As SLA continues to take our steps into a more transparent form of schooling, two more SLA teachers have begun blogging. So be sure to check out the blog entries from Biochemistry teacher Gamal Sherif and Learning Specialist Anissa Weinraub.

A few weeks ago, Will Richardson asked us, "Can a school reasonably expect its students to blog if the teachers are not willing to join them in the effort?" And I think it’s a good, hard question. The easy way out is to say that the kind of blogging we’re asking students to do right now, answers to prompts, posting of work, etc… is not the same as the kind of blogging we talk about when we talk about the edublogosphere where teachers are reflecting on practice, thinking about big ideas, etc…

But that’s only the easy answer. After all, we are asking students to reflect publicly about the way they learn. So is there an expectation that teachers would do the same?

I think the answer is yes, but a qualified yes. In a perfect world, all SLA teachers would be blogging about their experiences this year. I know I’d love to see it, if only because it’s been such an incredible experience so far, and I’d love to see even more of it documented. I don’t know if the entire world would want to read every entry, but I’m sure our students and parents would read a great many of them. But blogging as a teacher does require not only a willingness to be open about practice and pedagogy, but a willingness to step lightly around the issues that define our schools. Every educational blogger I know has some version of the Things We Can’t Blog About post either in their head or on their blog. Finding that voice, that space, to be an edu-blogger isn’t easy, and it’s not something that I think a principal can or should mandate. I hope I model what good edu-blogging looks like for my teachers, and I do think that more and more SLA teachers will find blogging to be a powerful form of reflective practice that enhances their teaching. But for some reason, as much as I’m o.k. with creating assignments for students to all blog, I’m not comfortable asking that of my teachers.

Is that hypocritical? Fair? Should all SLA teachers blog? Or is it better to create the environment where it’s o.k. for teachers to blog rather than expected?

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