Yeah!

Finally mastered the screen shot. Also, Google Reader is my new best friend. Woo!

The Blogs

Here is a brief overview of each of my blogs, explaining why I chose them and what they are all about!

1. Teaching with Picture Books
This blog is set up by a teacher from New Jersey who describes himself as "a normal (if not boring) guy who has an occasional epiphany, and then feels the urge to share it with others." His recent posts include descriptions of free resources for teachers, and an introduction on "book trailers" and how to use them. From time to time he will take a theme like death and coping and recommend books that a teacher could use to help his or her students both deal with, and understand, death.
I especially like this blog because I love, love, love childrens books and what I would really like to do someday is be a librarian at an elementary school. This is a blog that will acquaint you with the marvelous world of picture books and how to use them to effectively teach your students.

2. huffenglish.com: issues, ideas, and discussion in English Education and Technology
Here we have more of a compilation of ideas and links than personal entries. I feel like this page could have been made specifically for our class. For example, each week  they post Diigo links that relate to English Education. I also found a post on Blogging tools that I think will be very helpful.

3. My Dog Ate My Lesson Plans
The description of this blog is: "A digital gathering place for the English Teaching majors at Brigham Young University. Post, comment, chat, share--everyone is welcome!"It is a place where teachers and English Ed students bring ideas, ask questions, etc. One of my favorite advice posts is this one. I like it because it shows how important it is for teachers to collaborate with each other and with their librarians.

4. JustRead!
This is a personal blog put together by an English teacher, Lisa Huff. I like this one because it provides a realistic lens for what it is like to be a legit teacher. Posts like this and this are especially helpful because she has some experience and I know that I have a lot to learn from teachers like this. Another helpful feature of this blog is her extensive list of EdTech Blogs and Educator Networks.

5. Discussion Forum- English Companion Ning
This isn't really a blog, rather it is a place where teachers can ask questions and have them answered by other teaching professionals. This is a forum so I know that if I ever had a question I could either place it here, or maybe find that it has already been asked.

Discovery

I've been poking around the internet and I have found some pretty cool stuff! It's super overwhelming actually because there is so much out there. I could seriously spend the rest of my life reading blogs and be completely entertained. Also, I figured out the Google Reader thing and I am a convert. It is so awesome! Now I have all my blogs, news, and other nonsense that I read instead of doing my homework, all in one place! I finally broke down and had my roommate set up my computer to receive internet at my apartment. Originally I figured I would be fine just doing all my "online stuff" on campus...but with all these fun new discoveries I just need it. So that's that.

Introduction To My Lack of Technological Capabilities

Well I'll be honest. I really have no idea what to say for this blog post. I guess I will just say that I am not very technologically savvy so I am looking forward to this class because I really want to be a good teacher someday! I admire teachers who are able to relate to their students. I want to be the teacher who knows what's up and since my 6 year old brother already knows how to navigate the web, I think I better start figuring this stuff out so that my high school students don't show me up.