Difference.
I’m an evaluator. I want to make a difference in my programs.
One program that I run is this blog.
I want to know if I am making a difference because that is what evaluation is.
Update.
I have over 300 comments on the blog post by this title currently in my queue.
These need to be read (definitely). Reacted to (or not). Approved (or not).
Perhaps that there is over 300 comments is a measure of difference to the reader; perhaps not.
I am curious as to how people find this particular blog post [Is this blog making a difference (2)].
So here are some of the comments from this post:
It’s difficult to tell but ultimately, any blog will have it’s own benefits. Keep it up!
I love reading books and articles and some of those makes difference in my life or my Behavior.
Your bolg is good and even inspired me too.
My answer is yes. Your posts were made sense and a difference. If you think that your doing able to help others, keep going and do the best.
Blogs are really helpful according to me it gives me a freedom to express my knowledge
…Your article is thought provoking, and I appreciate your post.
This is only a small sample. Most are one line. Occasionally, I get a comment that is longer than one line.
So I will keep on doing what I’m doing–writing weekly (more or less).
New Topic.
The Iranian new year (Norooz) happened March 20, 2017. 
Norooz has many spellings.
Like most holidays that have been around for a while, Norooz has a lot of symbolism. Basically, Norooz is the beginning of spring in the northern hemisphere. (I have friends in the southern hemisphere who decry my acknowledgement of this holiday as it is the beginning of Autumn where they are.)
Each year, I celebrate the holiday in verse. The offering this year follows: (I include an image of Daphne because Daphne is one of my favorite flowering plants that occurs when Spring comes.)
Once again the new year is here,
giving us the opportunity to see a new world.
Let us hear from the physicist looking deeply,
the chemist breathing completely,
the biologist listening closely.
Not the ideologue or the fanatic.
As we look and breath and listen,
the Mother renews with the new year.
Rejoice. Once again.
Monday, March 20, 2017 at 3:29 am PDT
Molly, the term “evaluation”, especially if it is everyday runs against my understanding. I choose to use the term “assessment” Might you inform and educate me on why evaluation is an everyday activity…for me it is more of a periodic event…after a number of activities and the purpose of evaluation may be quite different than for assessment…so I await your insights.
Don,
Everyday you will decide whether to get out of bed, what to eat for breakfast, what you will wear, whether you will do X or Y. And you do this based on criteria. For example, how you feel at the moment the alarm sounds. (Does that extra five minutes really make a difference?) You use that criteria to determine if you are making a difference in your life (or the lives of others). You probably do not think of what you are doing as an everyday activity; you probably do it without thinking about the decisions. You just do it. Assessment is (and I’m quoting) “intended not so much to generate broad theories as to inform local action”. Assessment is a tool that evaluators can use. I see it as a tool that is used in the classroom, although not always in the classroom. (See Walvoord, B. E. (2004). Assessment Clear and Simple. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.) You do not do assessment every day; you evaluate everyday.
In life this is a difference something that is sure to happen, every individual must have their own characteristic which is the difference is not something that was designed before but the difference will grow by itself. In my view, a difference is when a person performs a positive and useful action for the people. If you do, that’s just to say a DIFFERENCE.
I’m not very good at composing words but hopefully my comments can make you satisfied with the view of a difference. May your days be fun, keep working to create a difference. thank you
Difference is one way I think of evaluation. Does this (fill in the blank–program, performance, product, policy, proposal) make a difference in a person’s/people life/lives? Does the (fill in the blank–see above) have merit, worth, value? Keep in mind that the root of the word “evaluation” is value. One would hope that the result is positive and that is the difference for which one is looking. What if the difference is a “negative” action, not particularly useful? That can give you information that may make the (fill in the blank–see above) better the next time. That, too, is a difference. Thank you for your comments.
molly.
I think everyone has his own strengths and weaknesses. That’s what makes the difference. Differences can not only be seen from one’s behavior, but also from what they have written. So, when you write on the blog and many people comment, there is something different from your blog. From that comment, I think the evaluation can be done, by comparing the positive and negative comments objectively, whichever is more dominant. Furthermore, it can be concluded whether the blog gives the difference either good or bad for the readers.
Kelly, you provide me with an unusual approach to evaluation of “difference”. How do you determine if there is a “positive” comment if all the comments seem positive? Negative comments don’t get written. The comments that show up are typically “good article” or something along that line. Would love to hear more about this approach.