The Joys of Blogging
I have written a lot of articles for publication in newspapers and magazines. If I publish in the New York Times or the Washington Post or the New York Daily News, my writing will reach hundreds of thousands of readers. Of course, many of their readers will pass right over your article, will not read it. Don’t get me wrong, I love getting my articles published. The blog reaches thousands of readers every day, not hundreds of thousands, and I’m content to know that every one of my readers cares about the subject.
Tomorrow, as the saying goes, the newspaper will be wrapping fish, but the blog will be saved, printed out, tweeted, posted on Facebook, or sent to friends and legislators.
But there is something about blogging that is even more rewarding than being printed in the newspaper. For one thing, I can write whatever I want whenever I want. That’s self-publishing. It is a sort of vanity project, to be sure, but it has its benefits. No one edits me. At some publications, the editors are very heavy-handed. No matter what I turn in, they always think they can write it better. It’s too long. Cut 200-300 words. The ending should be the beginning, and the beginning should be the ending. You can’t say this, there’s no room for that. Sorry, as we went to press, we have to cut another 100 words.
And there is always the chance that the editor(s) will decide he doesn’t want to publish you at all. So you either have wasted your time or you have to go knock on some other publication’s doors to find an outlet. I hate to think
I’m Convinced
Tomorrow, as the saying goes, the newspaper will be wrapping fish, but the blog will be saved, printed out, tweeted, posted on Facebook, or sent to friends and legislators.
But there is something about blogging that is even more rewarding than being printed in the newspaper. For one thing, I can write whatever I want whenever I want. That’s self-publishing. It is a sort of vanity project, to be sure, but it has its benefits. No one edits me. At some publications, the editors are very heavy-handed. No matter what I turn in, they always think they can write it better. It’s too long. Cut 200-300 words. The ending should be the beginning, and the beginning should be the ending. You can’t say this, there’s no room for that. Sorry, as we went to press, we have to cut another 100 words.
And there is always the chance that the editor(s) will decide he doesn’t want to publish you at all. So you either have wasted your time or you have to go knock on some other publication’s doors to find an outlet. I hate to think
I’m Convinced
Dear Readers,
Thank you for your instant feedback. Some readers say they like having my blogs early in the morning, before they leave for work. A few said they liked the spacing. Some said do what works for you. What resonated with me was my preference for plain vanilla. Post them as you write them. Post them when you want. If readers don’t have the patience to read whatever I send out, that’s their choice.
The one thing I want to emphasize to those who enjoy this blog is that you should take the time to read some of the earliest posts. I started blogging in late April, not so long ago. The blogs I wrote six weeks ago are as timely and as relevant today as they were then.
I have been fortunate to have the help of two readers who saw that I was not good with the technology. I
Why Test the Arts and PE?
Thank you for your instant feedback. Some readers say they like having my blogs early in the morning, before they leave for work. A few said they liked the spacing. Some said do what works for you. What resonated with me was my preference for plain vanilla. Post them as you write them. Post them when you want. If readers don’t have the patience to read whatever I send out, that’s their choice.
The one thing I want to emphasize to those who enjoy this blog is that you should take the time to read some of the earliest posts. I started blogging in late April, not so long ago. The blogs I wrote six weeks ago are as timely and as relevant today as they were then.
I have been fortunate to have the help of two readers who saw that I was not good with the technology. I
Why Test the Arts and PE?
As I read Dana Goldstein’s article about the advance of standardized testing into subjects like the arts and physical education, I began to get a queasy feeling. “This isn’t right,” I mumbled to myself. I thought of my grandchildren taking standardized tests in music and gym, and I shook my head. This isn’t right.
Race to the Top has promoted this movement to test every subject. Arne Duncan brandished $5 billion to encourage states and districts to judge teachers by the rise or fall of their students’ scores. The fact that there is no evidence for this method of judging teachers doesn’t matter. Bad ideas backed by big money have a way of catching on, no matter how mindless they are.
South Carolina has developed online tests for the arts, multiple-choice, of course. Florida is building tests of music and other pervormance arts that can be scored by machine, that is, by artificial intelligence. The vendors of these tests lobby to make them permanent, regardless of their quality.
Are they doing this at Sidwell Friends or the University of Chicago Lab School or Dalton or Exeter or Deerfield
Race to the Top has promoted this movement to test every subject. Arne Duncan brandished $5 billion to encourage states and districts to judge teachers by the rise or fall of their students’ scores. The fact that there is no evidence for this method of judging teachers doesn’t matter. Bad ideas backed by big money have a way of catching on, no matter how mindless they are.
South Carolina has developed online tests for the arts, multiple-choice, of course. Florida is building tests of music and other pervormance arts that can be scored by machine, that is, by artificial intelligence. The vendors of these tests lobby to make them permanent, regardless of their quality.
Are they doing this at Sidwell Friends or the University of Chicago Lab School or Dalton or Exeter or Deerfield