Reflective Blog #1

David Truss:: Pair-a-dimes for your Thoughts
http://pairadimes.davidtruss.com//
On this web page I saw some information about Caring across the Curriculum with a short video to watch. The blogger did not seem very happy about having to view this information. I saw an area referring to facebook with a question and answer forum. You could also post about blogs as learning spaces and bubble wrap. The background for this blog was rather simple. It had many links to different blog spots. All of the different topics had different headings to separate them.
I did not find this blog very educational. Very little information is of use for me. I did not find any lesson plans. I would not recommend this site to fellow teachers.


The Tech Curve: Flattening the learning curve of Educational Technology
http://thetechcurve.com/
This blog helps teachers to find more tools to use besides just using Google. There is a chart that helps cross reference Google to various other search engines. One highlighted area states that one single log in to this blog, lets teachers have access to dozens of free services. It also offers different conferences that may be available. There are several videos that are posted to the blog. The background color of this blog is white and had a graph. There was a sidebar menu with links to different sites and the archives. The subscription button is also on the sidebar menu.
I did like this site. It would help me to get away from just using one search engine. This site gives good reasons as why to use different sites. It also gives teachers many sites that are free which is a nice thing for teachers. I would recommend this site to other teachers just for the fact of the list of free services that is available to them.

Classroom Blogmeister
http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=117417
This blog is set up by a classroom of students. On this page students may post blogs from their Wiki spaces accounts. The teacher posts her assignments for the class. One of the posts is a discussion about the novel that the class is currently reading. On the side on gray, is all the different topics that have been posted by the teacher and by the students. I thought this blog was well set up and easy to use for the students. It did not have any fancy gimmicks so that the students would not be distracted. The color scheme is pretty basic. The teacher did post pictures or notes that may be helpful for the students to study. I would recommend this site as an example of how a teacher would set up a classroom blog. I think it is a very good example for a classroom bog.

Year Two Blog
http://yeartwo.chorltonparkblogs.net/
This blog spot has several discussions that are ongoing. The first blog area that I noticed was the teacher posting a video with questions to answer. I noticed on the side of the blog that there was a map with points to show where the people live that have logged onto this blog. Another blog discussion is about an Art field trip that the class has taken. The teacher has also posted some links to different educational games that he recommends for his students. This blog site has two columns on each side with the main posts in the middle. On the right side, there are several links that take you to different blog spots. On the left side is visitor location map, who is logged in, and the page statistics. Most of the graphics are links to another web page. The color scheme is pretty normal, no outrageous color scheme. I would not recommend this blog for other teachers, because under the title of the blog is a question that is not using correct language. It actually states "Have you leave a comment on the blog yet?" Being one of the first things I saw on this page, it really turned me off. I think if you are using a blog for the classroom, the teacher needs to make sure the title is correct.

Ask a Tech Teacher: Let the games Begin
http://askatechteacher.wordpress.com/
This blog spot gives teachers many different websites to have their students use for research or educational purposes. The first topic is the human body. It lists twenty different topics on the human body and provides links to different websites. As you scroll down further, there are other pictures of homepages that may be useful in the classroom. All of these pictures are linked directly to the website. There are different articles posted that may be of use to teachers. This blog offers advice on how to integrate technology into the classroom even for teachers who are not very tech savoy. The graphics on this page are great. The creator took time to link most of the graphics to another website. Having a world of information on one blog makes it easier for teachers to use especially when time is an issue. I would recommend this blog to other teachers. The creator of this blog has put lots of hard work into creating this blog and making it a very useful tool for teachers.

Just Read
http://justread.wordpress.com
When you first open this blog spot, you will see a picture of the binding of old books. As I was scrolling through this blog, I noticed that the creator posted several lesson plan ideas for literature teachers. Through out the page, there are some articles that the blogger has read and posted with her own comments added. She questions her own thought process in some of these articles. It almost seems like a magazine that is online. On the right side of the blog is different categories of sites that a teacher may use. A few of the headings are Edtech blogs, Cool Sites, Educators Websites, and cool teaching stuff, just to name a few. I did notice on the visitors log that she had people from all over the world looking at her site. This blog also gives you an options to subscribe to the website. At the very top of the page, you can go to teacher resources for a whole new page of links and ideas. This blog seemed easy to use. It gives teachers some advice on different topics and new ideas. The links are easy to use and offer great amounts of information that I would think a teacher would use. I would recommend this blog to other educators.