Favourite Blogs
All of the blogs in my reader are great, but with over 200 unread posts, there are a few that I ALWAYS stay up to date on. In alphabetical order they are Drape's Takes, dy/dan, Hurrican Maine, and Practical Theory. Combined, these people are challenging me to reconsider how I teach and how I use technology.
Lately Louise Maine (Hurricane Maine) and Dan Myer (dy/dan) have been really influential. Louise posts great stuff about what she is doing with her biology students. She is a queen of the wiki and does engaging project based learning with her students. This post of Louise's is a particular favourite of mine. Louise inspires me to share what I do and make the learning meaningful for my students. Dan Myer writes great posts and asks the questions that need asking. His dy/av video series this summer was amazing. At the beginning of September he posted his entire Geometry curriculum on-line, complete with his slides in PPT and other formats. Add to that he's a fan of The Wire and The Office--what more could you want?! A recent post of his that has caused me to get it into gear was this one where he lamented the lack of Web 2.0 technology that is transforming math instruction. It made me realize how few blogs in my feed reader are by subject specialists sharing what has worked for them in their practice.
Time To Kick It Up A Notch
The influence of the four bloggers that I mentioned above has caused me to re-evaluate what I've been posting here. A lot of what I post is about my experience with blogging and with the technology. I think this is to be expected from a new blogger. This is a way to reflect on what I've been learning. As I near my one year blog anniversary though, it is time to kick it up a notch. This weekend I probably put in 3 hours preparing a resource for a 45 minute class!?!! Add to that it was for a mixed grade class (gr 4 - 7), where I will see the grade 4s for 2 more years, which means I can't use it again for 3 years. This is not being efficient!!! However... if I share what I did so that others can use it, well, then the time investment was worth it. I will post on this lesson soon.
How 'Bout You?
If you blog, are you content with the focus of your blog? Or are you like me, re-assessing what you do. Love to hear from you!
Claire,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the great words! I had not been content with the blog I was writing. It was what I needed at the time - learning from others by reading, commenting, and then posting on my blog. At the same time I was frustrated with application in my classes. I am not sure everyone wants to hear about what I am doing but I am sure that there is not enough sharing of the process we go through to attempt change. We have so much to gain by sharing and questioning.
You have been a wonderful voice with your comments, suggestions, and questions. Thank you for all your input as the conversations continue to stretch me and re-evaluate where I am at.
I look forward to hearing what you are working on! The process can get faster as time goes on.
@Louise, I think it is so wonderful that you are sharing what you are doing. The transition that you describe in your blogging is a natural progression.
ReplyDeleteWhen people share what they do in their classrooms it sends out ripples... effecting the practice of others to varying degrees, and encouraging the ethic of sharing. Thanks for the inspiration!
Hello Claire,
ReplyDeleteOne thing I consistently *try* to do on my blog is to add something new to the discussion. I hate the (true) fact that the blogosphere is often an "echo chamber" of thought, wherein the same ideas are repeated over and over.
For what it's worth, if you can add original, well-thought content, then I think you've done well in sharing your voice. In sharing your lessons and that which you have learned by teaching, I think you'll do just that.
Onward and upward.
Hi Darren,
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping by and for the encouragement! I appreciate the fact that in your posts you ask the questions that need to be asked and you challenge educators to think about (or re-think) what they do. You've given me lots of food for thought.
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ReplyDeleteI have some question
how do you change the order of your posts
please comment me on http://thiddent.edublogs.org/
@tristramdtt, I also responded at your blog. Hi there, here's how you can do this; go to your dashboard and select "manage", then "Posts", then select the post you'd like to move. Once in the edit mode of that post look on the right side of the window where is says "Published on". Choose "edit" then change the date. This should change where the post shows up. I hope this helps.
ReplyDelete[...] There are some writers who’s posts I read as soon as I can; I’ve blogged about them here. Lately there are two other bloggers who have percolated to the top of my faves list. They [...]
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