PLN Experiences

So, last week, I subscribed to the following blogs:

1. Awesome Resources for Curious Teachers
2. Cool Cat Teacher Blog
3. Dangerously Irrelevant
4. Mad Math Beyond Numbers
5. Teacher Lingo
6. Teaching All Students

Throughout the week, I have checked new postings to these blogs by using Google Reader. First of all, I am very happy with Google Reader. I was required to set my account up with Google Reader for another class, but I never quite understood its purpose. Without actually putting it to use, I did not understand why people use it. However, after subscribing to meaningful blogs, the purpose of the application makes sense. Like Cara said in her PLN blog, I was at first overwhelmed with the number of new feeds. However, I think I am slowly learning to weed through the postings and read the postings that seem interesting. A problem I still find though, is how to choose which ones to read. Sometimes the name of the posting does not really reflect the meaning of the blog. I guess this is something that I will simply learn by experience.

An extremely interesting post from the Dangerously Irrelevant blog is about filtering websites within school settings. "Dear teachers, We trust you with the children, but not with the Internet. Yours truly, the Administration." I think this quote perfectly sums up some of the frustrations that I have at school with certain websites being blocked. Sites such as Ning, You Tube, and many Wiki sites are blocked, thereby limiting by ability to use such tools in the classroom.