There’s nothing I like better than reading posts that make me think – about my practice, how I approach things, or things that just make me dig deeper. There was no shortage of those things this week. Here’s a few of what appeared on the blogs of Ontario Educators recently.
Some favourite web sites to share: introverts and education
I’m not a big fan of labels because often it seems that someone else defines the terms and then apply them to you. Recently, there has been much made about introverts and extroverts. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who comes up and introduces themselves as an extrovert. In fact, don’t we all identify with our own definition of introvert? I know that I do.
Anyway, Valia Reinsalu has cobbled together a goodly collection of resources. Whether or not you apply the label is up to you. But, it is good reading if you are interested in the whole person and are in search of this type of resource.
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Nathan Hall writes a post that he calls “Connecting the personal and the professional”. His post was inspired by a book that he had read Language Teaching Awareness: A Guide to Exploring Beliefs and Practices by Jerry G. Gebhard and Robert Oprandy (1999).
In the post, he identifies a number of questions and then answers them from his perspective. It’s a worthwhile exercise and just may end up being my inspiration for a future post.
It’s the perfect ending to a blog post – a call to action for the readers.
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Myclassroomtransformation is a blog written by Joanne Babalis and I’ve been interested in what’s happening there and it’s made TWIOE three times. Here, here, and here. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one reading this blog. Over half a million others have as well. The Faculty of Education at York noticed as well and gave a huge shout out at “STUDENT BLOG GETS CLOSE TO A HALF MILLION WORLD-WIDE VIEWS“
And she responded on her own blog.
Congratulations on the first half million. How quickly will the second half million come?
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Rocks and Stars of an Education PLN
Literally on the heels of reading Joanne’s post, I read Sheila’s about those who would be on your Educational Personal Learning Network. So, it does beg the question about rocks and stars.
There are blogs that start with good intentions and then just fall by the wayside. On the other hand, there are blogs that just keep going and going. Joanne’s is one that fall into that category, I would think. It’s a rock on which you can build your learning.
The other aspect is the concept of stars. I would think that many who could classify as legitimate stars would be embarrassed to being called that. They’re just doing what they enjoy; sharing their thoughts and helping other grows.
But there’s another group of stars. These are people who actively want to be seen as a star. Sheila and I’ve actually had a conversation about this. These stars end up being in the “A Group” and all of a sudden become too busy to even answer a question posed to them.
If you’re a blogger, do you blog to be a star or a rock? If you’re looking to follow a blogger, do you want to follow a rock or a star?
Or, are we overthinking this?
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Mark Carbone just posted a bit of a teaser that leads one to a CBC Spark podcast. As always, Spark makes you think…
This topic is one that Mark and I would be likely to sit and think our way through as we tend to do when we get together. It looks like our next opportunity will be at ECOO13. I look forward to it.
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Welcome to our Grade 3 classrooms!
This was a new blog for me. According to the About Page, it’s Ms. Meehan and Ms. Marra and they’re team teaching Grade 3. In the most recent post, they were discussing symbolism and its meaning. What immediately caught my eye was the Honolulu Blue jersey on the background.
You see, this Minnesota Vikings fan was at Ford Field last weekend where Detroit in their Honolulu Blue were victorious. As I scrolled through the images on the post, I see that the jersey appears to be from a soccer club. That’s good!
So is the lesson. What a great way to discuss the importance of things in the student’s minds. I’d love to hear the story behind the placement of the articles and the significance of the AC/DC piece! It looks like a great opportunity for every student to have a voice and for others to interact. Way to go.
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Great stuff, folks. Thanks so much for keeping readers thinking. Please check out the blog posts at the links above. You’ll be glad you did. The complete collection of Ontario Educational Blogs is available here. Check out the latest from throughout the province.
If you’re a blogger yourself add yourself to the form. I’d be happy to add you to the list.
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doug -- off the record 
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