Why I Blog (and why you are reading this)

When the opportunity presents itself I blog. When the opportunity presents itself if read edublogs. When the opportunity presents itself I contact fellow bloggers for collaborative purposes. So far the opportunity has only presented it self around school breaks and long weekends. Husband to Stacey, father to Jackson and Alex, teacher to students at Ballston Spa HS, blogger to an unknown audience. However...

In the year 2006 (news years resolutions coming Feb 1st) I will be able to collaborate with teachers all over the planet by virtue of this small piece of real estate in cyberspace. To understand and appreciate why I enjoy the "process" let me illustrate the power of collaboration before the proliferation of the blogosphere...


In the fall of 2002 I was invited to participate in The Points of VIEW project, a collaborative partnership of Time Warner Cable, Albany Division, C-SPAN Cable Network, Project VIEW of the Schenectady City School District and the National Council for Social Studies. Four local school districts (Ballston Spa, Amsterdam, Scotia-Glenville, and Schenectady) created a model for standards based social studies curriculum that utilized advanced broadband capabilities and state-of-the-art interactive videoconferencing technology. Cool geek talk for two of the hallmarks of education - creativity and collaboration.

As a partner in this project I met with the team at least a half a dozen times (subs were covered by the project) at the Schenectady Project View lab to sift through resources and give the project shape and substance. These brainstorming sessions were a rare opportunity to gather a group of social studies teachers to share their content knowledge and create vision for the projects ultimate outcome - a prototype program that focused on the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt. I often looked forward to these sessions because this team of seasoned educators all possessed a passion History and infectious love of teaching.

Most of us have someone in our buildings who is "cut from the same cloth." They are a sounding board for new and innovative ideas and rarely dismiss your far out visions designed to engage your students. Well for this project I was lucky to be part of this team of collaborators who were truly excited to be fortunate enough to participate in the process.

In addition to our work at the project lab site we went on two fact finding trips - one to TR's Sagamore Hill in Oyster Bay New York and the other was to Washington D.C. to visit the National Archives and the CSPAN headquarters. Imagine that - a group of social studies teachers on a guided tour of Washington DC!!!

After the project was complete and the resources were made available on the web, our team began to promoted the goods. We presented a program at the New York State Council for the Social Studies convention in Rochester, NY to discuss our role in the creation and implementation of the TR project. The team is pictured to the left ( L-R) Peter Sheridan, Scotia Glenville School District, John DeGuardi, Ballston Spa School District, Rick Hengsterman, Ballston Spa School District,Nick Petraccione, Schenectady City School District, Douglas Kaufman, Greater Amsterdam School District, Nick Sheldon, Schenectady City School District, Louis Schiavone, Scotia Glenville School District and Stuart Palczak, Greater Amsterdam School District. Great bunch to work with!!

I think Peggy O'Brien, executive director of Cable in the Classroom, said it best -
"When teachers invest themselves in creating what they teach and the way they will teach it, the dividends it pays is student performance exceeds all expectations."