#Take5 #145 Make writing for #Take5! your New Year’s resolution 

This #Take 5 is brought to you by the #Take5 editorial board, who want to persuade you that now really is the time for you to share your amazing practice with the wider higher education community. We are storytellers – our lives are made up of the stories we tell, the marks we make in the world. We love our Learning Development and wider educational community. You have so many great stories to tell about the ways you have engaged with tricky topics, innovative pedagogy and the most willing – or resistant – of colleagues or students. So – write your #Take5 – make this your new year’s resolution for 2026.

• Steve Briggs is Director of Learning, Teaching and Libraries at the University of Bedfordshire
• Janet Gordon, Senior Lecturer and PGCert LTHE lead, London Metropolitan University
• Katharine Jewitt, Associate Lecturer, The Open University 
• Kriya Kalidas, Teaching and Learning Manager, London Metropolitan University
• Magda Olchawska, Administrator and Creative Thinker, London Metropolitan University
• Sandra Sinfield, Associate Teaching Professor, London Metropolitan University
• Maria King, Student Education Development Advisor, University of Leeds
• Mary Watkins, Senior Lecturer in Higher Education, University of Portsmouth

Tell your story

In 2025, there were twenty-three #Take5 blogs, which were read by over 5000 members of the Learning Development community. The #Take5 readership is international, and its readers and writers are not just Learning Developers but also include Librarians, Learning Technologists and discipline academics: all those who embrace the facilitation of student learning in one form or another. 

Sharing ideas with peers is a great thing to do; it is collegiate, collaborative, and a contribution to the whole community. Sharing your work and knowledge in #Take5 is a wonderful gift in itself and can also lead to recognition and validation within your own institution. Yes – we know of senior leaders based in HE institutions who regularly read our blog! 

We want to encourage you to write your #Take5.

It’s the way we tell ‘em

We chose #Take5 as a title because we wanted to share quick tips, bite-sized CPD (continuing professional development), five minutes at a time: Take five minutes to read an article, have an idea, think about your practice and start your own #Take5 post!

We don’t have one template for what might work as a #Take5 post, but you could think of writing:

• a case study, 
• an opinion piece, 
• a write-up of your practice, 
• an in-depth exploration of a theory or theorist 
• or something else altogether.

Choose whatever appeals to you, as long as it might be of interest to someone somewhere who deeply cares about students and teaching. 

A quick look at a few of the issues covered in the most recent posts reveals we have looked at the integration of Generative AI (GenAI) in academic life (of course we have it’s a hot topic!); a critique of ‘Technofeudalism’, the uncritical embrace of privately owned technology in education; explorations of how assessments can be designed to be inclusive and meaningful to promote deep learning and student success; LD and PGR students; a playful and inclusive approach to guided independent study; we share the experience of a mature, neurodiverse artist with caring responsibilities on returning to Higher Education; and the potential for applying mindfulness to make Learning Developers more aware of their emotional reactions to students and to provide insights into the writing process. 

If you are running outdoor classes, letting your students do the teaching or find yourself suddenly tasked with developing asynchronous ‘lectures’ – we want to hear from you!

Ten reasons why …

Katharine Jewitt previously wrote a brilliant #Take5, which provided 10 reasons why it is good to write a #Take5, emphasising that it’s a great opportunity to share your work, supported by the #Take5 Team itself. It’s not surprising that we often receive wonderful feedback from contributors about how writing a blog has helped them. For most, this relates to providing a much-needed opportunity for reflection on practice. For some, a #Take5 blog has provided a starting point for developing ideas into conference presentations or academic articles. Equally, some #Take 5 authors have shared that their blog has sparked valuable conversations with readers, both within and beyond their institution. For a few, a blogpost has seeded the idea for a book proposal… or a subsequent #LTHEchat (after #Take5 #139 Something to watch …, Nikita was asked to run an #LTHEchat on exactly that topic!).

However, we have also had feedback that some aspiring writers find it hard to get started with a #Take5. We want to help! So here, the #Take5 Editorial Board shares ten top tips on how to get started.

Ten more ideas: how

Tip 1 – Don’t overthink it – aspiring writers sometimes worry that their blog will just state the obvious. Remember, what might have become common practice for you could be very different from how other Learning Developers work, and the community will be keen to learn about your work. Check out the second #Take5 from 2014, on Inquiry Based Learning – written very quickly and dirty, but still hopefully relevant!

Tip 2 – Tell your story – blogs work well when they tell a story. 

We have found that some helpful questions to get you started can be: 

• Why did you do something? 
• What did you do? 
• Why did you do it that way? 
• How did it go? 
• Did it work as expected? 
• What would you do next time? 
• What learning can you share? 

If you are undertaking a long-term project, consider writing multiple blogs to chart how things are progressing.

If you haven’t read the one about Ten Years of Flying Start or Punk Pedagogy we strongly recommend it. Those types of posts allow the readers to see what is possible to achieve, and it’s a perfect example showing that we don’t always or often have everything figured out. Seeing progress gives others permission to share what they have done, learned, or created, even if the work itself isn’t finished. For inspiration check out Katharine Jewitt’s #Take5 on The art of storytelling or Writing as liberatory practice.

Tip 3 – Consider writing about what didn’t work – whilst no one particularly relishes things crashing and burning, if we dance on the edge of risk and challenge, we will occasionally fall off! So something that doesn’t go to plan can be a great topic for a blog. Reflect on what you did, what you have learned, and what you would do differently next time that could work better.

In From Accidents to Aquariums, Debbie Holley tells of moving from clinical simulations that promoted stress and anxiety to something much more compassionate and effective with Virtual Reality (VR).

Tip 4 – Protect time for writing – given the challenges across the HE sector, you may be feeling increasingly ‘commitment rich’ but ‘time poor’. Don’t allow scattered energy to stop you from writing – from writing to liberate yourself. 

Writing needs time and space, so try to figure out what the best time for you is to write, and use that time for writing only: block it out in your diary. Focused writing gives you permission to work on something that matters to you; it is an act of creative self-care. Making a commitment to yourself promotes positive mental well-being, serving as a regular escape from day-to-day stresses and the repetitive daily activities on our to-do lists. Writing can become your happy place. (Remember, emails don’t count as writing practice!)

Tip 5 – Write little and often – whilst it’s great if you can mark up your diary to give yourself one or two hours of writing each day (yes – we did say each day!) without any external distraction, the reality is that the majority of us will only be able to grab 10-15 minutes of writing here and there, which can help you write your #Take5 post. Many writers use short blocks of time to free-write with no judgment, spelling, or grammar checks, just focusing on getting the words down on the page before going back to re-write.  

Tip 6 – Just write (rewrite later) – what’s important is to start, even if you think your sentences are wobbly or don’t make sense. Just plunge in and start writing. Go with the flow. Elbow calls this the ‘voyage out’ where you write to explore, to see what you think and see where it goes. This bit is for you, so don’t try to refine, polish, or shape it. Editing, while in the creative writing flow, just gets in the way of the ideas. It’s in the ‘voyage back’ that you shape and think about the reader and what you want the writing to do… 

The editorial team stands ready to give friendly feedback to all of our writers – and if you struggle, ask for help from the editorial team or your colleagues, or simply take a creative break. We don’t ask for perfect drafts or perfection.

Tip 7 – Find someone to collaborate with – Collaborating with others is wonderful; you commit to and support each other through the process. You can see how others work, and often working with other people can help you formulate your own thoughts. 

Are there colleagues at your institution you could write with? When attending conferences or network events, be on the lookout for collaboration opportunities. Random discussions can provide awesome, unexpected sources of inspiration. 

If you are not sure who to write with, reach out to the #Take5 editorial board. Between us, we have a wide network and may be able to put you in touch with someone who is working in the same area as you. 

Tip 8 – Feel the fear and do it anyway – don’t worry if you’ve never written anything before, or that you are taking a step into a more public arena. Feel the fear and do it anyway! As we say to students before giving that terrifying first presentation: “This won’t kill you, and afterwards, you are going to feel great, more confident and ready for challenges!” 

And did we mention, there is a supportive team of editors who will provide feedback and encouragement on your draft and work with you to shape your blog into a piece you are happy to be published? 

Tip 9 – Read previous #Take5 for ideas – with over 140 #Take5 blogs, there is a huge back catalogue of inspiration just waiting to be explored. Have a rummage, find something that interests or intrigues you. Can you respond to something someone else has written or done? Could you expand on a previous blog in terms of how you have done something similar but in a different context? Just have a wonder and see what you are inspired to do.

Tip 10 – Perfection is the enemy of the good – at #Take5 editorial team, we are not passive supporters of perfection, as it has stopped far too many people from reaching their goals. Your post and your writing don’t have to be perfect (whatever perfection means to you). Just focus on sharing your knowledge and experience with others.

Still need a bit of convincing?

Remember: 

• Writing is a wonderful self-care creative practice; it opens up the possibility of slowing down and being kind to your own practices and your own work.
  
• Writing helps to reflect on what we have achieved, what still needs doing and what could be even better next time.
  
• Writing is non-judgmental and can change someone else’s life. Just think about all those amazing stories you have read in your life and how they influenced your choices. So share your knowledge with others to inspire, help grow and be proud of what you have achieved yourself in the process. 

What are you waiting for? Make writing a #Take 5 blog your top New Year Resolution! 

The Editorial Team: Our Bios