I have decided to end Epiphany in Baltimore.
I am not tired of blogging, but I am tired of my personal life and my professional life being mixed in unhealthy ways. In the last few months, it has become clear that this blog is being read by students and parents who know who I am, and I am uncomfortable with this blogging persona being mixed with the stories that date back to April 2000, stories of college debauchery and relationships and insecurities. My blog has become way too safe, way too influenced by possible audiences, and way too boring.
I have decided to divide my blogging into two sites. In one, I will discuss classroom practices, politics, and Baltimore. I have started it already - you can probably find it if you look, I'm not too concerned with anyone finding it and will soon link to it from here, but am saving it and hoping I find a better name. In the other, I will maintain geographic anonymity and use it like a journal, like I used to. I'll give that address out selectively. Within a week, I think I'm going to delete this entire blog; hopefully I can figure out a way to save parts of it for posterity.
That's the plan now. It is the end of an era but seems like a healthy, cleansing thing to do for the summer. Those of you who have been reading for a while know I've been thinking about it for a long time.
Check here in the next few days for that link to the new "public" blog, the one I won't mind people in my life reading.
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20 comments:
I love to read about both your school and personal lives. I don't know you personally, but I feel like I do through your blog. I will miss your blog tremendously!
I'm sorry to see this blog go! But I completely understand that this is necessary - I think you'll probably find it cathartic to have a more private space where you can blog a bit more freely. I also think you'll love being able to be more frank about teaching and education without worrying about whether it's appropriate to write about on your personal blog. The blog split sounds like the way to go.
If you did one on livejournal, you could select who you wanted to read the non-public stuff and choose whether an entry is open to public or just friends. I understand your dilemma, as I have held back letting students who have contacted me about my site have access to non public stuff. If I leave this summer,keep in touch, OK?
-The Chaplain
I also have enjoyed reading your blog and feel as though I have come to know you, but I will still be happy to read about your teaching experiences.
Here's an article that talks about backing up and saving a blog. Hope it's helpful to you.
http://lifehacker.com/software/backup-utilities/save-your-weblog-with-blogger-backup-275166.php
I'll miss your blog - I've enjoued reading and it's been thought provoking.
You definitely need to save what you've written somehow. What a great legacy to have to pass on to your own children some day, or someone close to you. It is a fantastic record of a slice of your life. I, for one, have enjoyed reading it thoroughly, and commenting on your entries from time to time. I hope I can find your new ones, too.
interesting. good luck with the future. I enjoyed your story's.
I'm going to miss your blog!
I'll miss your blog but I miss your old blog more, the one where you talked about your whole life, before you felt two blogs would be better. I think you should consider not deleting your current blog and archives. The past is the past. I didn't start reading until a couple years ago but is what's in the earlier years so terrible? It's been out, you've not been arrested. You can always say you've reformed. Nobody gets more applause on Oprah than the guests who've seen the light and changed!
I just finished my first year of teaching in Baltimore and I've read your blog religiously. I completely understand why you've ended it, and as I think about starting my own blog (most likely about teaching, since, as you know, it's life consuming), I'll be keeping in mind some of the privacy issues you've dealt with. Thanks for the moral support during my first year, even though you didn't know you were giving it. :)
Wow, this is certainly the end of an era. I think I've been reading since back in the day when I was an English ed undergrad and you were still using your name.
I'll miss this blog, but I'm looking forward to what you do next -- whatever it may be.
I stumbled across your blog about two years ago, and have been a regular reader since, although I've never felt obliged to comment until now. I was a math and physics teacher at an urban high school in an unfamiliar city for a few years right after college; we are about the same age. I often find myself imagining what it would have been like had I stayed in teaching. Because of the proximity of our ages and a general sense that we have a few things in common, reading the stories in your blog has been about as close as I can come to stepping into that alternate universe where I am still a teacher.
Your blog has, at times, reminded me why I got out of teaching in the first place. At other times, it has made me desperately want to drop everything and run down to North Avenue with my resume in hand. But above all, it has been a very enjoyable and informative read. I understand your reasons for stopping the blog, but I will miss it. Thanks for the opportunity to peek into a world I left, and best of luck in the future.
Thank you so much for sharing a bit of yourself. I've read your blog for the past few years. It has helped me in my work with teachers and has reminded me of why I make music, too.
The split you're making sounds like a good resolution to your privacy dilemma. Your dilemma has also helped me reconsider how much nonfiction I'd like to write and submit for publication.
You sound like a really good guy.
Take care.
I too, will miss your blog. I stumbled upon it two years ago when our daughter began teaching in Baltimore. Thank you for sharing so much of your life and for the window into the world of a Baltimore teacher. You are clearly an excellent teacher, a good man, and your students are lucky indeed. Best wishes!
Probably the right choice, although I will miss the mix of personal and political! Best of luck to you, I look forward to your new public blog, and maybe we'll run into one another one day.
Best,
Eric
Don’t delete this blog. Set it to private until you can figure out what to do with the archives. Perhaps you can move the school related archives to the new blog.
If you choose to back up the archives and save them to your computer follow this link.
I've been reading your blog since I think the diaryland (is that where it started?) days, holy crap its like the end of an era!
I can't say that I blame you; mine is a more public kind of site in that I don't try to disguise myself and sometimes it's a pain to self-censor or to twist the facts just enough that perhaps the people involved don't see themselves.
You always have the cool stories that involve the direct student contact that I can't get nowadays so to a certain extent I get to live through you a little bit to see where some of the kids I worked with a few years ago might have wound up! In a way I get to spend some vicarious time in the classroom.
Enjoy your summer.
I've been reading you for a very long time (think pre-blogspot era), and I'm glad that you're going to be able to blog privately again. Is there any way to request access to your private blog? I love your opinions and would love to keep on reading. :)
I've been reading you since diaryland, and always looked forward to see what was happening with you. Actually, when my life got really interesting in the past few years, you and your blog would run across my mind every now and then. Look at the amount of things he has been through, he has not given up. You shouldn't either.
And I have not. I'll miss your blog, but it is completely understandable (and safer) wanting to separate professional life from personal life. I wish you the very best of luck no matter what you decide to do with your writing in the future. Thanks for not quitting blogging all together :).
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