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This Week's Question
Do you tend to visit the same
blogs each week, but also
try to look for new blogs?
(Submitted by Elizabeth @
My Answer
Here's the short and sweet answer: I stay with my regular blogs.
Now here's the long answer, lol.
When I first started blogging, I wanted to meet new bloggers, of course! I was like a kid with a new toy! So I enthusiastically used to visit many blogs, followed most of them, and commented. To my disappointment and dismay, I soon discovered that many of these bloggers were not commenting back on my blog.....
I also discovered, pretty quickly, that book bloggers (and probably other kinds of bloggers as well) do tend to stay with their "regulars". At first, I was a bit annoyed. I used to think they were acting like high school cliques! Lol. Now, after eight -- yes, EIGHT -- years of blogging, I must admit that I can see why bloggers do this. Every single one of us leads busy lives. Many bloggers have kids, and have to juggle family and work responsibilities. So, time is limited. It's better to stick with people with whom you resonate. Besides, this way, good friendships are forged.
This doesn't mean that one can't occasionally go on little blogging adventures to seek out new blogs. But, for me at least, this is indeed an occasional adventure nowadays. In fact, it has become a VERY occasional adventure.
I don't usually mention much of my personal life on my blog, and perhaps that might put off some people. Well, I'm doing so now! Here is the main reason I'm sticking to my regular blogs, and have fallen behind on commenting on even those, as well.
I have been working part-time as an ESOL teacher in Miami, Florida, for several years. I used to combine that with a full-time office job. Don't ask me how I was able to blog at all during the years I did that.....lol. Oh, and what does "ESOL" mean? It's an acronym for "English for Speakers of Other Languages". I teach this subject at a local high school, but in the evening program, since my students are all adults.
Back in May of this year, my regular Level 2 class, which met from 7:00 to 9:30 PM, Monday through Thursday, was closed by the night school principal, due to very low enrollment. I still had tutoring, though -- from 3:00 to 6:00 PM, on the same days. Still, this class closure was not a good thing, as I no longer have a full-time job. (Hence the tutoring, which I had asked the principal for, back in 2015).
Well, a little miracle took place! Two weeks after closing my Level 2 class, the principal gave me another one -- a combined Levels 5 and 6 class!! I was ecstatic!! It turned out that another teacher had a family situation that made it impossible for him to keep teaching that class, so the principal gave it to me.
There was only one little problem, though....the previous teacher had been lending books to the students to use during class, but the students were not allowed to take these books home. How could they possibly study at home? So I began to make copies to hand out to them during class. They would now be able to take these home to study. However, since this was my first time handling this level, I had NO materials at all. So I began collecting books -- some from the school library, and a few that I bought on Amazon -- in order to make copies for my new students.
You might be wondering why I didn't just ask the students to buy the books. Well, these students are very reluctant to buy ESOL books, as these tend to be quite expensive, and many of these students, being immigrants, work at menial jobs. And I don't like to lend out the books during class, either, because, in the past, some have disappeared. So I think that making copies works out the best. It does create a LOT more work for me, though! Frequently, I have had to make copies at home, on my own copier, because I haven't had the time to request them from the school office. You see, we are supposed to give the office staff original copies for them to duplicate. The principal doesn't want us to give the actual books to the office staff, to make copies from. This means that we teachers have to make our own original copies first. So I have to do that on my home copier (which is also a printer).
I've told you guys all this because all this extra work at home has taken me away from blogging VERY often since I got this class in May. Furthermore, I have also needed to make copies for my tutoring group, which now consists of two sessions -- the first, for grammar and conversation, the second, dedicated to preparation for the American citizenship exam.
So all of this extracurricular activity means that I'm WAY behind on replying to comments left on my blog, as well as visiting the commenters' blogs, so as to comment back.... Heck, I'm even late in publishing this Book Blogger Hop post! I am very sorry about all this, but, obviously, work has to come first!
Given all of the above, I am presently unable to go exploring for new blogs. Of course, if a blogger previously unknown to me visits and comments, I will do my utmost to reply here on my blog, and comment back on theirs. But I will probably not make it a habit to keep visiting them, unless they continue to comment on my blog. I simply don't have the time.....
The present trimester (night school goes by trimesters, not semesters, as day school does) will end on Dec. 20th. Then we will have two weeks off, and return on Jan. 7th. By then, I will have plenty of copies ready to hand out, since I now have materials that I can order new copies from. And I will start that process this coming week, so as to be ready to go on Jan. 7th! So, hopefully, this next year I will be better prepared, and not have to scramble around for materials! That will enable me to concentrate on blogging about my favorite subject once again!
I sincerely apologize to all of those who have been leaving comments on my posts, to which I have not replied. Nor have I commented back on those blogs..... I'm working frantically to catch up!! Thanks to all of you guys!! Don't worry -- I will indeed reply and return comments!! I just ask for your patience and understanding. HUGS TO YOU ALL!!!! <3 :)
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