2010--Year Two

A quick review of the past year shows that I made 35 postings to this blog. That is less than one per week. (Yes, I am an Einstein.) I had hoped that I would have been more prolific, although I'm uncertain as to why. I have my doubts that more than a handful of people have ever read anything that I've posted. This is an important point to consider: Why does one bother to write at all? Is it for those who may read what has been written? Or does one write for some other reason?

I used to be an English teacher--and believe that I still am in many ways. That is to say, I am still concerned with the way people speak and the way people write. I wince at the damage that is done to our language by the casual concern most people give to communication. I cannot send a text message with misspelled words and inappropriate grammatical structures--although I may, from time to time, make a mistake when in a hurry. I still enjoy reading what I consider good prose and good poetry. (Let's face it, what one considers good prose or good poetry is largely subjective, in spite of anyone being able to argue his case with logic or gusto.) I still want people to improve the way they talk and write, and I desperately want everyone to find the real pleasure in reading that comes from finding a book that speaks to you. I am still an English teacher, in that respect.

Anyway, as an English teacher, I once read that some author stated that a person writes because he has something to say. That should be the only reason for continuing this blog. I do have something to say about education, about teaching, about learning. It really does not matter if anyone bothers to read what I am writing or what I have written. It only matters that I write.

To some, this may seem an absurdity. But what I also understand is that the writing process is one of discovery and of clarification. Through writing--perhaps especially through such free, reflective writing as I am doing now--one works through what he is really thinking and brings order to those thoughts. Discovery and clarification. It may be what Margaret Wheatly referred to in Leadership and the New Science--which is a must read for everyone on the planet--when she made reference to order rising out of what was seemingly chaos.

The bottom line is this. I need to continue the blogging. I need to step up my production of blogging. I need to recognize that I do not have to have something important to say every time, but that I do need to say something, which will invariably be important to me.

THE NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION ==> I will make two postings per week for the entire year of 2010. That will mean that I will have 104 postings added to this blog by the end of 2010. At that time, I will end The Learning Perspective blog. I will make my postings on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Ideally, the Tuesday posting will be on a topic from my readings and experiences and the Saturday posting will be purely reflective. Don't hold me to that.

Sounds like a challenge. I hope someone out there will come along for the ride.