Going on a Voyage
Posted by learnconnect on April 21, 2008
I’m going to be travelling soon to countries I have never been to before. I’m going to try to keep a blog, even if no one reads it. Why? It makes me commit to writing. It is an authentic “assignment” – there is an audience out there who may be interested in what I have to say. I’m not much of a risk taker and both the travel and writing for other people is a risk I feel I have to take to make my life fuller. So on two levels, I am embarking on personal and professional development.
Too often we ask students to write, yet we do not write ourselves. We ask students to read and so many teachers don’t read. I feel it is essential to model to our students what we expect from them. So this is my personal writing assignment.
This week’s Live Classroom event is about blogs and simple ways to use them. I hope we will get a good turnout. Each of us is on a voyage as lifelong learners. Even if you don’t put the learning into place immediately, this may be a ticket for future travels.
At the beginning of the year we showed you a video of Kathy Cassidy and her grade one class. You can see it on the wiki – Telling the New Story She has also embarked on a journey. She started with a blog for her class and is now writing a reflective blog. You can find it here. It’s a great place to start reading blogs and reading inspires thinking which may inspire writing which may lead to you starting your own blog. No hurry – Kathy took a few years before she felt comfortable enough to do it. If you visit her blog, write a comment here and share what you discovered.
I’ll let you know where to follow my travels. It’s scary – but I’d love to share the trip. Your comments here and on my travel blog will help to make this a more meaningful experience for us all.
Susan
April 21st, 2008 at 10:24 am
Hi Susan,
Keeping a traveling Blog sounds like a great idea. I kept a journal while backpacking through Italy just after CEGEP. I’m sure that many people (mostly my parents) would have liked to have been updated on my whereabouts and my daily experience – a Blog would have helped.
Enjoy your travels,
Dana
April 24th, 2008 at 10:27 am
Hi Susan
I read your new blog and think you have such a good idea.You’ll be able to share and look back at your entries later on and keep your memories of your trip. I think a blog would be great for teachers to be able to share best practices with other teachers and talk about their ideas and learn from each other. Of course, we do have to be a bit brave!
Donna Anderson
April 27th, 2008 at 8:51 pm
Hi Susan,
Have a great time traveling. My niece is in France studying for the year. She has a blog and has been keeping us updated as to what she is experiencing. It’s been wonderful. I will look forward to reading your blog, too. Thanks for all your help with setting up my blog…
October 16th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
I admire people who make the decision to start traveling. This is something I always wanted to do and perhaps one day if I am lucky I will try for myself. Thanks for the inspiring post.
October 17th, 2008 at 11:14 am
I am new to blogging and found your post through looking at the Travel tags. Have you started your journeys around the world? I would love to hear about your adventures. I was a world traveler at one point and hope to pick up that hat again sometime soon in the future. Thanks – Sarah
November 12th, 2008 at 9:36 am
Hello Susan,
you have made me curious with starting your blog and now I want to know how it is going on? Think you are already back from your “world-voyage”, aren´t you? Where can I read news about your impressions? Greetings, Erik
November 12th, 2008 at 9:49 am
Blog for the voyage is at http://svgtravel.blogspot.com/ – trip is long over – but dreaming of the next one
November 16th, 2008 at 8:55 am
Ok, thank you for the link – I´m curious what you have to tell us.