Blog Envy
Apparently, rumors and speculation are still flying fast and furious around my old school that I am the author of “Fast Times at [my old school’s name spelled backwards] High,” the blog in which a teacher vented his (or her) frustrations about teaching in a soul-sucking, hope-destroying environment.
Let me make this clear: I WISH that other blog were mine; it’s not. That kind of publicity is a book or movie deal waiting to happen. I always figured I’d turn my blog into a book sooner or later, and I suppose I still could (I could title it: “Driven Crazy: Why I Quit Teaching in an Urban School After a Year and a Half”) but whomever this other blog author is has got a leg up on me: his (or her) blog has stirred up amazing amounts of conflict, and, as I used to teach my students, conflict is what makes stories interesting. In fact, it was THAT conflict which generated news, NOT the blog itself. The blog only became news when it infuriated students and teachers alike (although for different reasons, as I pointed out before). To my understanding, the other blog author only leaked his (or her) involvement in the blog to other teachers at the school, NOT to the media.
If I’m wrong about this, someone please correct me.
And for anyone who would like my old school to continue making the news: PLEASE give this blog address to the media. I would love an increased readership.
Also, anyone reading my blog has to admit that, despite my frustrations with my old school and the educational system in general, I have always taken pains to be as fair in my comments as possible. I mean, my blog never stirred up the kind of resentment “Fast Times at X High” did (in fact, as far as I know, it never upset anyone at all), and I’m sure part of that has to do with my writing style. Maybe the Trib could do a story comparing my blog to the other one, and maybe then the Trib (or some other media outlet) could do some kind of investigation into how many CPS teachers blog. And why stop with just CPS teachers? There are plenty of other teachers who blog from the trenches. Just google “teacher blog” and you get about 51,400,000 hits.
Let me make this clear: I WISH that other blog were mine; it’s not. That kind of publicity is a book or movie deal waiting to happen. I always figured I’d turn my blog into a book sooner or later, and I suppose I still could (I could title it: “Driven Crazy: Why I Quit Teaching in an Urban School After a Year and a Half”) but whomever this other blog author is has got a leg up on me: his (or her) blog has stirred up amazing amounts of conflict, and, as I used to teach my students, conflict is what makes stories interesting. In fact, it was THAT conflict which generated news, NOT the blog itself. The blog only became news when it infuriated students and teachers alike (although for different reasons, as I pointed out before). To my understanding, the other blog author only leaked his (or her) involvement in the blog to other teachers at the school, NOT to the media.
If I’m wrong about this, someone please correct me.
And for anyone who would like my old school to continue making the news: PLEASE give this blog address to the media. I would love an increased readership.
Also, anyone reading my blog has to admit that, despite my frustrations with my old school and the educational system in general, I have always taken pains to be as fair in my comments as possible. I mean, my blog never stirred up the kind of resentment “Fast Times at X High” did (in fact, as far as I know, it never upset anyone at all), and I’m sure part of that has to do with my writing style. Maybe the Trib could do a story comparing my blog to the other one, and maybe then the Trib (or some other media outlet) could do some kind of investigation into how many CPS teachers blog. And why stop with just CPS teachers? There are plenty of other teachers who blog from the trenches. Just google “teacher blog” and you get about 51,400,000 hits.
posted by Christopher at
3:28 PM
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