I was recently having a conversation with a couple of colleagues and I realized the ideas we were bouncing back and forth might be of immediate interest to people beyond our group. These ideas weren’t fully developed and were in no way ready for a conference proposal or presentation. However, I really felt like those ideas were probably worth sharing, if for no other reason to be told we were wrong and have someone provide a reference. After recently posting my first blog (The Move to Boston) in a very long time, I realized that my personal site was probably the place for me to share such ideas and try to interact with other educators, academics, and anyone willing to read what I post around these ideas.

Dating back to my doctoral program days in Pittsburgh, I found it incredibly frustrating that we (the collective academic community) don’t often get to see the process of how work evolves over time. It’s not until we write a conference proposal or paper, at which point we are well past being able to actually remember all the ideas/steps/missteps that got us to our final papers, that the larger academic community gets a first look at our work. So, my new goal is to use this space as a place to compile my thoughts as they unfold. In no way am I claiming to have all the answers with each post. I am simply trying to engage with people who might find the work and ideas interesting. My hope is that some of my posts will provide a little insight into my own developing ideas and that others might also be interested in engaging with those thoughts. Who knows, maybe sharing my developing ideas might help people implement some of this work in meaningful ways. At a minimum, I am hopeful this will result in me speeding up the pace of my own implementations and research.

A couple quick disclaimers – First, the ideas I share on this site are my own and should not be considered as being endorsed by my fulltime employer. If you are interested in those types of things, you should check out the official site(s) they use to disseminate formal announcements, results, and ideas. Second, this idea of sharing early stages of work is not a new one. I remember having discussions about similar processes with a grad school friends, especially Jolene Zywica and her time with Working Examples. Some newly minted PhD recipients have actually engaged in this kind early sharing of dissertation ideas/data (examples include Joshua Rosenberg). The point is, I realize the notion of sharing early stages of work and ideas is not a particularly new one. Finally, this is meant to be a collegial and productive space for learning and growth. Feel free to comment, email, or tweet me your ideas about the posts. I am interested to learn about your thoughts and how my ideas can and should be improved.