I Found My Voice through Blogging

I am an introvert. I prefer small group or 1:1 conversations over large group presentations. I have opinions and thoughts but have never felt comfortable standing up and speaking my mind. Yet, I knew that as an educator and a school leader, it was important for me to share my thoughts and opinions especially when the issue impacted our school community.

I found my voice through blogging.

I started blogging back in 2012 after reading that “Blogging is the New Persuasive Essay.” This was when schools began implementing the Common Core State Standards, and persuasive writing was emphasized. I decided that if blogging was good for students, I needed to try it out first. It was challenging, (See my blog from July 2012.) but through the process, I found my voice. I began sharing my thoughts, challenges, successes, questions, and frustrations. There were times when I was so concerned that I immediately started a blog post. Fortunately, I saved it as a draft and didn’t publish it; after some time to cool off and to see things more clearly, I realized that I was either misinformed or had overreacted or it really wasn’t that important in the long run. So I deleted that draft. Blogging gave me a venue to make my thoughts visible to the public. I like to think that the reader makes a connection with my blog and has some sort of reaction: they agree; they disagree; or it’s not relevant.

For students, persuasive writing is not about writing for the teacher but writing for a wider audience. It is not about telling students how to respond to a persuasive writing question on a standardized test. Rather, it is about students asking questions, researching to see different viewpoints of an issue, and then taking a stand, explaining their reasons to the audience. It is about producing quality writing that students can be proud of and being open to receiving comments from readers. Persuasive writing is about writing, reading, and thinking.  The writer writes a blog post; others read the blog and think about what the writer had to say. They may agree; they may disagree, or they may have further questions. They can respond to the writer or they can reflect on how the blog impacted him/her. Persuasive writing is about reading and reflecting, on expanding our viewpoints beyond ourselves.

Recently, teachers in our state formed W-RITE, a safe supportive community focused on writing. As the group grows to include W-RITE communities on all islands, I envision a site where educators can share their blogs or their writings to get feedback from their peers. After all, those reflective or clarifying questions or comments will not only help us to improve as writers, it will help us be better teachers of writing, and our students will then benefit.

I finally found my voice when I began blogging, and writing became important to me. If I had not stuck with it all these years, I know I would not have had the confidence to write a book. (Leading with Aloha: From the Pineapple Fields to the Principal’s Office) I hope that more educators will see the value in writing and reflecting and publishing their writings. It might be a step out of your comfort zone, but as the old adage states, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained." You might be surprised at how empowering blogging can be!

I was able to share about my writing with educators at W-RITE earlier this summer. 

The group is growing as educators commit to supporting each other in their writing.