have fun with your new adventure!
Lovely start to a blog I thought was way overdue!
I look forward to reading more in the same vein as this great beginning!
Great opening post Tom. I love to hear about the journey of others into this new realm. As usual, I can’t wait to hear more!
Adding your blog to my Google Reader! I look forward to your insightful posts! Thanks!
Wonderful first post! Your evolution as an educator is inspiring-especially for those of us who are new to all these web 2.0 tools. I’ve learned much from your tweets and look forward reading more of your posts here!
Great blog post Professor, I look forward to reading many more. Thanks for always being so willing to share your experiences and knowledge. It is inspiring for others (myself included) to know how long you have been an educator, yet you are still learning and evolving so much.
PS. I think snow days in July would be lovely.
I enjoyed reading how you came to be at this place in time. Like you, I think having a statement like that out there on your blog is important – at least for you to refer back to and reflect on as to why you are here in the first place. I have enjoyed your thought provoking tweets thus far and look forward to reading your thoughts beyond 140 characters.
If only there were professors like you when I was preservice. Of course, my tech class was learning how to use the film strip projector, 8mm film and the overhead projector LOL!
well..what can I say? Learning through life experience and story telling is my way of learning!
This blogging busisness of yours promising and I look forward to more. Keep the posts coming! 😉
And … welcome into the blogsphere!
Welcome to the blogosphere! I look forward to reading your future posts. It’s always great to read why people start blogging as everyone’s reason is unique and fascinating. You have got off to a flying start!! You have so much knowledge and wisdom to impart. It will be a fabulous adventure.
Congrats – The greater social media sphere is obviously appreciative of your endeavors to date so here’s to the future! I look forward to reading!