Thinking about blogging...

Blogging Research Wordle by Kristina B (flickr)

I was reading an ...And This is Why Teachers Should Have Blogs post by George Couros that someone tweeted. And it has be again thinking about a post that Anil Dash wrote titled, "If You Didn't Blog It, It Didn't Happen." That post from Anil Dash started a pretty interesting conversation amongst my friends about blogging, our own blogging habits and its importance in our lives.

I agree with Couros that having a professional blog is important and is a great tool to reference what you did in the past or what one's thoughts are on trends in the field. I have been trying to be much better about posting here. However, one of the concerns I have is the fact that these blogs, which can be both personal and professional, can be taken out of context and used against you in court. (Read MizzMurphy's post here).

I have 2 blogs. Both are fairly public and I try to keep my personal one as separate from my professional one as possible. However, I struggle with that decision, which is probably one of the reasons why I hardly blog anymore. It is difficult to divide those 2 parts of me. I find that sometimes this blog just lacks personality. I always wonder how those people out there balance the two? Do you have a super secret blog? That's password protected, invite only? Or do you just write about it all in one place?

I do find that keeping a blog helps me re-evaluate my school year. And helps me think out loud things I am struggling with as a teacher. However, if this blog could possibly be used against me...why should I do it?

This year, I am trying to start a class blog but that has its challenges. I want to open it up but at the same time, I wonder about how we are affecting our students "digital footprint." I do have issue having students creating accounts even if there is approval from administration and their parents. Do teachers who have their students blogging think about the digital footprint they are creating for their students?