Why I'm Launching a Blog

It’s a peculiar thing to launch a blog when I’ve never much liked blogs. They sit rock-bottom in my reading lists. But I am a peculiar cat and I revel in reversals. Whereas I once was a book-loathing boy who suddenly ached to be a writer, today, I am a blog-loathing man who suddenly needs to blog.

A Place to Stay Curious

So here I am, in the land of blogs, trying to take curiosity seriously.

Through Curious Tendril, first and foremost, I’m here to stay curious about daily life. But by extension, I am also here to stay curious about the whole constellation of practices that go by the names teaching and design — not to mention the big ideas that give our lives meaning — ideas like equity, innovation and sustainability. And let’s not forget that persistent little acronym, AI.

With Curious Tendril, I aim to bring pedagogy to designers, to bring ‘design thinking’ to the pedagogians, and to bring both to anyone who is curious. And I know, ‘pedagogian’ is not yet a word. But most educators know what I mean: it’s those of us who eat, drink, and sing pedagogy, unabashedly.

While Curious Tendril begins primarily with pieces for designers, educators and school leaders, my hope is that all visitors and subscribers will find posts and resources here that uniquely speak to their interests. In other words, something for everyone.

With the launch of Curious Tendril, I am including my first “Tendril” piece that bridges daily life with teaching and design:

• On Dog Parks & Online Social Spaces. This is a hybrid essay that begins at the dog park and spins out towards the question of how to meet divergent social learning needs within online learning spaces.

To all readers of Curious Tendril: expect an occasional piece like this that begins like a journal entry — like a long walk with Reed where our conversation slowly expands toward larger questions that cling and persist, or even bloom. Essays like tendrils.

A Space for AI

If you’ve attended my talks on AI, you have likely heard me speak about what I call the ‘Urgency of Play.’ You’ve heard me say that we cannot make effective decisions about any roadmaps — be they for our schools or our Ed Tech products — unless we are first immersed in playing with generative AI. We cannot imagine the worst or the best of what AI will bring, nor can we plan around both, unless we are immersed in the latest AI.

With this in mind, Curious Tendril aims to walk the talk. As such, expect regular how-to pieces that I’m calling Tendril Tips that will share AI or other EdTech practices that you can try on your own.

And while Curious Tendril will include AI as a regular focus, do not expect this to be a blog constrained by AI. This blog is willfully wide open, and reaching toward the new.

The Blog as a Commitment to Staying Curious

Personally, I’m launching Curious Tendril to keep myself accountable to a discipline of inquiry and creative expression. My goal here is to step out from the quiet indulgence of personal journaling toward a kind of public inquiry — one that invites broader conversations. Perhaps most importantly, Curious Tendril is my new nudge to share these ideas with you.

So, Why Tendril?

To be clear, the ‘tendril’ is no literary genre.

A tendril is simply an everyday miracle of nature that helps me, in particular, make sense of who I am. It helps me see how I make connections, and how my observations curl upward and outward till finding their anchors. Some of these “written tendrils” will clearly reflect that process.

Most of my initial pieces here began as audio journals recorded in the dark while recovering from eye surgery, or they began while I was walking the dog. For those pieces that begin with me walking the dog, I sincerely hope they feel like the kind of talks in which, no matter where we begin, we always arrive somewhere that matters.

The Tendril’s Reach

Being the perennial dreamer, I have ridiculous, fantastical visions for this blog.

I would, of course, love to someday see Curious Tendril as the most highly-subscribed blog on tech, teaching, design or AI. But, practically speaking, I’m just hoping that a handful of these posts might resonate with a few kindred spirits.

If they do resonate with you, maybe let me know?

Keep Reading

This was the inaugural post for Curious Tendril at Substack. If this sounds like it might speak to you, please tap your like button (♥), leave a comment, and share it forward with anyone you know who might be curious.

Up next is a field note for designers titled, On Dog Parks & Online Social Spaces. Stay curious!