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Thinking Blogger Award

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Thinking Blogger Award

Thanks to Ms. George for nominating me for a Thinking Blogger Award. The rules say that “if, and only if” I am tagged, I must “write a post with links to five blogs that make [me] think.” It is an honor to be considered a “thinking blogger,” and I am honored to nominate the following blogs:

  1. Nighthawk, by Roger Darlington. Roger has been a ‘net friend of mine for a couple of years. He always has interesting insights, no matter what the field, and he loves to learn and share what he learns with others. Had he chosen a different path in life, he’d have made a wonderful teacher.
  2. Bud the Teacher might be one of the first English teachers I found in the blogosphere. His podcast was also the first podcast I ever listened to. He has a lot of interesting ideas about technology and education.
  3. Mike Hetherington uses blogs in his classroom in ways that get me excited and thinking about how I can adapt some of his ideas for my own classroom.
  4. Lorelle on WordPress is a great find for anyone who wants to get the most out of his/her WordPress blog, whether hosted on WordPress.com or on one’s own domain, like mine. I’ve learned a lot from her blog.
  5. The Super Adventures of Ben and Noah makes me think about the small joys in life, and reminds me to appreciate them more.

I need to mention that there were many other blogs on my own personal list of blogs that make me think, but I knew they had already been tagged, so I didn’t tag them twice. If I did tag anyone twice, I apologize — I checked each blog to see if a post about being nominated as a Thinking Blogger was present, and at the time I checked, none had such a post. Please check out my blogroll for more great education blogs.

Thanks again, Ms. George!

[tags]Thinking Blogger Award, meme, thinking[/tags]

5 thoughts on “Thinking Blogger Award”

  1. Wow! I am in the process of writing an article about this subject and it never occurred to me that someone would think that I was worthy.

    Thanks!

  3. Dana, I followed yr Collins' links back. Thx. I didn't see what you thought of Collins (now) and how the portfolios turned out.

    Personally, I like the 6+1 model better than any I have been exposed to and modeled.

    Our district starting pushing Collins about 2004 and since then has bought into it 100%. I think there are many ways to teach writing (combos from various models that you mentioned as well as pesonal intuition and experiences) and was sorry to see that the district was touting "Collins way is the only way."

    I also like a portfolio that is more formal than Collins. I like reflections on major assignments in there, a 5 'graph piece which begins "Dear Reader" and includes… what you learned, what you would do differently, self assesment, as well as the process that was used en route to the final product (problems/funnies encountered along the way), etc

    I (the kids) complete the portfolio year w/ a cover letter to the reader, almost like a job application. Then, those binders (portfolios) are passed on to the next teacher. It (the portfolios) include every subject area. It's a great way to write across the curriculum. Seems that in a small private school that they would work well.

    We tried it… passing on portfolios

    (1992-2000) and it worked well. I could not believe the comments I got back when that first and second group graduated HS. Their portfolios were huge after 7 years.

    I (we) started their portfolio journey when they were 6th graders. In those years, I would teach the same group (of 100 or so) for two years, and then start again.

    One more thought on Collins, I don't think he is correct to state "no piece of writing is every finished." (or something like that) In other words, a level 5 is still a +draft+ YUCK

    Many times, outta the blue, a kid would pipe up with, "Who IS John Collins?"

    SL

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