Blogging

Handout:

[|Blogging as Professional Development Handout]

Blogging as Profressional Development** **Why Blog?** -- People blog for all sorts of reasons -- to share memories and experiences, to share ideas, to demonstrate expertise, to earn a living. However, as a means for professional development, the purpose of blogging is to reflect about your teaching and to connect with a personal learning network. Proposition 4 from the [|**National Board for Professional Teaching Standards**] suggests that:  **Teachers Think Systematically about Their Practice and Learn from Experience.** Blogging can accomplish all of these standards. **How to S****tart a Blog** -- There are many detailed overviews about starting blogs online. Here are a few to get you going. Most I found with a quick search on Google; however mine is a post on my own blog that I wrote just using common sense. It seems to have held up fairly well:
 * NBCTs model what it means to be an educated person – they read, they question, they create and they are willing to try new things.
 * They are familiar with learning theories and instructional strategies and stay abreast of current issues in American education.
 * They critically examine their practice on a regular basis to deepen knowledge, expand their repertoire of skills, and incorporate new findings into their practice.
 * [|How to Blog - A Beginner's Blog Publishing Guide]
 * [|Learning About Blogging and How To Blog]
 * [|Holy Blogs, Batman! - My 7 Habits of an Effective Blog]
 * [|How to Blog Safely (About Work or Anything Else)]
 * Blogging Platforms** -- The more you get into blogging, the bigger a deal this becomes. But, if you're just starting, then any free blogging service will do just fine. Here are a few to choose from:
 * [|Google Blogger]
 * [|WordPress]
 * [|Edublogs]
 * [|Class Blogmeister]
 * [|ePals School Blog]
 * [|21 Classes]
 * What's in my Google Reader** -- There are hundreds upon hundreds of useful blogs out there to read that discuss education and educational practice. This is a sampling of a few:
 * [|Llama Llama Duck] - **Steve Olivo** - My thoughts about technology, instruction, and life in the educational world.
 * [|Librarian(')s Matter] - **Norah Connolly** - Middle School Librarian, reader, passionate about creating life-long readers.
 * [|Magistra M's Reflections] - **Danja Mahoney** - About trying to find new ways to teach "old stuff" and finding great resources that anyone can use in the classroom or in life.
 * [|Weblogg-ed] - **Will Richardson** - Dedicated to discussions and reflections on the use of technologies that are transforming classrooms around the world.
 * [|Moving at the Speed of Creativity] - **Wesley Fryer** - A blog that digitally documents a journey of learning and collaboration with other educators and lifelong learners around the globe.
 * [|Dangerously Irrelevant] - **Scott McLeod** - This blog is intended to help resolve some of those incongruities for K-12 school leaders.
 * [|Cool Cat Teacher] - **Vicki A. Davis** - Teaching contente with new tools, enthusiasm, and the belief that teaching is a noble calling!
 * [|The Edublogger] - **Sue Waters** - Tricks, tips, ideas and help with using web 2.0 technologies and edublogs.