Benefit of the Blogosphere

If you've missed the ongoing conversation between Chris Lehmann and Ira Socol about Educon (and, really, education in general) take a few minutes to check it out. The exchange has been fascinating and thought-provoking, but this comment from Chris really struck a chord with me.

Finally, let's also take a moment to enjoy this dialogue. It was on my mind today when I mediated a very challenging moment between a student and a teacher who were not seeing eye to eye. The easy move would have been to side with the teacher and tell the kid to deal. I don't think -- I don't think -- I would have done that under any circumstances, because I don't think that's my MO in general. But today, your voice was very much in my head, and I was even more aware than usual of being worthy of this conversation and worthy of trying to walk in the footsteps of my heroes / mentors (even the mentors I've never met) in that moment.

One of the most significant benefits I get from my involvement in the blogosphere and twitter and such is this. It keeps voices I respect in my head. It keeps my focus on a high bar for me and my students.