12 Lessons from 12,000 Blog Posts

It occurred to me the other day as I was watching the Red Sox home opener that over the course of the last ten years I've written and published more than 12,000 blog posts across this blog and a few others that I maintain. When I realized that I took out my notebook and jotted down twelve lessons that I've learned through the course of publishing 12,000 blog posts.

1. You've got to have a purpose.

2. It's not a get-rich-quick scheme.

3. Everyone's a critic.

4. Comparisons are silly. (In the image of my notebook you'll see that I wrote "everyone is lying" in parentheses. What I really mean is that everyone tends to show only the best parts of themselves online, it's much like online dating sites).

5. Share a lot, but don't give it all away.

6. Ask for what you want.

7. Protect your property.

8. Focus your time.

9. Ads suck, but there's money to be made.

10. Keep tinkering.

11. It's not about you.

12. Stay the course...until you need to change course.

If you're interested in learning how all of these lessons can help you, check out my course From Blog to Job - A Teacherpreneur Jumpstart. 

12 Tools for Creating Videos on Chromebooks - A PDF Handout

Making videos is one of my favorite digital media projects to do with students and teachers. Chromebook users aren't able to access iMovie, Final Cut, and some of the full-fledged video production tools that you'll find for desktops. But that doesn't mean there aren't some good alternative options available. In the handout embedded below I highlight twelve good options for creating videos on Chromebooks.


Please note that if your school blocks Box.com you won't be able to see the PDF.

You can learn lots of ways to use Chromebooks in your classroom during the Practical Ed Tech Chromebook Camp this July. Register this month and you'll save $50 on the registration cost.

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Downloads On A Chromebook and 4 Other Tips for New Users

This morning I received an email from a reader who was concerned that her school was going to be using Chromebooks next year and she couldn't download anything. Unless the IT department is specifically blocking downloads, you can actually download files on a Chromebook. There isn't a lot storage space on a Chromebook so you'll want to download files sparingly. In the following video I cover where files go when they're downloaded on a Chromebook. The video also covers four other common questions from new Chromebook users.


You can learn lots of ways to use Chromebooks in your classroom during the Practical Ed Tech Chromebook Camp this July. Register this month and you'll save $50 on the registration cost.

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Practical Ed Tech Live - This Thursday at 4pm EDT

Last Thursday I hosted the first Practical Ed Tech Live session simultaneously on Facebook and YouTube. During the 25 minute session I answered questions that were submitted live and some questions that had been submitted in advance. I'm going to do the same thing again this Thursday at 4pm EDT.

You can join Practical Ed Tech Live at Facebook.com/practicaledtech or on my YouTube channel. Subscribe to the channel to receive a notification when the session goes live.

My Secret Method for Developing Blog Post Topics

Yesterday, on Anchor.fm I answered the question that I'm probably asked more than any other about blogging, that is "how do you come up with so many blog posts?" One of the things that I do to develop blog post topics is to have mind mapping sessions on a regular basis. For every blog post that I publish I have seven to ten related blog posts sketched out in a mind map. The image in this post shows how I created twelve posts out of one topic. Hear my Anchor.fm recording in the video below.


I usually do my blog post mind mapping activities on paper, but if you want to use an online tool a few options that I recommend are Google Keep, Connected Mind, and Google Drawings.