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"Branding" Myself. Resistance or Mental Laziness?

Despite teacher leadership trainings and general awareness built by cruising Twitter in the wee hours, I have not spent a lot of time developing a personal "brand" on the web.  Sometimes, I feel like I should maybe break my web identity up into teacher leader, dabbler in possible money-making ideas online (ebay, teacherspayteachers, craigslist or whatever) and... what?  "Me"? Mom? Writer?  Half my Twitter feed is news articles and Tweets about politics.

This was the same problem I faced when I started this blog many years ago.  I still haven't resolved it.  I recently started a Teachers Pay Teachers store, despite feeling slightly trashy about selling work that I would give to my colleagues free at the drop of a hint.  I haven't sold anything except a winter break bingo set, so I started playing with Buffer, an app to help me post links to my TPT products trying to drum up some traffic.  I know my products don't have cutesy thumbnails with bubble-headed people of various skin tones, and I have yet to be consistent about the types of documents and support (lessons) I include, but my products are inexpensive, and good learning tools, so I am going to keep going slowly and figure it will build.  

But, I feel a bit inauthentic using a buffer to post to my Twitter feed (@mshintonsainz). I don't want my followers to feel as though I am a robot.  I am not going to robot-out everything... but it becomes fuzzy quickly, right?  I have actually stopped following people who filled up my feed with repeated babble and advertisements day and night.  Why wouldn't others?

Is it possible to do okay with this mish-mashy type of web presence?  Do I really need to develop a series of brands?  

Questions I will continue to consider... probably over the summer!

Later, friends!

Thinking about Audience and Purpose

Sooooo...I haven't really been writing here lately.

I'm not sure why, but I haven't been doing a lot of "personal" writing at all (poetry, musings, rants).  I have continued to write about how education policy impacts practice on "Stories from School Arizona"  And for the most part, that's it.

Life has been so full of ups, downs, movings, growings, mowings and schemings that there has been little time (or motivation) on my part to try to process all of that here.

Lately I have been considering starting a blog of  activity ideas that I have been trying for my ELD classroom, sort of an exploratory thing crossed with linking/promoting products I have posted on Teachers Pay Teachers.

I have also been wanting to do a more fun project that has potential:  A blog called "Mesaco on University" featuring all the Mexican restaurants on University here in Mesa.  So many!  It would be SO much fun to write food reviews with my family.  We could even do a bit of vlogging.

Anyway, it's all a bit less idealistic.  But that's where I am right now.