I mentioned in my last post that I’m currently taking a summer university course. This is the last course before I’m done my PBDE, which is a 30 credit hour diploma for practicing educators (PBDE stands for Post-Baccalaureate Diploma in Education). I’m excited about the course I’m taking and the people I have the privilege of working with for the next two weeks. And I’m not going to blog about the day to day detail.
Why? For the same reason that I make a conscious effort not to blog about the conversations I have with colleagues in my division or on the committees I serve on. I don’t want to be the person that has a conversation with others offline only to turn that conversation into a blog post. It doesn’t seem respectful to continue one side of a conversation with the other individual not present. Plus I don’t want people to filter what they say around me because the conversation might end up here. And I am conscious of the fact that everyone is entitled to their privacy. I’m choosing to share some of my thoughts and perspectives, but that doesn’t give me the right to share things that aren’t mine. And in most conversations or interchanges, what’s mine to share is at most 50%. That’s also a big part of why I’m very guarded about what I share about my work with students, and why I don’t write about family or friends here.
It’s not that my discussions with colleagues, coursemates, fellow committee members, and students, etc. aren’t important enough for me to write about. I am very fortunate to have regular opportunities to connect with others in really rich and meaningful ways. I have great discussions with amazing people, and they’re tremendously enriching both professionally and personally. It’s precisely because these connections and relationships are so important and meaningful that I want to respect and value both the conversations and the people by not turning them into something else.
Does that mean I will never write a post about a topic I have discussed with someone in another setting? Well, that would be almost impossible. I’m sure I’ll end up writing about some of the “big ideas” that have been the subject of ongoing thinking, but this is a synthesis of thoughts spurred on by many experiences and exchanges. What I want to avoid doing is trying to continue a particular offline conversation in this realm.
This blog was always about connecting with a broader community, learning from others, joining another conversation, and perhaps contributing something the community might find valuable. It was never about supplanting the wonderful connections I have with friends and colleagues through offline means.
I’m not sure if others will see this as a correct or even a logical stance to have. It’s what feels right to me, though, so I’m going to run with it.
Virtual Schoolhouse 