Weblogs

**//__Weblogs (Blogs) for Teachers__//** Blogs can be used as a great professional tool for teachers to use on their own and with their students. Get started by finding a blog that suits your interests via a common Internet search engine like Google or a website like SupportBlogging.com. From there you can begin to explore blogs until you are comfortable enough to use them with your students. It is easy to use a Weblog in your teaching practice. You can even create a class blog or encourage students to create their own blog. Don't worry too much about security issues because Weblogs can be set to be seen only by "invited" members. Pretty soon you and your students will be a part of the read/write web and the benefits will be obvious. Below is a list of the blogs we follow and a quick description of the content and how we have found it useful in our classrooms.

1. [|NY times Learning Blog] (Christine) I chose to follow this blog because it contains educational resources for students and teachers based on articles, posts, videos, and pictures published daily in the NY Times. It offers lesson plan ideas divided by content, a student corner which invites students to reflect and respond on various topics and issues, teaching tools like graphic organizers, words of the day, crossword puzzles for students, a section that is aimed to help teachers learn more about teaching, and (my personal favorite) a wellness blog! I can see teachers of all subjects and all grades using this website every day with their students.

2. [|ISTE Connect] (Tina) I  STE stands for The International Society for Technology in Education. It’s a site where educators can benefit from “professional development, knowledge generation, advocacy and leadership;” a place for educators to share ideas and generate new ones. I chose to follow this blog because it offers great resources for incorporating technology into the classroom. Hope you will find some of the information helpful!

3. Teacher Lingo (Matt S.) "An educational community to connect teachers from every level." Teacher Lingo is "an educational community of teacher blogs, lesson plans, and other teacher resources." Best of all, it's all free! I chose this blog because I'm always looking for new lessons, and this site offers lots of lessons in most subject areas for grades K-12.

4. [|The Fischbowl] (David) The title of the blog initially grabbed my attention. His name is Karl Fisch (hence “the Fischbowl”) and he has been teaching for over twenty years. He is currently Director of Technology at a high school in Colorado. Karl Fisch uses his blog to share his personal views on technology and education.

5. [|2 Cents Worth] (Jessica) This blog is managed by David Warlick, a verteran educator/administrator. He shares insightful comments regarding technology in education. He talks about current issues in education and offers his "two cents" on those matters. Check it out - it's quite interesting! :)

6. eduTeacher (Rebecca) This blog was created to provide educators with news, grand and award information, high-quality online resources, updates about the tools we already use in class, conferences, and to network teachers as they communicate tech tutorials, best practices, teacher stories, etc.