Publication and Perfectionism

Or, Why My Posts Come in Batches

One of the things I appreciate about 21st century teaching and learning is the emphasis placed on authentic publication.  Asking student to share her work with others, to make it visible and public, and to create it not just for a teacher but a wider audience, creates a natural and inherent desire to make it better. I know this, and I exploit it.

Now, in this endeavor, it vexes me.  I'm not publishing my posts as quickly as I'd like; my own awareness of their public-ness compels me to labor over them, which is ridiculous because I'm equally aware that right now there's a readership of zero.  Still, the same impulse that provides at least some degree of motivation for (some of) my students is engendering a perfectionism that usually doesn't cripple me like this.

I'm not kidding.  There are a dozen other entries in various states of completion saved and not yet published because I don't have the best link for them yet, or because the tone isn't quite right, or because I haven't been satisfied with their endings.  I need to get over that.  Until then, the posts come in ebbs and flows.