It's a very human, and even "teacherish", instinct to look for validation in what we do.
As teachers, we tend to look for it constantly. Whether it's an approving nod from a senior teacher or supervisor, a glowing comment from a colleague, a promotion, acceptance to present something at a conference, or even that apparent holy grail of ELT - having material accepted for publication and distribution - a lot of what we seek has validation as its central motivation.
I don't know precisely where this need for validation in some form comes from in ELTers. Perhaps it has something to do with the abominable wages our 'profession' attracts and a sense of being a relative nobody - a mere 'instructor' or intermediary between a syllabus or coursebook and actual learners. Maybe it is the isolation so many ELTers experience. Perhaps it even has something to do with a distinct pecking order that has emerged whereby the educators with the most authority and influence are no longer actually teaching.
I don't know.
But even in the ELT blogosphere, validation appears to be a quest for many, even if they don't realise it. Many teacher-bloggers get sensitive about how many comments or link-ins their posts get. They ask their readership contritely to consider voting for their blog in the next of many blog-rating carnivals (which personally I've always found slightly tragic-clownish).
They soar with pride when one of the big guns like Jeremy Harmer or Scott Thornbury pops by and acknowledges their online contribution in some way (a re-tweet is wonderful - an actual comment potentially stratospheric).
But all of this serves as a poignant reminder that many teachers are potentially overlooking the two sources of validation that really count. The only forms of validation we ought to need, and should be committed to seeking.
You'll find one form of that validation in the faces of your learners. On the tips of their tongues. At their fingertips or at the ends of their pens. You'll see it in their body language as they enter and leave your classroom.
The other is in you. The way you feel before, during, and after each class. Or even before, during and after your next blog post.
All that other stuff is just a range of little side dishes that can potentially decorate and add a little extra spice to the main meal - you and your learners.
:-)
