It has been a busy couple of weeks as it always is before a school vacation, there are many loose ends to tie up and holiday celebrations to attend. We complete our first round of the blogging workshops with a grand total of 27 participants. Everyone now has a bloglines and edublogs account. Their current assignment is to read, reflect and write. I am looking forward to what happens next, it is a great group of teachers and administrators and I really appreciate their willingness to try something new especially at this busy time of year.

During this time, setting everyone up, I had another tour of the blogosphere as I helped many search technorati for blogs in their area of interest; foreign language, special education and administration to name a few. As I met with teachers one-on-one I was frequently asked, why I blog. Because I learn. I have learned so much from blogging, I have created a group of teachers who have influenced what I know and how I perceived things. As a result I been doing a lot of reading in and thinking about my spheres of influence within the greater blogosphere when up pops a timely post by Cool Cat on the circle of the wise. In looking at my bloglines and netvibes accounts I have two main spheres of influence those in my educational technology folder and those in my personal folder which reflect on issues of faith. I also have some smaller circles around my hobbies. I do think it is wise, as Cool Cat suggests, to take a look at your circle of friends and see if you should be spending so much time with them or maybe it is time to expand or change the circle.

This Christmas I will be immersing myself in the joys of family and friends for a few days. The entire family will be taking part in a mini technology fast as suggested by Wesley Fryer (a blending of my circles). So starting tomorrow I’ll be dropping out for a few days. See you all after Christmas. Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, and a joyous New Year to all.