Gas in the Engine

Comments are the gas that drives blogs. In my (inexperienced) opinion, comments are what drive a blog. They inspire, they encourage, and they challenge readers and writers to learn. Comments motivate bloggers to write more and readers to read more.

I have witnessed how comments can put the proverbial 'pedal to the metal' for bloggers, even 4th grade bloggers. My 4th graders each had their own blog through classblogmeister. It was a great experience for all, but the students that got the most out of blogging were the ones who received the most comments. The kids who got the comments were the ones who write from home, blogged during their free time , or wrote on their blogs while they were on vacation. They had an audience to listen to them and they knew it. They performed for them.

One of my gripes (see my Pie in the Sky post from June) was that there was not enough parents or other family members commenting on my students' posts. This year I got my wish. I routinely have 4-5 comments awaiting moderation in my inbox. This has certainly translated to more writing. One of my boys even writes posts on Saturday mornings... How cool is that? Let me just say that I am so enthused that my kids are learning and working outside of the four walls of my classroom.

I can't say the kids are alone here. When I opened up this blog I received few comments. I worked hard to gain readers. I went commented, I linked, I tried all the tricks I could think of short of offering free stuff. I had a few loyal readers (Thanks Bret and Brian!) but did not receive many comments. Total comments up to last week: 4. I started to feel like I was writing for myself (not an awful thing, I suppose) and I felt that I was wasting time. You can guess what happened next, I stopped writing.

Of course, there is one other explanation to the lack of comments... When I was writing last, gas prices were out of this world ($4.09 was the highest I paid). People were conserving their gas. Comments were at a premium,. Now gas prices are coming down... I have been thinking of things I should be writing about lately and I have a dashboard full of unfinished posts. I am re-energized to write and this time I hope I find an audience who wants to fill my engine with gas.