Thing #9

Google Blog search is very user friendly, I think. I found numerous useful blogs such as updates from MIT. I added this to my reader. Topix was interesting, but not as easy to use with regard to biology. I particularly like EurekAlert (also added to my reader) . I found this site using Technorati. EurekAlert is managed by the American Association for the Advancement of Science and focuses not only science advancements, but instructional suggestions for teachers and posts for young children.

I found Syndic8.com to be confusing. I suspect that if I had more time to peruse the format, I would find this helpful because it seems to offer information from other countries which would be helpful in some situations.

I want to mention that in reading the first part of this assignment, I was made aware of the need to choose reliable and challenging blogs and to be aware of what I write in a blog. I guess I planned to use this primarily for students, but to be made aware of the need to write wisely is always important.

I found a blog from a a very conservative group by way of the SBISD site. It was written by a gentleman who takes issue with some of the spending practices in our district. He cited two articles from the Houston Chronicle, one about our district becoming insolvent and the other about a free summer program. His main point is obvious--the public wants to know more about how we spend our tax dollars!

Through traveling around some of the posts that I located, I found information about the homework policy that is being considered for SBISD. The main reason that this piqued my interest is that I often return to school and, surprise!, look what you have to do this year. Maybe I will, at least, think about my assignments as I begin and be sure they continue to be thought provoking, not busy work.

As far as other ways to locate blogs is concerned, I finally paid attention to news sites that I have bookmarked and go to almost every day. By using the blog icon, I was able to add them to my reader and peruse the latest events at one time. My main example of this is Fox News. Having this on my reader and on iGoogle reduces time required to reach a site.