BP1_Google Reader

1.Education Week Digital Education
This site is familiar among educators. As a student, I can remember teachers referencing this site when bringing topics to class. Here, one can find hot topics and debates within the educational realm. This particular blog that I subscribed to has to deal with technology and education. From the articles/posts that I have skimmed through so far, this blog highlights and critiques different software, applications, gadgets, etc. to improve educational practices. Some of the postings even argue the usefulness of these new innovations. I subscribed to this blog because I am going to be teaching middle school Literacy, including Writing. I want my students to get the most out of their experience in my class, and I believe that integrating technology is the key. I never really was afforded the opportunity to use technology in those particular subjects.

2.IDOE:Parent Involvement
For my AR research project, I am researching Parent Involvement in general. I want to see what practices are currently being used, who has had the most success, and who has not had success. I am following these articles from Indiana because it is a place where I have no real connection(s). Sometimes asking people who are in the same place as you, or are familiar with where you are, will give you the same answers. This is a simple site outlined by article titles, so that it is easy for one to select an article according to particular need.

3. Education Week Learning the Language
This site is also a blog from Education Week. This blog, however, specifically deals with Language. Most would think that by language, one is referencing the spoken language used in their community. However, seeing as though this site was not developed for a particular place or people, this blog covers all types of language. This includes, but is not limited to language of laws, language of test questions, meeting the needs of students who speak a language other than English, as well as teacher's accents. These blogs are important to me because I will be teaching in Florida, one of the most diverse states in America. I am bound to confront any, if not all of these situations at least once during the school year. I was attracted to it specifically because of ELL's (English Language Learners) because I was once pursuing a Masters in that very topic, until the state I was working in said that they would not recognize that particular degree. I, of course, thought that was absurd.

4.NEA
This site is something I choose to follow because I am a member of the NEA. My previous teaching assignment was in a Title I environment that had little parent support. This site offer suggestions in parental resources, that can be used to improve that parent involvement levels in your particular school situation.

5. Teacher Magazine
This site contains so much information that it is hard to capture it in a little synopsis blog. It is basically a window into what other teachers are thinking and experiencing in their classrooms. It has teacher blogs, feature discussions, latest AP News, Polls and more. I was never one to capitalize on the experiences of other teachers because I thought I could do it all. That was the straight out of college me. The me today realizes that the more help you can get with any aspect of teaching, the better off you will be. I am excited about following this site and its post. I feel like an official teacher now! :)