Introductions

Blogging about blogging, huh? Well, for all the readers out there, this is the first post for an Education class at the University of New Mexico. I am 25 and and coming back to UNM for my Master's in Secondary Ed. Though the next many upcoming posts are required, the plan is to continue with this blog well into my teaching days to maintain a compilation of feelings, teaching techniques, and advice to live by as a secondary ed teacher.

The first step of the assignment was to explore Wikipedia's definition of blogging. Though somewhat interesting, I thought it much more fun to go out and explore other blogs to get a feel for what would be coming. I ventured across Blogger for a while skimming through the random "what I like to eat", "look at my kids" and "just because" blogs, and though they were all nice in their own ways, I was really looking for blogs that were more teacher specific. Can you guess what I did next? Only what every single other person with a smart phone in a time of information-needing crisis does - googled. I did a simple search, something like, "teacher blogs", and I actually came across the Top 25 High School Teacher Blogs of 2012 listed by Top Masters in Education. I was quite ecstatic to find this list because it was produced by a group interested in promoting further education for teachers. As a prospective high school English teacher, I have reviewed a couple of the English blogs below:

The first blog I clicked on was one entitled Mr. TeachBad. I thought the name was a little fishy but it had me curious all the same so onto Mr. TeachBad's blog I went. Turns out, the entire blog is dedicated to the highlights and pitfalls of teaching. From videos to stories, Mr. TeachBad has it all mapped out without any kind of censors. The blog is written in a satirical sort of way, and I thought it was absolutely fabulous! What better way to enter the field (I start student teaching in the fall) then to sit and read through a mockery of the profession (of course not in an offensive way). What I enjoyed most about this blog is that it seemed to be more of a release for teachers. There were stories and opinions of laws affecting teachers today, basic current events, and suggestions for teachers to take to their own classroom. One of the recent posts, for example, is entitled "Stop Data Rape!". An obviously inappropriate name, the post actually gives insight to how to teach data collecting/ teach data to students. This blog is obviously a teacher to teacher type, rather than a teacher to student type, and I really enjoyed the many different aspects Mr. TeachBad had to offer. 

The second blog I came across was entitled Stump the Teacher. Not going to lie, I clicked on it because I thought it would be a compilation of riddles, games, and other fun activities to introduce to the classroom, however, it turns out the reason the blog is named Stump the Teacher is because the owner of the blog is Mr. Stumpenhorst. Well, I still explored the blog and though I found it to be a little less relevant and spicy compared to Mr. TeachBad, I still enjoyed the many opinions on current events that Mr. Stumpenhorst had to offer. This too seems to be another diary-type blog. 

Overall, I think the best thing I can offer to the blogging world is a compilation of sorts. I think a good blog not only consists of opinions, but of news articles/current events, great lesson plans/ ideas, and laws that affect teachers. The reason a compilation is so necessary is because it makes the difference between reading someone's diary and giving something of value to your readers. If a blog consisted of solely opinions and day to day entries, it would be quite boring. As bloggers, we need to show our readers why they should care about our posts. When I do finally become a teacher, I would also like to link my blog to student blogs as well and integrate this type of writing as a year-round activity.