A thank you to (some of) my favourite edubloggers!

My bookmarks as of today

I do love reading edublogs, mostly because of the great ideas I can use in my classroom. I've taught six grades in four years, it grew out of necessity and the fact that the people in my building couldn't necessarily share the same things with me as at one point or another, we would both be teaching the same group of kids. I would find an idea on Pinterest and it would lead me to an edublog, where I would find a lesson or a resource. Or I would find someone on twitter and it would lead me to their edublog. But the following edubloggers I've had the pleasure to meet in person and have pushed my practice just at little bit at just the right time!

The Principal of Change by George Couros

From http://www.tomorrowtodayglobal.com

I saw George speak as a key note at the "Connecting with Others in a Digital World." Among his many wonderful messages, he showed us an image similar to this one. I reflected on how I primarily used technology to connect with my family and friends overseas, who happen to be most of my family. I used to email my grandpa fifteen years ago shortly before he died, who taught himself this new technology, so that he could stay in touch with us. If he had been around to do Facebook, he would have loved it! I was new to blended learning and I really liked the discussion forums, but I had encountered some negativity at my school about using BYOD or other tech, George gave me the push I needed to continue to use technology to enhance learning in my class, despite what other voices around me might say. His clear message, "technology will never replace great teachers, but technology in the hands of great teachers can be transformational."

Brian Aspinall, CV - Dork. Teacher. Blogger. Speaker

I'm not sure how I began to follow Brian Aspinall. He does some really exciting things in his class with coding, which is still a next step for me, but he is not just a coding teacher. Although thanks to what he's posted on his YouTube channel I have a better idea of where to start in September. After I heard him speak about "Rethinking Education" at Connect last spring, he really made me feel confident in some of the strategies I was using with my students, such as giving more feedback than marks and showing them the curriculum, and have them tell me how they want to learn it and how they will show me what they've learned. Teaching intermediate students has become more of a conversation where they can voice their choice and I work collaboratively with them. I only wish I could've been at #MSFTcamp21 to see the live sketch note be created!

By Liisa Sorsa @thinklink

Edublogs as Resources

Last fall, I was brand new to inquiry I didn't know how to get started. I didn't know of any colleagues who were either doing it or if they were, they weren't sharing. I attended Jo-Ann Corbin Harper and Aviva Dunsiger's presentation at #bit14 about inquiry and I've never looked back! I love reading Aviva's blog and I have referred some of my primary colleagues to it as well, and if I ever do go back to teaching primary, she will definitely be who I want to be!

Mr. C's ShareEase, I'm not sure he qualifies as an edublogger, it could possibly be a class website, but I just adore the activities that Peter Cameron @cherandpete does with his students. When I heard of my assignment next year, I told a few colleagues that's who I wanted to emulate! As mentioned in this post, the truly post-modern moment for me was giving a presentation, about how his ideas inspired me and he was sitting in the audience. He posted an activity he did with his students explaining the SAMR model that finally helped me understand it.

I'm so very thankful for the wonderful administrators who continue to support my PD by allowing me to participate in collaborative inquiry projects and to present and attend such inspiring conferences that continue to push my teaching practice! I'm really looking forward to presenting at #bit15 next fall, I wonder what new ideas I will take away this time?