Interview with David Thomson of "The Chalkboard Life"
Here is my recent interview of David Thomson, publisher of the Substack newsletter The Chalkboard Life.
Tell us a little about yourself.
I am a member of the faculty at the University of Denver's law school. I practiced law for 20 years before switching to full time teaching 17 years ago, but I had other teaching experiences before going to law school - including teaching kindergarten part-time in college, and teaching botany and computer programming to high school students in Massachusetts.
How would you describe your newsletter?
TheChalkboard.Life is about teaching, for teachers of all stripes who love teaching and want to reflect, specifically, on the impact that technology has had on what they do.
Why did you decide to publish on Substack?
I did some research, and it came up as a good, free, choice. Writing 750-1000 words every week is a big commitment when you have another job and obligations, so I did not want to get in too deep before I found out if it was something I enjoyed, and had some value for others. I purchased the domain name for $1.99. Â
What has your experience with your newsletter been like?
On the one hand, it feels a bit like I am writing to the cloud - I am not entirely sure who is out there, and whether they are getting much out of it. But my subscriber base is still small, and I do get likes and pretty regular emails from folks expressing appreciation for it. Â
What have you liked most about your experience on Substack?
I find that, as many writers say, a weekly writing discipline really does help to refine one's thinking about a topic. And the act of short-form writing is its own pleasure, particularly about a topic I care about a great deal.
What have you liked least about your Substack experience?
The Substack Pro controversy was not good, and I am concerned about that. Also, it took way more time and effort to get Support to help with routing my domain name properly - it literally took six weeks and dozens of emails to get fixed. Not fair to reach a conclusion on one data point, but it did seem like their Support department is overwhelmed.
How have you let people know about your newsletter?
Word of mouth, occasional emails to people I think would be interested. This interview. I figured a big blast out to the world of "HEY, YOU SHOULD READ ME..." before I really have a body of work they can look at first was not really appropriate. I am glad for it to grow quietly while I build up the work someone can evaluate and see if it would be valuable to them.
Is there a post in your newsletter that you consider most memorable, and if so, why?
By far the post that has gotten the most attention is The Future is Hybrid, Part I. This is something I have been saying, in writing and presentations, for years. But for some reason, this post (now series of posts) has been forwarded and read a ton.
What do you hope for your newsletter in the foreseeable future?
Organic growth and the opportunity to build a community of teachers who care about what they do and think about the good and bad parts of what technology has wrought in their classrooms, particularly in the Covid world. In the future, I would like to host a monthly Zoom coffee hour to bring the community around a topic, but it's still early days for that.
Is there anything you'd like to add?
If you are a teacher, or even generally interested in the impact of technology on education, drop by:Â http://TheChalkboard.life!Â