How often are we asked questions that we wish we’d have answered differently? On the way home from a presentation I gave to some teachers in a graduate-level Reading program I thought about how I’d stumbled over the answer to a simple question posed by one of the teachers. I was in the truck and halfway home before the most honest and straightforward answer came to mind. Oh, how I wish I was always able to think as fast as I need to! Maybe that’s why I like to write more than I like to talk.

I was at the university to tell these teachers about the TrueNorth wiki site that I am developing. It’s for teachers to use and contribute to as a professional resource. I wanted to invite the participation of these folks. I am convinced that teachers would benefit from having a way to communicate with one another about what we are doing so that we don’t waste our energy struggling with the same problems independently. It seems to me that teachers could take advantage of technology to create supportive and productive professional communities.

This was unfamiliar territory for all of them. None of them had heard of wikis. Few had heard of blogging. I had a lot of conceptual hurdles to overcome and I knew it was going to be an uphill walk. I told them about my students’ blogs. I told them about wikis. I told them about the enthusiasm my students developed for writing. I explained my thinking about the benefits of collaborative community.

After I spoke for 15 or 20 minutes a woman asked, “Why would anyone want to do this?”

I think I took a step backward. It was a question - a good question - that I have thought about a lot. But it seemed to me that I had already addressed that. (Poorly, I guess). So… I said something about the satisfaction that comes from acknowledgment when you are writing for a real audience. It’s true, I think. But it wasn’t the best answer. I talked around the real answer.

The real answer - the one that I thought of too late - why I’m writing this: The reason to be a blogger is Empowerment.

Funny. No kid ever asked me that question.