Most Memorable Blog Posts of the Year - 2017
What does your digital portfolio show? by George Couros (The Principal of Change)
12 Things I STOPPED Doing Thanks to Breast Cancer by Kaye Hendrickson (Aimlessly Wondering)
A Guide for Resisting Edtech: The Case Against Turnitin by Sean Michael Morris and Jesse Stomel (Digital Pedagogy Lab)
Every Teacher a Reader. Every Teacher a Writer. by Amy Rasmussen (Three Teachers Talk)
How Much Reading to Kids in Middle School? by Tim Shanahan (Shanahan on Literacy)
DigiLitSunday: Better by Margaret Simon (Reflections on the Teche)
Coaching for Impact with Samantha Bennett by Rachel Tassler (The Reading Teacher's Ramblings)
What Effective Admin Do by Josh Stumpenhorst (Stump the Teacher)
Counting Down to Dynamic Teaching for Deeper Reading: Delving into Deeper Reading by Vicki Vinton (To Make a Prairie)
Writing Partners: Authentic Purposes for Writing by Elizabeth Moore (Two Writing Teachers)
A Reading Life...Interrupted by Teri Lesesne (Nerdy Book Club)
On the Level by Donalyn Miller (Nerdy Book Club)
You'll Never Be the Same Again by Mikey Dickerson (Medium)
Three Ways to Ensure Making Inspires Writing Time (Rather than Replace It) by Angela Stockman (Angela Stockman)
55-25 and my 40th Birthday by Julie Nariman (Classroom 325)
It's awards season! Typically this annual post is published late of the same year. However, it is never too late to recognize the great writing on educational blogs. I saved each of the posts listed here because I found them to be important to my work as an educator. Maybe you will too.
This list is without descriptions for each linked post, unlike past lists. Time is valuable. I suggest exploring each of these posts yourself. If one strikes you as important in your work, please share your response in the comments. You don't have to agree with the content. Each post was selected because it caused thinking on my end as a reader.
For example, I included Tim Shanahan's post on this list specifically because I did not agree with his position. But it did cause thinking, specifically in re-examining my own beliefs about literacy instruction. Posting his initial thinking online led to several comments with various levels of agreement/disagreement. Conversation ensued. Conversely, Digital Pedagogy Lab's post about the negatives regarding the technology Turnitin changed my thinking about a product I had once promoted.
This gets to the heart of blogging as an educator: Every teacher and administrator has something to say and to contribute to the larger conversation of teaching and learning. Our experiences working with kids daily has just as much credibility as any letters behind our names. We build our collective intelligence when we blog about our work and engage with others willing to take a risk and share their thinking online. If you have been hesitant to start a blog, consider now as a good time to begin.
(Photo by Jess Watters on Unsplash)