Thursday, March 19, 2009

Happy Birthday to The Innovative Educator !

Happy Birthday to The Innovative Educator! You are one year old today.


It was exactly 12 months ago that The Innovative Educator took its first step in an effort to publicly become a part of the conversation on educating innovatively. As I shared in my post Why I started a blog and why maybe you should too, this blog was born in great part due to the prodding of blogevangelist Will Richardson who I have since named my Blogfather. It was Will who I would run into at events and conferences who would ask, “Have you started sharing your ideas yet on a blog?” and who would write, “if you want your ideas to resonate with me and to be taken seriously, don’t just talk. Engage. Publish. Converse.”


I took his advice and like any proud parent, can say I’ve learned so much from the experience of giving birth to this new creation that has developed a purposeful and professional digital footprint consisting of 124 entries. Now, when I Google myself, it is me, not one of 1000s of others, who comes up on the front page. And, there are all sorts of other important footprints that The Innovative Educator has made. Its print is left on the front page of Google searches like: Educating Innovatively, cell phones in education, technology education quotes, teaching in the 21st century ideas, personal learning network, Renzulli learning to differentiate instruction, and more.


I’ve watched my baby blog grow from no readers to an average of 125 a day. During the Inauguration she received international attention with more than 6,000 hits a day from people interested in teaching the inauguration in innovative ways. I have watched The Innovative Educator’s ideas about educator voice and cell phone use gain attention from the press and its ideas about 25 Random Things Innovative Educators Can Do To Enhance Teaching and Learning become the most popular of all it has shared. You also now have Authority! Growing from being just one of millions of blogs to gaining a credible 38 authority rating on Technorati. But, even before anybody was reading The Innovative Educator, she enriched my life with opportunities to practice my writing skills and articulate my thoughts.


The Innovative Educator has helped me understand the power of influence and given me an outlet to share with my readers about what I love most – “Educating Innovatively!” So, happy first birthday… and many more!


Editor’s note:

I want to thank my blogbrother, Jim McDermott for being the inspiration for this post. I used much of his witty post word for word right here in mine. He perfectly articulated my sentiments, so I didn’t mess with success. He continues to be an incredible motivation and inspiration in my blog.

5 comments:

  1. Happy First Birthday to your wonderful blog, Lisa. Yours is one that never gets deleted when I go on an RSS feed pruning rampage. Thanks for all your insights, resources and inspiration. Long may you continue to blog!
    Cheers,
    Lesley Edwards

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  2. Happy Birthday innovativeeducator blog, I remember when you were ::this big:: and now you're a respected outlet of creative and innovative technology integration. Lisa, you're a fantastic writer, an out-of-the box creative thinker, and an outspoken advocate for what you believe in. I remember when you realized how much of an influence you can have through your writing with the email signature posts and the series on personal learning networks which made you an articulate resource on PLNs. And of course the innauguration posts which demonstrated your penchant for thoroughness which is now an identifying characteristic of your style. Keep up the great work -- looking forward to another successful year of insight.

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  3. Thanks for the birthday wishes!!! A very happy first year indeed :)))

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  4. Happy Birthday and best wishes for many more years.
    Thank you, Innovative Educator, for all the great work you are doing :)

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  5. Congratulations on the bday and the new position. I've learned alot from your blog. It's hard to believe you've started it only a year ago. Thanks for all of the innovative insights!

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