To blog is to teach yourself what you think

I haven't been "blogging" for a long time, mainly because I didn't have the time. I used to blog all the time, although at the time I didn't call it blogging, it was just posting to sites like the EarthRiders forums. Though technically that's a forum discussion, there are several posts back there in the archives that are indistinguishable from blog posts.

Then I changed careers, and boy, what a change! It has been an exceptionally challenging two years. Which, of course, was exactly what I was seeking when I changed. I had hoped to record my thoughts, hopes, and dreams as I went along the way, but that just wasn't realistic. I know a teacher (through Twitter) who just went through his first year, who's finishing up his Master's program, and who blogged and chatted and maintained community social media forums throughout that first year. The guy must have been on meth or something. I can't fathom it.

However, I'm in a much more comfortable place now. I still have a long way to go to be a good teacher. Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever be "good." But I think the next logical step, now that I'm two years into this grand experiment, is to teach myself what I have been thinking since August, 2008. Here's where I start.

I have grand dreams to create a video library of lessons, partly so I can get out -- at least a little bit -- of the reteaching business. ("Missed class? No problem. The lesson is on the website, go watch it, come back if you have any questions.") I know; "But Michael, that's been done, a thousand times before." I know because I've gone and looked at all one-thousand of them. And they all suck.

I want to make lessons that don't suck. Not just lessons, but resources for my constructivist learners to use in their knowledge construction.

Before I can do that, I have to start out making lessons in the first place! The problem; it's time-consuming, I don't have the resources I'd hope for, and (most importantly) I'm an inveterate procrastinator. I have a couple of examples of things I've done before, both of which were extremely freshman efforts. I can do WAY better... if I'd get off my butt and get through the freshman efforts and make it a regular thing. I'm thinking I need a partner to get me off that procrastinating butt. Any volunteers?