100 Reasons to blog

Why Blogging is worthwhile

This is my 100th blog post. So to celebrate I tried to come up with 100 reasons to blog. I have linked some to my blogs and a couple to external sites. I have loved blogging over the last 17 months, since my first post in March 2015 I have meandered around a few topics, but I have enjoyed writing each and every one. Some are for fun, others more serious. Some took me hours, some are copy and pasted from work I did for school, interviews or my NPQML project. I hope you have enjoyed reading them. Over 8000 people have viewed my blogs so far.

1. It clarifies your ideas
2. It opens up discussion beyond your school
3. It generates creativity
4. It encourages reflection
5. It improves your practice in the classroom and beyond.
6. It pushes you out of your comfort zone
7. It introduces you to new people
8. It opens doors
9. It gets you noticed by your peers
10. It stimulates innovation
11. It provides positive feedback or constructive criticism to help you develop
12. It demonstrates your areas of strength
13. It identifies areas to develop
14. It makes you look deeper
15. It can open up new areas of interest
16. It helps you form a professional identity
17. It makes you question your opinions
18. It makes you justify your opinions
19. It connects you to those with shared interests
20. It archives your thoughts or later projects.
21. It is cathartic
22. It frames your values
23. It can validate your beliefs
24. It can challenge your beliefs
25. It’s not limited by location, you can collaborate with educators worldwide.
26. You can make an impact outside your classroom
27. You can add value to your work
28. You don’t need answers, just ideas
29. It stops you watching TV
30. It forces you to consider other opinions
31. It raises awareness of your role
32. It can inspire others
33. You can use it to achieve professional goals
34. You learn to value others opinions
35. It reduces isolation
36. It creates a sense of community
37. You can showcase your identity
38. You can share things you enjoy
39. It challenges you to raise your game
40. You can build an online identity
41. It changes your routine and can give you a new hobby
42. It can provide routine and structure to rainy days.
43. It is free
44. It is fun
45. You can write about anything you choose
46. It provides an outlet
47. It can relieve stress
48. It keeps you up to date
49. It can reignite your passion
50. It can take as little or as much time as you want
51. You can solve someone’s problem
52. Someone might solve your problem
53. It can boost your engagement
54. You will develop new skills
55. You could change something important
56. It can make you more interesting
57. You can raise awareness of an important issue
58. You might make new friends
59. You can say you are an internationally connected educator

    

60. It organizes your thoughts
61. It can help break down big topics into achievable areas
62. You could turn it into a book, or ebook
63. It encourages you to take a stand
64. You can save someone else time by sharing resources.
65. It builds confidence that your ideas are valued
66. It breaks down barriers between school stakeholders
67. You can build real relationships with other professionals
68. Your audience is unlimited
69. It doesn’t matter how irrelevant you think your idea is someone will like it
70. It develops persistence, not every post will be popular
71. You don’t need to leave the house to do it
72. You can do it anywhere with the internet, or capture your thoughts on paper and upload.
73. It helps you stay in touch with people
74. It can provide a record of your achievements
75. It can build rapport with like-minded professionals
76. It tells your story as an educator
77. It can enhance your knowledge if you research your posts
78. It lasts longer than a tweet so you can share with new people.
79. You will get better at writing
80. You will #notice things around you to blog about
81. It is a platform for sharing your passion for teaching
82. It gives you a little buzz every time you get a comment
83. It helps you deal with criticism, not everyone will agree with you
84. It can show off your skills
85. It is professional development you control
86. It holds you accountable, important in our profession
87. It gives you something to talk about in interviews
88. It could become your legacy
89. It can get you out of a rut
90. You can encourage your students to do it
91. You might discover a new direction for your career
92. It gives individual teachers a voice
93. You can interact with people you would never otherwise meet
94. It will encourage you to try new things so you can blog about them
95. You can experiment with new ideas
96. It informs non-teachers about the work you do
97. You don’t have to do it alone, guest posts help you connect
98. It encourages you to self-critique
99. You will find you have more and better teaching ideas
100. It gives even the quietest teacher a voice in the field of education

I was going to add “It can make you money” and there are ways to monetize your blog once people start reading it. If you are interested in making a little money from your blog Share-a-sale lets you choose merchants to link with.

Thank you all for taking the time to read. What are your reasons for blogging? Add them to the comments section.

Cover Photo by Emma Matthews on Unsplash