Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Under Pressure

When my son was in his first year of hockey,  he had a lucky scoring streak. Nothing that made him a prodigy, but a little streak of a goal every game for about three games. Maybe streak is a strong word for that, but when they score goals before they can write their name parents get a little excited.

Coming off the ice one afternoon, a childhood friend of my husband well-meaningly remarked, "Looks like you inherited your father's hands."

And the streak ended as fast as it had begun. My son didn't score for the rest of the season.

I think this kind of happened to me and the class blog this year. It got a little bit of attention, and I got a few compliments, and my posts promptly dried up. Performance anxiety.



It wasn't that I had nothing to say, or that I didn't know how to say it. Words rarely fail me, and with a captive audience I thought I could go on forever. No, it wasn't that I ran out of topics.

All of a sudden, nothing seemed good enough to post, worthy of the time and attention paid to it. So I posted less and less often, even when I had comments and observations to share about the students. I was over a hundred hits a day for a while. I felt I had to write for an audience, and I didn't know what they wanted to hear.

This week I realized that I still have things to share, and anyone reading the blog does so by choice.  So I promise to write, and I hope you'll start to check back. I will do my best to use the blog as I intended - to communicate with parents and students about the learning taking place, and sharing things that I think are thought-provoking and interesting.

My son found a new groove - as a defence man. No one expects a streak, just a solid performance.

Sounds about right.










5 comments:

Patricia said...

Blogging isn't an obligation and you should not feel pressured to write. Please know that when you do, your posts are read and appreciated though! The tiniest subject can always lead to a solid performance!

Ms. Napier said...

Thanks, Patricia, I really appreciate the kind words! Always good to hear from my reader ;)

Sandra said...

Thanks Kathy for your blog and the time you take to write to us. Sorry for not commenting on your posts. I read them, but didn't comment them and for that I'm sorry. We have to learn to tell others how much they are appreciated. Unfortuately we don't do as often as we should. A simple thank you, doesn't take long but makes the person receiving the thank you happy, so why not do it more often..... So Kathy... THANK YOU!!!! and what you do for your students and us parents is appreciated.

Anonymous said...

Indeed, writing on your blog is not an obligation. We are just lucky that you have one, use it for your class and that we can turn to if need be. Please know that whatever you may post about the class, the group, our kids...my kid...is so very much appreciated. You might have felt as if you were not being read, therefore, you ran out of things to write about. However, please know that even if I don't read the blog as often as I should maybe, I still enjoy it every time I do go and read new interesting articles. You know I love the way you write, so it's always a pleasure to read your work. Thanks Kathy for all you do.

nancy

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You are a true master of the quill! This reading was the so absorbing! Write more and thank you!