I welcome comments on this blog — suggestions, affirmations, critiques. Recent comments are highlighted on the sidebar. I thought it would be helpful again to share my recenly slightly revised  “policy” (which is always open to feedback and revision) on comments. This same policy applies to my Engaging Parents In School blog.

I generally respond to comments very quickly by emailing the person who left the comment. I often don’t, though, respond back in the comment section itself because I think people don’t often check the option that allows them to receive follow-up comments. I want to make sure they do indeed hear back from me.

Another reason I often don’t copy my reply to the comments section is sheer laziness.

I will, however, respond publicly if it appears to me that other readers might find the response helpful.

Though I generally approve comments from the owners of sites who want my readers and me to check-out their websites, I typically will not respond to them.

My posts on the In Practice blog are a different matter. Those posts are usually designed to initiate a public conversation about the topic of the post, and comments from readers and my responses are published in that blog’s comment section.

All comments are moderated, which means that I have to approve them prior to publication. I will approve all comments except those that are spam, are not related to the topic of the post, or are not offered in the spirit of open dialogue and are, instead, designed to attack or just muddy the issue being discussed. The first happens a lot, the second not as much, and the last one very seldom (in fact, only once in two-and-a-half years).   I encourage all alternative points of view  offered in a civil tone and desiring a genuine conversation.