Woah

First off, thank you to those of you who have already read my few posts.  This blog is new, new to the internet, new to me, just new all around; and I never expected this many people would read it or comment on it.  I decided to do it for me, hoping that someone would benefit from it along the way.  I'm starting with no expectations, because if I do set expectations I know I'll never stick with it.  When I have something to say or to share and I have the time, it'll show up here.  If I don't have the time, it'll get added to the already growing list of things I want to blog about someday (when I actually have time).

Secondly, I feel I need to clarify something I said in my very first post.  THANK YOU to those of you who have brought light to it.

From my first post: "I've been thinking of starting a blog, but have hesitated because who really wants to read what goes on in my head and in my classroom?"

I have received a tremendous amount of responses surrounding this one question, including an entire blog post (found here: http://cogdogblog.com/2015/03/01/factory-system) which states:

That sentence really stuck out to me- how does our educational system complete its

task with someone coming out thinking their ideas are not worth reading about?

I know my ideas are worth reading about, it's more a matter of who the audience is and whether or not they are wanting to read them.  The Teacher Education Program at UCSB relies on teacher candidates sharing their ideas and building off others' ideas.  I am guilty of all too often finding a resource on Pinterest or Google, hopping on the person's blog, grabbing the resource, and not even looking at a word they wrote.  If I do it, I know there are others!  That doesn't mean their ideas weren't worth reading, I just didn't have the time.

People brought up a great point.  Although I do believe my thoughts and the happenings in my classroom are worth reading about, there may be many people who do not have that same feeling about themselves.  That's one of the great things about the technology we use in our classrooms now.  When I was in elementary school the things we wrote were shared with our teachers, our class, and our parents.  Google Drive wasn't a thing back then.  Now, the things my kids write have a SHARE button on them!  These thoughts and ideas and stories can be sent anywhere in the world with the click of a button.  I am a product of the school system that thinks my ideas are worth sharing/reading, and I know my students will definitely find themselves worthy of that same task.

I am excited to share ideas and learn from others along the way as well.