I am Rocky Balboa O'Donnell

Day 31 of #BTBC14

Reflect on your month of blogging and make goals for August and the new year.

     

     Somehow, I suddenly feel like Rocky Balboa.  

     I created this blog with the simple intention of sharing information with the teachers at my school in an archived location (hence the name "Hiawatha Literacy for Teachers").  I felt like emails with information were ineffective, because not everyone has time to read email.  So, if I blogged about literacy topics, then they would be able to find them with the appropriate tags when they needed them.  Most of the time, I found myself blogging to simply reflect on things, or clarify things for myself.  It really became a way for me to grow professionally, even if no one else read it.

     Then, Michelle at Big Time Literacy challenged us to blog everyday in July.  I figured, "Why not?"  She was trying to help new bloggers blog, and since I already had mine in place I figured I would support the cause and a fellow literacy coach and blog away.  One of the other bloggers created a hashtag for us to use on Twitter, so I started tweeting my blogs with #BTBC14.  Prior to that, I had never really written with an audience beyond my own district. 

     {Wow}

      I had people commenting on my blog that I didn't even know.  Suddenly, I was intimidated.  I mean, people are reading this?  And commenting?  What if they don't agree with my reflections?  What if I sound ridiculous?  Oh my, did I even spell that correctly?  :)  I really did want to quit the challenge when I realized that people "out there" were reading what was going on in my brain.

     A funny thing happened then.  My PLN grew.  By a LOT.  Just the simple act of going on Twitter and posting my blog opened the doors to many other new people to follow.  Plus, every time I posted it on Twitter, I spent 5-10 minutes reading other articles or blogs and learned so much.  By sharing my own thoughts, I learned so much from others.

     I really do feel a bit like Rocky.  If you are familiar with that clip, he starts off running alone (much like me blogging for myself).  People start to cheer for him along the way (much like the bloggers who also did the Big Time Blog Challenge with me).  More people start to cheer (like the favorites and retweets on Twitter).  Then, people actually started running with him (like the bloggers who joined the challenge along the way).  By the end of the clip, there is a whole army of people running with him (much like the PLN I have strengthened on Twitter).  Hands in the air, proud of himself, Rocky accomplished his goal.  Perhaps I am standing at the top of my own stairs, pumping my fists and singing "Gonna fly now!  Flying high now! I blogged all month, yeah!" Or not.  :)  But I could be!

     I am proud of the fact that I did it, because it was a challenge for me to use the prompts and connect them all to literacy.  For the most part, I did that.  There were days when I posted late, and days when I had nothing really to say. I definitely will not be posting every day in August.  But, I will be blogging again, and I will continue to tweet my posts.  

     For now, just call me Rocky!