Why Should Teachers Blog?

Will Richardson writes today about the difference between having a blog and "blogging." He writes:

Ok, so here’s my beef, again. Blogs are powerful communication tools. Blogs are powerful publishing tools. But blogging (the verb) is still much more than that to me. Blogging, as in reading and thinking and reflecting and then writing, is connecting and learning, neither of which are discussed in the article. (And maybe they weren’t meant to be, I know) I’m not knocking what Tim or his teachers are doing, I think it’s great. But I’m just asking the question: how are his teachers modeling the use of blogs to learn not just to teach?

And I agree. A blog is a web page that's easy to publish. But that's not blogging. I tend to look at my own blogging here, and I get frustrated when I see too many quicky posts in a row that toss out an idea without exploring it in any kind of depth. Blogging for me has to be about reflective practice.

It's about putting ideas out there, exploring them, sharing them, and taking part in a larger community. Sometimes, yes, it's just about an announcement or two, but at its best, my blogging helps me think, brings others into my thought process and improves it because of their input and forces me to make sense of my thoughts -- which is why it's so damned hard sometimes.

Blogs make publishing easier, but having something to say is still hard. But if we can model reflective practice, if we can embody the old Socratic ideal that "the unexamined life is not worth living," if we can publicly create communities where thoughtfulness -- truly being full of thought -- then we have accomplished something powerful.

And hey, we can always post the daily announcements and homework assignments later.