Scripting News — Dave Winer.

Slashdot.

Talking Points Memo — Josh Marshall.

Old school!

The first blog I read regularly was yours, Dan. From there I discovered the love of RSS and have been getting feeds of all the people you mentioned for over a year now.

I have not been blogging as much as I want to this year, but I have been forming some ideas about what Teacher Leadership is and is not. More and more of my ideas of Teacher Leadership centers around what goes on on “this side of the island” as you put it.

This isn’t unique to edublogging: think role models in general. If you’re ever wondering whether female / black CEOs / math teachers matter, *this is why.*

I felt weird just emailing it so I started a blog so I could post my comedy response to your annual report contest.

Sort of an inglorious start, but eh, it works.

Don’t really know how I got here. I originally started looking in the blogosphere when I was trying to revamp my assessment style. I think I started with whatitslikeontheinside.com. I think it was scienceblogs.com that I read the most though. I’d say it was Kate’s rubber band ball lesson that really got me hooked on the blogosphere as a place to have my mind blown versus something I just check in to in order to get info.

As for the Lost thing…this is something I’ve often struggled with. Somehow through you and Kate I ended up with this strange loop (not in a Hofstadter sense) of blogs that all sort of link to each other and generally pat each other’s back. First, I’m a science teacher and would like some really good science ones. Second, we may disagree on minor issues but the overall philosophies are similar. I worry that I’m doing the equivalent of Dick Cheney only watching Fox News.

It’s not so much that I think the problem is ego indulgence. I’ve seen a lot of examples of what I want to be doing but haven’t been able to pull off yet. It’s definitely nice seeing those ideas put into concrete form. Because we all sort of think the same, I’m worried I’m missing those moments where I’m smacked on the side of the head.

Example: I was watching Independent Lens “Objectified” last night and the designer in the beginning (Dan Formosa) told a story about how clients give a profile of their average customer. He essentially said he doesn’t care and wants to know about the outliers, the quote is something like “if we understand what the extremes are, the middle will take care of itself.”

In one fell swoop he was able to clarify my general feelings on educational research and in class instruction. In research we focus too much on the mean and effect size when what we should care about are the extremes. Tell me about the one group that moved forward 2.5 grade levels not the overall .4 effect size.

In class I don’t know how many times I’ve had meetings with principals/trainers/developers and they tell me to choose 3 kids in the middle and teach directly towards them. What I should be doing is picking the bottom kid and the top kid and taking care of them.

I worry I’m missing those “you’re doing it wrong” moments.

It’s a process that boggles me a little bit, that makes me want to break out into song a little bit, that I recommend wholeheartedly to new teachers who now have the luxury of selecting mentors from all around the world.

this is huge – and what we should be offering our students…the luxury of expert tutors from all around the world.

that way jyb – we’re reaching all of them. not just three in the middle, or some at each end.

the web is allowing this for the first time ever – in public school.

thank you all for modeling it.

I found your blog first, Dan, about a year ago. For awhile there I was pretty much exclusively reading your and Kate’s blogs. Sam’s became one of the big three sometime around when I started my own. Then I became part of the community and I follow a lot more. I actually don’t think I really commented at all. I’m shy. (haha) I started looking because I was part of this technology learning network thing with a bunch of area schools. On it’s own, I wasn’t that impressed with the program, but it got me looking which inevitably was a win.

I could swear I was reading you, Jackie, Sam, JD2718, Sarah, Dyer, Greene, and Mrs H in my first year of teaching, 05-06. But on second thought it was maybe the following year. And good thing, too, because I was feeling pretty alone, wondering what I was thinking joining the public sector where the job expectations seemed to be along the lines of glorified circus trainer.

Reading to commenting took many moons. Commenting to writing posts took twice as many, despite very kind encouragement from every quarter, and that I thought I had some things to share. There was a huge Internet Chicken factor to just get over. I was intimidated because I wasn’t prepared to offer anything so different or profound as Dan. Also it took forever to come up with the name f(t). But then once you offer up some of yourself, it’s very reinforcing to find people you respect engaging with your writing. (I want to make an erudite reference to Eric Raymond/Gift Culture here but I’m not up for it…if you’ve read his work you know what I’m saying, and if you haven’t just google him.)

In turn, to comments and emails looking for encouragement I hope I’ve responded yes, please, join in. We can make as much room in this clubhouse as there are brave souls who get it and want to puff air into their ideas and bat them around.

I’m not so much distressed by the islands beyond radar range of my edu-archipelago. I know I can’t read every word or follow every link. But when something sufficiently awesome arises, I’m pretty sure I’ll hear about it.

Interestingly, I started reading a non-education blog and really like the educational-esque format–it was Penelope Trunk’s Brazen Careerist. It always linked to psychological studies, and as a school psychologist, I enjoyed the factoids.

I started writing Notes From the School Psychologist (www.studentsgrow.blogspot.com) about 2 years ago and then was introduced to your blog and Teaching in the 408, and various others. I really connected to the writing style of Its Not All Flowers and Sausages and posted most of my comments there. I am not a frequent commenter, but as a blog writer now myself, I comment more because I love when people post their thoughts. (Even the nasty-grams, because it creates dialogue) ;)

I entered the blogging life by reading Keith Devlin’s monthly posting on the MAA website. I started an RSS to watch him and then one posting, years and years after faithfully reading his article every month, he mentioned other bloggers that were talking about teaching math at a secondary level. That’s where I quickly found all of you and my world exploded.

I don’t know remember which came first, starting my own blog or reading others work. I had been toying with the idea of just journaling about my teaching to force myself to reflect more on the craft. The two seemed to feed off of each other- the more I read, the more I wanted to write. It’s only been about a year now that I’ve been part of this world and it has fulfilled me professionally in a way that talking with my peers at my school had never been able to do.

Everything I have gleaned has improved my teaching and I know that I continue to grow by expanding my reading circle and adding to the community as well. I want to run a workshop at my school about blogging, although it would not be about how to incorporate its use into the classroom with the students but would discuss how to find and follow teaching blogs and how to create your own. It’s so important that I think anyone who really cares about teaching should take part in this experience.

As for the different edublogging circles, there is the idea that the best writing and ideas will make it to the top level and hence be passed around more. At the same time, the mathematician in me is getting excited about this idea and wonders what research has already been about social networks, connectivity and its relationship to blogging circles. Maybe we need to start doing our own research?

The first blog I ever read was yours, Dan, about a month ago, when there was a short write up in World magazine. Having just returned to teaching after a child-raising break, I had no idea any of this existed. I am so excited by the things I have learned in the blogosphere that I wake up at night with new ideas! Teaching has changed so much since I was last involved, I feel like I am enrolled in an online university… only with real educators, who have real things to say.

And I have a blog, because I love the idea of it. My list of blogs I follow is embarrassingly long. I have posted exactly twice. I’m sure someday someone will find it! If not, it is cathartic to have a place to make my thoughts visible.

As always, I break the algorithm. I blogged for 7-ish years before I became a teacher, and I’ll keep blogging now that I’m not one anymore. I was always confused that teachers even read my stuff, since there was clearly nothing to be learned from my practice (though I suppose there were chuckles and Schadenfreude to be had.)

I love your description of an individual living within the comments until they feel constricted and finally break out into their own blog. It is a great description of how one might begin blogging, but there are still so many other ways. The motivations for blogging are widespread. Some are aching to get their voice out and turn to the blogosphere for their audience. Still others, as you said, are motivated by others and in turn are contributing to a generational effect, but I doubt it’s very widespread.

For myself, I first started following blogs that I randomly came across, and I stayed if I found something interesting that kept me. Many times it was the writing. The writing was unique, full of voice, or inspirational. Often times the blogger reinforced my ideas or presented them in a new way. Rarely did I, or still do, read blogs that contradict my own beliefs.

Blogs can become Lost islands. It would be interesting to investigate how and why blogs and groups of blogs become islands.

I knew what a blog was about 5 years ago and had one that I checked regularly (didn’t know about RSS at the time) but it had nothing to do with education. It was a theology blog. I then joined the blog that was created by a friend along those same lines. Never once considered that a blog could be used as a professional development tool. *idiot*

When I made the jump to middle school, I had a bunch of tech “aha’s”. Before, my tech questions consisted of “Vis-a-vis or Expo?” But because our school was trying to implement the “new shiny stuff” I had to do a bunch of self teaching. This led me to Richard Byrne’s blog (http://www.freetech4teachers.com). From there I learned about GeoGebra and MathCasts (http://math247.pbworks.com). It turns out that one of the best people to know for learning GeoGebra and the guy who basically created mathcasts are siblings. (Tim Fahlberg and Linda Fahlberg-Stojanovska)

Anyway, this mathcast/GeoGebra thing got me looking all over for other resources which led me to Classroom 2.0. One day I asked a question about how to engage the advanced student and I was told by Nancy Bosch that maybe I was asking the wrong questions. She suggested that I look up this guy from Santa Cruz who is asking a bunch of good questions too.

From here I started reading Kate, Jackie, Sam, Nick Herschman and Dan Greene. Noticed a bunch of “Follow me on Twitter” on people’s blogs and thought I’d see what that was all about. One of my first tweets was something like “Trying to figure out how to use this Twitter thing” to which @k8nowak replied “me too.” So I thought, “Ok someone who knows her way around this stuff has questions too.” This led to my blog Questions? and now I’m a complete mess.

Thanks guys.

As for the Lost island? Yeah, I wonder if there are ‘others.’ I get the feeling that this is a pretty closed system, though. You follow enough links and you start to recognize the scenery again.

I’m really slow at getting through my reader….

I’ve been reading math blogs for about a year. Before 1.5 years ago, I had no idea I would be really teaching math (degree in special ed…I could’ve gotten many different kinds of jobs…)…I was *thrilled* when I found your blog, f(t) and samjshah…oh, and Jackie B, too, all around the same time.

I am a lurker…I read but don’t often comment. I take it all in and then go talk to my colleagues about it (and get funny looks for talking about my *blog friends* again).

Anyway, thanks to twitter, I recently started a teaching blog myself, but haven’t gotten it too far off the ground. I credit you all for the name of my blog as well as the courage to start it.

I’m always shocked when I find a new blog, but I know I shouldn’t be. There are so many teachers out there, there is boung to be good blogging, right?

I’m still a newbie to this whole new world and still really excited to meet new bloggers everywhere! After 6 yrs of teaching, I realize I’ve been in a vacuum of collaboration at our school and so I’m still indulging in all these ideas and creativity everywhere!!

I’m humbled and excited when I read through all these. My friend whom I speak at conferences with actually sat in on your Asilomar session this year. Kinda cool actually.

I normally blog, but I had never thought to blog about teaching until recently. Now, I feel like a little girl trying to get into the big league of edubloggers.