Thing #4 The Reading/Writing Connection

I have a ton of work to do to update my blogs to even remotely come close to being as good as some of the ones I just read. I see many hours of exploring, adding, expanding and playing in my future.

I chose blogs that peaked my interest based on the titles and subject matter that was listed for each one. I started with dy/dan (Mr. Meyer): Why I Don’t Assign Homework
I was impressed with this blog because of the content as well as the format of his blog. How wonderful that there were so many comments on a topic one may not expect to be so controversial!

Next I tried to read Mrs. Edmison's Class: Questions for One of Our Favorite Authors: Grace Lin
but unfortunately it would not open. I wanted to see this blog because I wanted to see how the 3rd grade class used their blog to connect with an author (I'm making a connection for future classroom use) I'll have to see if I can google this one to see if I can find it to read it later.

Mark’s Edtech Blog: Is this SSR 2.0? was absolutely my favorite because of the simple and practical use of blogging in the classroom. This blog helped to awaken my thinking in how I will redesign my SSR time in my classroom next year. I can't wait to blog about my own experiences with this.


CoolCatTeacher (Vicki Davis): Spies Like Us was the most thought provoking and eye opening blog that I read. Wow to think of how technology is used in such harmful ways. It goes to show how we as educators really should stay abreast of all of the latest tools and the ways in which they are used. Better yet, we should make it a priority to engage students in constructive ways to use these tools.

And how great was Patrick?? Patrick's Update: 5th Grade
I can already see the benefits of this type of blog. I would love to hear this child's update in ten years or so. I am thinking of a student from my past class that could have benefitted tremendously by creating a blog similar to this. What an outlet for kids!

Duck with a Blog: Second graders Write About Our Missing Duck I loved this one! I am already thinking of how I can create a section within my classroom blog for my students to blog about books we have read, science experiments, math concepts, new topics in social studies. The possibilities are endless....

I hope I will make it all happen!