Andrew Sullivan’s “Why I Blog”

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Andrew Sullivan of The Atlantic, a writer I admire, has written an ode to blogging that I like very much. Considering the fact that I’ve suffered from my first real bout of writer’s block over the past few days (thanks to a two-day trip to Rochester, NY, my work on a presentation about Web 2.0 technology, picking up a writing award in Manhattan, and a visit from my two college kids), reading Sullivan again has put me back on the right track.
Blogging is a solitary pursuit, and for me a pursuit that doesn’t pay the bills and attracts only a small (though loyal) audience. So occasionally, I run dry. But posting to my blog is constantly a thought that nags at me, reminds me that I’m still a writer. I might be getting older, I might be on a damned diet again, I might be finding excuses to avoid the gym, but my brain is still working. I want to learn, read and write.
Here’s what Sullivan says about blogging:

You end up writing about yourself, since you are a relatively fixed point in this constant interaction with the ideas and facts of the exterior world. And in this sense, the historic form closest to blogs is the diary. But with this difference: a diary is almost always a private matter. Its raw honesty, its dedication to marking life as it happens and remembering life as it was, makes it a terrestrial log. A few diaries are meant to be read by others, of course, just as correspondence could be—but usually posthumously, or as a way to compile facts for a more considered autobiographical rendering. But a blog, unlike a diary, is instantly public. It transforms this most personal and retrospective of forms into a painfully public and immediate one. It combines the confessional genre with the log form and exposes the author in a manner no author has ever been exposed before.

And when I’m feeling that this is so solitary a pursuit, I’ll try to remember how Sullivan describes the immediacy and companionship provided to a blogger by his readers, commenters and dissenters.

On my blog, my readers and I experienced 9/11 together, in real time. I can look back and see not just how I responded to the event, but how I responded to it at 3:47 that afternoon. And at 9:46 that night. There is a vividness to this immediacy that cannot be rivaled by print. The same goes for the 2000 recount, the Iraq War, the revelations of Abu Ghraib, the death of John Paul II, or any of the other history-making events of the past decade. There is simply no way to write about them in real time without revealing a huge amount about yourself. And the intimate bond this creates with readers is unlike the bond that the The Times, say, develops with its readers through the same events. Alone in front of a computer, at any moment, are two people: a blogger and a reader. The proximity is palpable, the moment human—whatever authority a blogger has is derived not from the institution he works for but from the humanness he conveys. This is writing with emotion not just under but always breaking through the surface. It renders a writer and a reader not just connected but linked in a visceral, personal way. The only term that really describes this is friendship. And it is a relatively new thing to write for thousands and thousands of friends.

The next time I run dry, I’ll return here for water.

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Syllabi for the Millennial Student

The Millennial Professor, whose site I visit now and then for ideas, had a post today about her syllabi for Millennial students — you know, the kids who do nearly everything electronically and are plugged in 24 hours a day. (I’m so jealous of this generation, remembering with horror the late nights I spent in my dorm room, using WiteOut and an IBM Selectric typewriter, praying the ribbon didn’t run out of ink at 4 a.m., which it inevitably did.)

So here’s the checklist the Millennial Professor uses in assembling her syllabi for courses. It’s great to use these ideas as you plan your own courses, college or K-12, for the year.

1. She includes a photo of the textbook the class will be using. I’m sure this comes in handy when students are in the college bookstore trying to sort out their purchases, or ordering online, when a photo of the book might be useful. For K-12 teachers, this might be useful information for parents.

2. She includes an explanation of her virtual office hours. Because many teachers and professors  don’t have virtual office hours, this simply helps to explain what this is. Millennial Professor includes her Yahoo instant messaging user name and describes how her virtual office hours work and might help them. Virtual office hours — via email and instant messaging — provide an alternative to in-office hours, particularly for students who need a quick answer or explanation.

3. She uses her syllabus to remind students that laptops are not allowed in her classroom, except on designated days. Because her lectures are in Powerpoint and she makes them available online to her students, laptops generally aren’t useful in the classroom and deter from class discussions.

4. She includes a “Best Practices” section in her syllabus. Today’s students want to know how they can make a certain grade, so she provides examples of best practices so students will know exactly what they need to do to make a satisfactory grade. For K-12 teachers, posting your class rubrics would be a viable alternative.

5. She includes her attendance policy, because she always takes attendance. Her students are allowed to have two to three absences without an explanation.

Using Wordpress or Blogger as an eNewsletter

Hcarol-franks-randall.gifere’s a great way to communicate with your constituents, via an eNewsletter created on a blog platform. Carol Franks-Randall, Superintendent of Schools in Elmsford, NY, who’s always ahead of the curve when it comes to communicating, created a Wordpress blog, “Excellence in Elmsford,” two years ago that she now emails to community members as an eNewsletter. She has turned off the comments, making the blog her own creation over which she has total control. It’s a great way to keep in touch, control the message and even circumvent the local press by managing her own news. It’s a great idea for any school district struggling with public image or dealing with an antagonistic or absent local press.