Jun 09 2008
lerking ’round the big boy’s blogs
For a year now I’ve spent my early morning hours as a lerker. My iMac rises at 4 a.m., and I log on to Bloglines to check my feeds. They are waiting there for me. The big boys of edublogs: Stephen Downes, Scott McLeod, Karl Fisch, Will Richardson, Doug Noon, David Warlick, Ewan McIntosh, Clay Burell, and TMAO. I read. I watch. I listen. I don’t participate. I don’t contribute. Up until now, I’ve been content to lerk.
For a year now these giants of the genre have filled my head with wonders great and terrible. I found Richardson, first. Bought his book. Read it twice. Set up a Bloglines account and started subscribing. Burell and TMAO, though my last subscriptions, are my favorite reads. They are were I am. In the classroom. Or, at least they were until here and here. Downs is the hardest to digest. He’s overwhelming and often way over my head. But he leads me to some of the best web tools, so I keep reading.
For a year now these rulers of the realm have given me the feeling that I am inadequate. Unprepared. Incapable of contributing anything meaningful to their discussions. I’m used to leading discussions. I cut my teeth on bulletin boards and forums before blogs were born. So, I slipped into the role of lerker. Lerk and learn.
Now, it’s time to try out what I’ve learned. No more lerking ’round. Time to find my voice.
Hi. Just read your “About” page. I too, studied sped and worked in that area for a while. Couldn’t agree more with what you said: “After eight years of teaching special education classes, I realized what a waste of time and resources these programs really are. The children I taught needed good teachers, not
Thanks for the feedback. Too funny, I was at your site, Education for Well Being, snooping around. Led there by Clay Burell. Added you to my all boys RSS club. I really do need to find some fellow females to read. They are out there, I know they are.
Your point about “lowering of standards and labeling of children as incapable” was the impetus of my leaving special ed. It also led me to pull both my children out of the program. My experience has led me to believe, at least in my district, that special ed. programs negatively impact learning across the board, in every classroom, at every grade level.
Again, thanks for the warm welcome.
Ooh, you want some “girls”?
Adrienne Michetti (I gave you her link in other comment).
Carolyn Foote’s Not too Distant Future, Diane Cordell’s Journeys, Kim Cofino’s Always Learning, Cindy Barnsley’s Thinking 2.0 (Australia), Jo McCleay’s Open Classroom (also Oz) - Google should find them for you. If not, let me know. Their blogrolls should lead to more.
Where are you located, anyway? (And hi, Bill
)
(By the way, I think many of us would giggle at being called “big boys” of anything.
And - do yourself a favor and at least try twitter for a while. It’s more personal than blogging, and an amazing way to grow and learn and share. I’m cburell, if you want to follow each other. Let me know if you need help - first clue: download the Twitbin addon for FF or Flock - makes Twitter easier to play in.)
Good golly Miss Molly, I’ve got some googling to do. It’s gonna be a busy summer.
I’m, located in the sunny city of St. Pete, Florida. Not so sunny lately, through, as the rainy season is upon us.
The ‘big boys” comment is completely complimentary. It might make you giggle, but it’s true.
As for Twitter. Have to say that I’ve thought about using it. Seemed a bit daunting to me. I’ll take your advice and start by downloading Twitbin.
Thanks for taking time to comment. It means a lot to me.
‘For a year now these rulers of the realm have given me the feeling that I am inadequate. Unprepared. Incapable of contributing anything meaningful to their discussions.’
Sorry you’ve felt that way, Lucia, but glad that you’re now diving into the blogosphere. I look forward to seeing your contributions!
Have fun!
Please, don’t be sorry. I’d spent too much time shooting random arrows through the air; you all have finally given me a target I can aim for. Learning something new always involves a bit of frustration; reading your blogs has helped me put things in perspective, to redefine my own blogging goals, to clear away preconceived notions of what I expect to get out of blogging. Frustration turns to determination.
My contributions may be small, but they will be mine. What I learn, I’ll pass on to my students.
Thanks for the lessons.
Lucia, I found your blog the other day by following a link from a comment you left on Clay Burell’s blog. I liked your About page, and then I saw this post - before I knew you’d included me in your list. Pretty funny to see the company I keep here and there. Thanks, but I’m pretty sure I’m not *that* big.
In the Twitterverse, I am not fluent, but I drop in now and then. Still trying to make up my mind whether I “belong” there, because I have the lerker tendency, too.
One thing this post reminded me of is that my blog got more interactive after I began commenting on other blogs. It’s how I found yours, after all. Aardent Lore is in my reader now. Looking forward to hearing more from you.
Hi, Doug.
I saved nearly a dozen of your posts, intending to rely. Now that I’ve gotten my feet wet on Clay’s site, I’m feeling less intimidated about joining in on conversations.
My favorite post from you, Word of Mouth, came right after I’d had a similarly disappointing experience with my own students. The “noun game” became a regular addition to our classroom routine. The strategy worked so well that I’ve added proper nouns, pronouns, and verbs to the mix.
And, like you, I’m not sure if Twitter and I are a fit. I’ll tweet through the summer, at least, and see how it goes.
Thanks again for helping me, and others I am sure, garner the courage to try this blogging thing again. And thanks for being the teacher next door, someone with whom I can share the joys and woes of teaching.
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