Here is my question: How do I get all the non techie teachers and administrators at my school to start learning about web 2.0 tools, trying them out and seeing their value?

1. You sound like a press release.

Nope, I’m not seeing that at all.

2. You sound like an infomercial.

Well, I did ask about starting a Ning for elementary tech teachers and I do mention it in my posts when I get a chance but I don’t think that it qualifies as sounding like an infomercial.

3. You sound like a know it all.

Since nothing could be further from the truth I don’t think that’s a problem here!

4. You haven’t shown them how.

I’m guilty on this one but I don’t really see myself writing for people new to blogging. However, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to add this somewhere. I did invite the teachers/admin that I work with to check out my blog. They would all be new to blogging. However, looking at visitor paths showed me only one person from my district checked it out.

5. You haven’t created the right atmosphere.

That’s very possible. I’m the shy, quiet, awkward one in a social setting with new people. I’m probably coming across the same way here. Since starting this project I am seeing the importance of open ended questions and responding to comments to encourage the conversations. So, this is something I’ll keep working on.

6. You just don’t seem that into it.

I am passionate about my new job and I think that shows through in my posts.

Now, why I think people aren’t commenting on my blog.

1. I’m new. I’ve only been blogging for six months. I’ve never been a big writer so I’m still trying to find my own voice.

2. Everyday teaching topics-nothing hot off the press, no research, nothing controversial, just topics that are important to me.

3. Don’t comment consistently elsewhere. I read many blogs through RSS so commenting means going through some extra steps and knowing from that blog I’ll probably find a link to another blog and may never get back to my reader. Even when I am on a blog I don’t comment often. Through this challenge I am doing better and hopefully by the end of the month doing at least one comment a day will have become a habit.

How can I improve?

The blue jay pictured above had a hard time getting a peanut out of the feeder. I think the feeder may have been a new experience for him. However, he was persistent and kept attacking the peanuts from different angles. He’d hop down on the ledge take another look and try again. Despite my creeping in closer and closer he kept at it until he got the reward. I feel like that blue jay. Blogging whether it be reading, writing or commenting is a new experience and even though it can be time consuming I keep working at it to learn more about it and to try and improve. My reward is to become a more educated member of the blogoshpere.

Now, I’ll go out on that limb and ask my readers; Do you feel welcome? Do you have any suggestion on how I can improve my blog and get more comments to get a conversation going?

Day 4 Ask a Question in a Blog Comment

One of the tasks I’m working on with this challenge is to visit the blogs of people that leave comments on my blog or people that have joined my Ning. That’s not something I have done consistently. So, on one of these visits I went to Nexus and left a question regarding Google Reader. Not a great open ended question, but at least it was a question and a move in the right direction. And Diane did leave a response that was helpful.

Day 5 Comment on a Blog Post You Don’t Agree With

Even though I actually did this activity a day or two ahead of time it was not easy to do. I tend to be very quiet and just go with the flow. If I don’t agree with something I may complain to my friends but I avoid any confrontations. When I did my comment I wrote it in the comment section. I felt I was ranting and it left me feeling very uncomfortable. The response from the blogger was very kind and the person did not feel it was a rant at all. After reading the response I felt better.

Day 6 Engage a Commenter in a Discussion/Day 8 Comment on a Blog Outside of Your Niche

Ok, I cheated a little bit here. I did find a blog through Technoroti and it was a topic I never read about in a blog before. However, it included two other passions-photography and gardening. I’ve decided I need to find something to learn more about that doesn’t directly involve school . I’ve been spending way too many hours learning on line these last 6 months. I love it but it is becoming too consuming. So, I’ve decided I want to become a better photographer. I can still use the computer to learn but it won’t just be school related learning. So far I’ve only been to one blog. It was a very simple blog. It was a photograph accompanied with a short description. From my brief visit I don’t think the blog will help me become a better photographer, but I did enjoy some photos. The comments were mainly one line comments. I can do that! I did leave a comment for another commenter. Like I said, I cheated! I will try to make up for these two steps this weekend by finding more substantial blogs and leaving a more reflective comment.

Day 7 Comment on what you’ve learned so far-include 3 lessons learned

Lesson 1-I think I will learn even more if I engage in the practice of asking more questions on blogs. I need to work on making them more open ended and thoughtful.

Lesson 2-Although disagreeing with a post made me very uncomfortable I survived and was not perceived as being negative or wrong. Since I survived perhaps I’ll try again. The downside is that this type of comment takes longer to write because I want to make sure I have it worded correctly.

Lesson3-I am thankful I was prodded to look for other blogs outside of education. The blog I read was not really helpful but I will be back looking for some sites on photography or gardening that I will be able to learn from. Reading about other topics I’m not particularly interesed in might be a good idea but time seems to be a short commodity these days so I’m sticking with topics of interest for right now, at least I got away from education!