RSS is nice for news and sports, but I am now seeing its true power as I explore education blogs. It allows me to see new content without having to visit all of them to see if they are updated. Favorites so far include:
http://www.freetech4teachers.com/
http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/
http://theedublogger.edublogs.org/
My favorite source for finding these blogs are that the people in these blogs list their own favorite blogs. I find myself jumping from one to another. To me this is like getting a reccommendation for a contractor from a friend instead of the Yellow Pages. The best bloggers have already found each other and are linked. Inferior blogs are weeded out, something search engines don’t do. So if many blogs have the same blogs on their subscription list then they are worth checking out. I think the list of Edublog winners is a great place to start.
From Blog Pulse I found a great blog for an elementary school where I live [unfortunately it is not the school my children attend 🙁 ]. I plan to use it to show my principal the possibilities. What I did not like about this tool was that when I searched the district that I teach in, it came up with many links to sites that I think were just disguised links to porn.
I am now in control of my professional development. I feel so empowered. I will never again feel like there is a lot of cool stuff out there, but I don’t know how to get started. These blogs are so much better than any college class I have ever taken. I will be recommending 23 things to everyone in my building!