The Coin of the Realm: Comments Please

We're on spring break until April 4^th. This week I decided to start another blog; one for my personal growth as a teacher. At first I thought I would avoid mentioning it here as I had hoped to participate in an extended discussion with other teachers in the edublogosphere. There's a whole side to education that students are unaware of: the planning, crafting, learning side of being a teacher. But the more I think about it the more I feel I could learn a lot by hearing from you, my students. So, if you're interested, you can find my new blog here.

Those of you that have created your own posts and have had others comment on them understand the title of this post. There's a viceral excitement that comes from having someone comment on something that you wrote. It's encouraging and motivating to keep blogging when someone else takes the time out to share their thoughts. Those of you that have blogged with Mr. Kaminsky over at the GCHS Math Blog know that it's even more encouraging when a person you don't know leaves you a comment.

We also know that our blog is getting fairly widely read. We've got regular visitors from British Columbia, Alberta, Georgia and Michigan to name just a few. I'm going to address this next bit to them:

You folks also probably understand the title of this post. I know that I would love to read your thoughts about this blog. I know my students would too. If you come across a post that any of us have made that stikes you in some way, please leave the poster a comment.

Take your time; think about it; no pressure.

I think that's the "next level" in our journey. To have the involvement of a larger, global community. My students and I can only benefit from your collective wisdom in myriad ways. I think we would all be encouraged to write more thoughtful posts, to make sure our spelling and grammar stay sharp, and most importantly, dialogue with other people. To the math teachers out there just think of the excitement you could generate in a young person but discussing math with them! Is there any greater joy?

The Coin of the Realm: Comments Please?