Thing #7a

I know I have said this in the past, but “Thing #6″ was a little overwhelming for me.  There are so many blogs out there.  Filtering through them and picking the best ones to incorporate in my own reader was difficult.  After reading Shelley’s comments about skimming the information in my reader rather than actually reading it, I kept thinking, What blogs do I want to pick to clog up my Google reader? Haha!  I did find some good stuff, though!

Education-Focused Blogs

2 cents worth - I have heard of David Warlick several times during this Web 2.0 course, not to mention the times his name was mentioned prior to this experience.  I ran across this blog while searching through the 2008 Edublog Award Winners.

Cool Kat Teacher Blog – The real reason I chose this blog is because I kept running across it over and over again.  I didn’t find anything new on it that I really liked; however, the fact that it kept showing up in my searches over and over again gave me hope that in the future I’ll read something interesting from that feed.

Open Educator by Graham Wegner – I read Graham’s blog entry Immunity, and I kept laughing because of how much I related to it.  His comments about educators who think we’ll be using paper-and-pencil forever, the idea that we may lose the need for handwriting in the future, and the possibility that education may not be face-to-face one day rang true with my own doubts and insecurities about this new technological age.

Interesting Blog

NCTM Conference – I have been a member of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) since I began teaching, but I’ve only been to one national conference.  This blog interested me because I saw it as a way to remain connected to what happens at the conferences, even if I don’t attend.  This entry informed me that NCTM has issued an updated version of their Guiding Principles for Mathematics Curriculum and Assessment.  Even though I teach in an independent school, where I am not bound by state and national standards, I want to make sure that what we teach in my school will keep our students in-line with others across the state and the country.

Just for Fun Blog

National Geographic: Photo of the Day – When I was a kid, I told my parents that I wanted to be a photographer for National Geographic one day.  I have always been mesmerized by the amazing photos that appear in their magazine.  When I ran across this blog, I just knew I wanted it in my reader.  I don’t know why there haven’t been any updates since December 2008.  It doesn’t matter, though.  I like the pictures anyway!  This is one of my favorites.