Can we get a list of 'non-ed tech classroom teacher blogs?'

Laura said:

There are a lot of Ed Tech blogs and they don't appeal to the average teacher who is not a tech junkie. Would you consider doing a "Top 10 Classroom Blogs" list?

Ian said:

I would like to see a list of the most prolific/popular/useful classroom teacher blogs. Does such a thing exist?

I'm sturggling with these questions because I’m not sure how we’d come up with a list of ‘non-ed tech classroom teacher blogs.’ Because some classroom teachers also blog all the time about ed tech. And some blog about ed tech a lot. And some blog about ed tech a little. And some not at all. What’s the dividing line? 70%? 50%? 30%? 10%?

And what about consultants or university faculty members or others who blog about pedagogy generally? They’re not writing about specific classrooms or specific schools. Do they count?

The Internet defies bounded categorization…

[that said, go through the list of 50 and see who you think makes your cut!]

Comments

[Ian H.]

1.

To be fair, I did say that I found the list of the top 50 to be helpful.

My list of the top classroom bloggers would include those that blog about ed tech, but also those that blog about policy, and those who simply relate classroom experiences. A good example of someone who didn't make the list: http://publiceducationdefender.blogspot.com/ , whose Technorati rank did not make the cut, but who has a loyal following and has had a number of interesting discussions on different topics relating to the classroom.

I'm not denigrating your list at all - as I said, I find it useful - just wondering if the same sort of thing exists for blogs of frontline teachers.

[Scott McLeod]

2.

Hi Ian,

I didn't think you were denigrating the list at all (and, in fact, I'm not invested in the list; I just like analyzing the numbers now and then). My apologies if you thought I was putting down your question. It's a legitimate query. It's just also a difficult one.

Many in the top 50 also are classroom teachers. So should they be on a non-ed-tech classroom bloggers list? Or are they automatically out because they blog about ed tech? And if they blog about a variety of topics, what percentage of ed tech posts kicks them off this other list? I don't know how to answer these questions because everyone would answer them differently.

So I don't know exactly what you mean by 'frontline bloggers,' but if you've got a list of bloggers that you like, I encourage you to blog your list and explain why you like them. They'd be honored, I'm sure. Put a link here too so folks that read me but not you will head over to your blog!

[Betsy Hansel]

3.

I had "starred" the top 50 on my Google reader to look into later and maybe post a link to the list on our own "resources for educators" section of the AFS Intercultural Programs international web site, http://www.afs.org/afs_or/view/3158 if I find that there are enough that related to international education.

In my experience, there are probably too many blogs on blogging, and bloggers are reviewing technology quite a bit as part of an effort to improve their blogs with better tools and techniques. But I also see more and more interesting content these days: enough to attract this 50-something reader to the internet again and again.

[Ian H.]

4.

It could be worse - none of the 50 were SEO blogs telling teachers how they could improve our search results if only we'd buy their e-book. :D

As far as a list of classroom bloggers, I'd include anyone who spends the majority of their day teaching kids (as opposed to ed techs, who have the harder job of teaching adults). That includes classroom teachers who blog about ed tech.

[Darcie]

5.

Hi!
In addition to this new list, I would love to see a list of classroom blogs that have students interacting with the teacher or class blogs that really show how students are using blogs with their classes. Does such a thing exist? Or can you suggest some good ones? Thanks!

[Dan Meyer]

6.

Are we sure we can find ten classroom bloggers to populate the list? Maybe a top seven. And everyone's included.

[Scott McLeod]

7.

@Ian and @Dan: Using Ian's criteria, I think the top 10 classroom bloggers would be 7, 13, 14, 17, 23, 31, 36, 41, 44, and 47 (out of the top 50).

@Darcie: Because of my focus on leadership, not classroom technology integration, I don't live in this space as much as others but check out the list at

movingforward.wikispaces.com/Blogs

and see if some sites there are what you're looking for...

[Jon Becker]

8.

@Scott, help me out with this, but in response to @Darcie's question, is it a violation of FERPA to share blogs that have student work products in them? Again, you'd think I would know the answer to this...

[Stacey Kerr]

9.

For English teachers:
http://www.huffenglish.com/
http://www.betweenclasses.com/
http://ncteinbox.blogspot.com/

[Tim]

10.

My personal definition of a "classroom" blog is one written by a teacher that focuses on what is going on in their school. Of course, that doesn't mean they don't write about other topics.

Using that criteria, I'm not sure you'd find ten classroom blogs in Scott's top 50 (54?). Certainly my site would be dropped (#48, woo!) since I'm no longer in a classroom full time and my posts are very scattered.

However, there are many very good classroom blogs out there but they don't score high in Technorati or get the high profile attention elsewhere. To help rectify that a little for a couple of my favorites, I hope people will take a look at Elementary, My Dear, or Far From It (http://emdffi.blogspot.com) written by a 5th grade teacher and Organized Chaos (http://welcometoorganizedchaos.blogspot.com/) by a K-1 special education teacher.

[Scott McLeod]

11.

Jon, it depends on what agreements the teacher and school have made with the students and parents. If the parents sign off, no problem.

[Justin B.]

12.

Thanks, Stacey. That is exactly what I have been looking for. So I click into the blogs you mentioned and what do you find the NCTE blog? TWITTER!

But, what concerned me more was that only 1 of those blogs had a blogroll for Quick social networking with a range of English blogs, and even the one that did have a blogroll linked to lots of different types of blogs ... not really seeing the English teaching content area as a social network in itself.

I think that in the short term that is where we can improve. Giving some substance and definition to these content-area based social networks. Seriously, pre-service teachers that are in Colleges of Education right now, I think would really find that definition of the social network valuable as they learn how to be English teachers and perhaps even engage in blogging themselves.

[Ian H.]

13.

Interesting that your list includes many of the blogs I've added to my feed reader from the top 50 list.

[Eileen]

14.

I doubt my blog makes the top 50, but if anyone is interested in reading about a variety of education issues affecting an American third-grade teacher at an American School in the Middle East, may I submit my blog address to your readers:

elementaryteacher.wordpress.com

Best regards,
Eileen
Dedicated Elementary Teacher Overseas

[Clay Burell]

15.

Scott,

I did an "Open Thread: Your Favorite Teacher Blogs" post back in late March, and 47 people responded with their favorite teacher blogs, by subject matter and grade. You can find it here:

http://beyond-school.org/2008/03/27/open-thread-your-favorite-teacher-blogs-by-subject-matter/

[Bill Ferriter]

16.

Scott,

Many thanks for these threads----They're becoming great sources for new blogs to add to the ol' feed reader!

And I'm glad to see that @cburell included a link to his March post on favorite blogs. It was a great read that I'd recommend to anyone interested in finding classroom bloggers.

My favorite part of his conversation was having the opportunity to cast a bit of light on my favorite classroom bloggers, so I figured I'd do it again here.

Only I want to focus on rookie bloggers, and currently, I'd recommend two. I think both fit the "not-so-much-on-ed-tech" requests that started this conversation:

Ariel Sacks is a fellow TLN member and 8th grade English teacher in NYC. While a young teacher, she blows me away with her thinking pretty regularly. Her blog is titled On the Shoulders of Giants:

http://teacherleaders.typepad.com/shoulders_of_giants/

I'm also a big fan of the thinking of John Holland, over at Lead from the Start:

http://circle-time.blogspot.com/

John is a preschool teacher who writes about educational policy on a pretty regular basis. He's just jumping in to this blogging thing, so he's polishing his voice, but the guy's brilliant. It's only a matter of time before he catches digital lightening.

So here's a question for readers:

What novice bloggers do you think are worth the read?

I'd love to spread some good digital mojo by checking out what some of our newer digital colleagues are writing!

Rock on,
Bill

[Scott McLeod]

17.

This is a brand-new education blog (only since June 2!) that I'm enjoying quite a bit:

http://educatorblog.wordpress.com

[David B.]

18.

Scott: Thanks for the tip, educatorblog what worth visiting.

[JohnNorton]

19.

I'm a fan of Bill Ferriter's blog, which manages to mix techie with just good ole classroom-y. He has a friend and fan in N.C. who writes about classroom life and teaching practice in a particularly engaging way. She's called The Dream Teacher (funny story behind that):

http://thedreamteacher.blogspot.com/

Another friend of mine and Bill's blogs at the Teacher Magazine site, from her FACS classroom:

http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/place_at_the_table/

[tweenteacher]

20.

It's difficult to delineate between the two. I, for one, am a Language Arts/Speech and Debate teacher who is dedicated to learning the best tools to do her job the most effectively. I was also a tech-lunky until I discovered podcasting at CUE. That was when I threw myself into the deep end and once you discover the value of using technology in the classroom, it begins to creep into your life in other ways.

My passion for my content, for curriculum design, and for educational policy began to see tinges of tech. My website and my blog are not about tech, but because tech has become such a new part of my own education, it can't be teased out entirely.

To be a good teacher, we must continue to learn as students. And I, for one, am not embarrassed to say that I am a student of technology as much as I am a teacher of it too.