Welcome to the Book Blogger Hop,
hosted by Billy @
For more information, and
to find out the topic of next week's question, click HERE.
This Week's Question
Have you ever thought of taking
a break from blogging or Booktubing
(if you're a Booktuber)?
If you have, how long was the break,
and what did you learn from it?
(Submitted by Danielle @
My Answer
Here's the short and sweet answer..... Yes, I have, many times in the past. (And no, I'm not a Booktuber; I just have this blog, as well as a second one, which I have no time for, and is abandoned for now.)
And here are further details..... Although I do enjoy blogging tremendously, there have been times when "the real world" has encroached upon my precious blogging time, and I have been tempted to stop for a while. How long, I've never really decided. The fact remains, though that the thought has crossed my mind more than once or twice.
It's rather coincidental that this question has come up right at this point in time, because I am seriously considering taking a break -- perhaps for a month, at least. It might be longer, though; I really don't know. I am feeling very sad about even considering this, of course.
Those of you who have been reading and following my blog for some time know that I LOVE blogging, and would feel bereft if I were to stop doing it completely, even for a short length of time. So perhaps what I'll do, for now at least, is reduce the number of posts I publish per month. I don't like this solution to the problem, either, but at least I'll be doing SOME blogging.
The problem is, yes, you guys guessed it -- "the real world". I have gotten very busy preparing classes. I'm an Adult Education ESOL teacher. In other words, I teach adults from other countries (mostly Hispanics) English in an evening program, which includes two afternoon tutoring sessions.
The first session starts at 3:00 PM, and ends at 4:15 PM. Then there's a 10-to-15-minute break, and the second session begins, around 4:30. That second session ends at 6:00 PM. I have an hour for dinner, and my regular class begins -- at 7:00, ending at 9:30 PM.
The first tutoring session is for English topics -- grammar, dialogues, pronunciation practice, etc. The second is for help with preparing for the U.S. citizenship exam.
Both of these sessions require me to prepare copies for the students. Usually, I make originals which I then request copies from, at the school's main office. Sometimes, especially when a new student shows up, I do have to make copies on my home copier/printer.
My regular class also requires me to provide copies to the students. This is a combined High Intermediate (Level 5) and Advanced (Level 6) class. The students do have assigned textbooks, but they are reluctant to buy them, as they books are expensive. Besides, not everything I need to teach them is covered in ONE textbook, so I add copies.
Both the tutoring sessions and the regular class function four afternoons/nights a week -- Monday to Thursday. (At least I have Fridays off, lol!)
Just this past week, on Monday, 2/11, and Tuesday, 2/12, we got some basic training for a new software program that the school district recently bought: Burlington English. This program is rather complex and detailed, and, after receiving the basic training, we ESOL teachers are expected to study and practice it, on our time, no less, so as to start using it as soon as possible in our classes.
Part of this program includes.....you guessed it -- copies! Haha..... Yes, this is what the Burlington Company calls "a blended program". Students are to do part of their work on computers (I have 25 of these in my classroom), and part of it on worksheets. These have to be prepared in advance for each lesson. For instance, if I want to start teaching a particular lesson this coming Tuesday, I have to have all of the worksheets for that lesson ready by Tuesday. I do have the originals printed. So now I will have to make copies.....sigh.....
Well, you get the picture by now..... I hope I don't have to stop blogging altogether for any length of time, but it might be necessary, at least until I get organized with this new program. Some of you may have noticed that lately, I've been publishing fewer posts. AND, I've REALLY gotten behind on my replies to comments here on my blog, as well as comments back on the blogs of those who have commented on A Night's Dream of Books.
Whatever I decide to do, whether it be just publish fewer posts, or take a break, I will be sure to announce here on the blog. I don't like to just stop all of a sudden, with no warning. Of course, sometimes bloggers have to do just that, for whatever reason. This happened with Jill @ Breaking The Spine. Her last post is dated August 24, 2016. (Click on the link provided and you'll see for yourselves.) She posted no explanation for this, either, but just stopped blogging -- cold turkey. Other bloggers -- including me -- have left comments on this last post, asking her if she's all right. She has not replied to any of these comments, though. I still think about her and her blog sometimes, wondering what could have possibly happened....
Jill was the creator of the popular book meme, "Waiting On Wednesday", so a LOT of bloggers used to link up to her WOW posts. (Many of them have continued to link up to that last post, too, incredibly enough....) A similar meme exists now, titled "Can't Wait Wednesday". It's hosted by Tressa @ Wishful Endings.
Anyway.....I sure hope I can still continue to publish at least a few posts per month. I am REALLY ticked off at having these obstacles in my path, but, since they're job-related, I have to give them priority.
Whatever I decide to do, I will be SURE to let all of you guys know! For now, you have a bit of a heads up.
What are your thoughts on
this topic?
Please leave a comment!
If you're participating in this meme,
I'll go comment on your
own BBH post.
If not, I will then comment on one
of your blog posts!
Thanks for visiting!!!
I completely identify with everything you stated! Our jobs, and life, can and will always require a significant amount of our time, not to mention cognitive function. Blogging can be time-consuming. Let's not forget, that unlike the average niche blogger, we have another step (albeit an enjoyable one) of reading prior to posting. With these three in mind, it stands to reason why some of us need a break.
ReplyDeleteOn the topic of bloggers going MIA, I encountered this last week. I hope that the WOW meme host is ok.
I appreciate your in-depth post and look forward to reading more of your content!!!
Hi, there!
DeleteYes, indeed, jobs and other real-life activities can take up our time, to the detriment of our blogging..... And blogging is DEFINITELY time-consuming, as we bloggers not only have to write and publish posts, but also reply to comments. Some bloggers, like me, take the extra step of commenting back on the blogs of those who have been nice enough to comment on ours. I always try to do both. Of course, this takes even MORE time!! Lol.
Yeah....I also wonder what happened to Jill. She probably had some really SERIOUS setback or something.... It's really too bad....but I've seen this happen in the blogging world pretty often. You go to a blog you've visited before, and then, one day, you discover that they've suddenly stopped blogging! Worse yet, some blogs disappear from the blogosphere entirely! This is the case of blogs whose owners have to pay to have them hosted. If they leave their blogs inactive, they still have to pay, so they remove them entirely. That's why I will NEVER leave Blogger! If I ever decide to stop blogging completely, I will still leave my blog up, as I won't have to pay for it!
I appreciate your in-depth comment!! Thank you SO much!! I will go over to your blog and check it out!! <3 :)
Life does that to us!!
ReplyDeleteYou may need a break just to re-group or just post fewer posts.
I will miss you, but I understand.
Thank you for your fantastic, as always detailed, interesting answer. I love seeing your replies to the questions.
And....thanks for coming by my blog.
Hi, Elizabeth!
DeleteYes, it does, unfortunately.....
I think that, for now, I'm going to publish fewer posts. What REALLY irks me is that the school admins are not giving us teachers enough time to learn this program, so that we can teach it to the students. We're being pressured to begin using it during the current trimester (the Adult Ed. program runs on trimesters, not semesters, like the day school program does.) I'm getting the hang of it, but I have to see how I'm going to deal with the student management component. I think it's going to be more work for us teachers! But we really should have started to implement it in the NEXT trimester.
If I decided to take a break, I'll miss you, too! I will also miss all the other nice bloggers who regularly comment on my posts..... :(
You're very welcome for my thorough answers!! <3 <3 <3 I just can't write any other way! I LOVE to write!! :)
You're very welcome for my visit to your blog, as well! And thanks to YOU for always leaving such NICE comments on my BBH posts!!! HUGS!!! <3 <3 <3 :) :) :) :)
I KNOW you will figure the program out!!
DeleteTake whatever time you need...no stress is the key!!
Talk to you later.
Hi, again!
DeleteThe program does come with instructions for teachers, but it also takes a while to get used to and learn, as it's pretty complex. That's what's taking time away from my precious blogging, AND reading!! Sigh....
Well, I'll do the very best I can to keep up with my blogging!
Thanks for commenting again! And thanks for caring!! HUGS!!! <3 <3 <3 :) :) :)
This is such an issue with Book Bloggers Maria. Sometimes, especially lately, I put up so few posts that I think if I took a hiatus that folks would take a very long time to notice:) The good part about it is that I do post so infrequently that I can get away with just writing a little bit to keep going. I also fear that if I took a hiatus that I might never get back to blogging.
ReplyDeleteWhat happened with Jill is concerning. Hopefully she is OK. That is the problem with these social media presences that we have, we can disappear, sometimes involuntarily, without a trace.
I hope that you continue get some posts up. Sorry that you have been so busy. Hopefully it will ease up soon.
Hi, Brian!
DeleteOh, DEFINITELY!! I have seen MANY blogs disappear throughout the years!
Yes, you publish very few posts, but then, you're a VERY busy guy! And you "make up for it" by writing FASCINATING posts! You get a lot of comments on all your posts, precisely because they're so interesting!
What you've mentioned about the possibility of never coming back if you took a hiatus is PRECISELY what I'm afraid of..... It would be SO easy to do, too. You start to slack off more and more, and, before you know it, you're not motivated to blog anymore.... Or you decide to just STOP for a while, and then, you can't seem to get interested in it again..... OMG, I hope that WON'T happen to me!!
Yes, what happened with Jill is concerning, ESPECIALLY since that meme -- "Waiting On Wednesday" -- was SO popular! She has a Twitter page, and I noticed that, after that last blog post, she put up two tweets. Neither one was related to her sudden disappearance, though. I messaged her on Twitter, but she never responded. I'm sure I wasn't the only one who did this.
It seems to me that she was just getting TOO busy, and got overwhelmed. However, if you take a look at her blog, you will see that she only published WOW posts, with a VERY occasional review. But maybe her "real life" activities just got TOO much in the way....
I actually went MIA on my other blog, "MindSpirt Book Journeys". I never explained anything, but just stopped blogging there. I guess I didn't feel the need to explain because that blog has VERY few followers.
Anyway....let's see what happens with "A Night's Dream of Books". For now, I will continue to post, but not as much as before.
Thanks for your thoughtful and concerned comment!! <3 :)
Sounds like you have an almost full time job - okay, 0.8 - but in the evening. And like most teachers you have to spend your own money on equipment/supplies and work in your own time on class preparation. Not an easy job, and I should know!
ReplyDeleteWhatever works best for you! Just don’t disappear! I sometimes get comments on my blog and click the link to return the courtesy only to find the person hasn’t blogged in years. 🙁
Hi, Sue!
DeleteWell, this job is for only 22 hours a week (from Monday to Thursday), but it DOES feel like a full-time job! That's because of all the extra work I'm doing, which I guess I really don't HAVE to do, but feel I MUST do, for the benefit of my students. And yes, I have ended up buying my own paper, ink, stapler, staples, and paper clips! And OF COURSE I have worked on my own time, too, on class preparation.
We part-timers don't get paid for class preparation. Full-time teachers do, but they don't get nearly enough class prep time. Besides, they have SO much more work to do! They're ALWAYS taking work home!
Teaching is DEFINITELY NOT an easy job, at least not for dedicated teachers! And you, as a librarian, also know what it's like to be dedicated to your students!
Yeah.....let's see how it goes.... I certainly don't want to just disappear! :)
Oh, I've had that happen to me a few times, too. But in my case, I've clicked on a person'a link only to discover that their blog had been removed! That could either mean that, for some reason, Google has removed it, or the person (God forbid) passed away, and somebody else removed it, or the person decided to remove it because the blog was hosted by some blogging service where you have to pay, and the person didn't want to blog anymore, and, of course, didn't want to keep paying for an inactive blog....
Well, THANK YOU for asking me not to disappear! You're SO SWEET!! <3 <3 I promise I'll do my VERY best not to!!
Thanks for the lovely comment!! HUGS!!!! <3 <3 <3 :) :) :)
This is a thought-provoking topic for sure! I totally get what you're saying. I could never stop blogging, but I have taken a hiatus every now and then and it's actually been amazingly beneficial. Sometimes I tend to over-burden myself with blogging responsibilities, and it can be so good to take a step back and breathe. And of course, when I come back to blogging, I feel more creative and refreshed!
ReplyDeleteYour workload sounds HECTIC. I don't know how you manage to juggle everything <3 <3 Just remember to do what's bets for you when it comes to blogging and taking a hiatus - your followers will still be here when you come back, and it's important you take the breaks you need to take.
Hi, Amy!
DeleteWhat you've mentioned in your comment is PRECISELY what I'm having trouble with, now that I have to learn this new English program. It's the blogging responsibilities that take time. It looks like I'll have to cut down on blog tours, for example.
Yeah, I've been doing this juggling for quite some time now....lol. However, with this new program we ESOL teachers are supposed to learn, we have to spend OUR OWN TIME -- without pay, mind you -- on learning its ins and outs.
I hope I can at least continue to publish some posts, even if they won't be very frequent.
True, my followers will still be here when I get back, but will those people who have been commenting so far return to comment again? I sure hope so!! However, if I need to spend time on work-related activities, then I have to, much as I resent having to do so.
I'm happy for blogger friends like you, who post such GREAT comments!! The bloggers who have commented on this post are ALL WONDERFUL!!! <3 <3 <3
Thanks for the GREAT comment!! HUGS!!! <3 <3 <3 :) :) :)
I hope things calm down for you some, Maria. It really can be hard juggling work and life with blogging--and even reading. Something has to give sometimes, and often that is blogging. At least for me.
ReplyDeleteI have seen so many bloggers give up blogging over the years. I definitely prefer it when they take the time to say goodbye. I am always sad to see book bloggers go, but I do understand. It's hardest when someone just disappears, leaving us wondering. We come to think of each other as friends and we do worry about each other. I've had a couple of blogger friends who died and their loved ones notified us via their blogs or on Facebook. It's heartbreaking, but I am grateful someone took the time to let us know.