5 Blogs to Read in 2011

Note: This is the fourth part in my series "5 things to watch in 2011" Future installments will include: 

• Five companies to watch in 2011
• Five trends to watch in 2011
• Five people to follow in 2011
• Next Monday: Five technologies to watch in 2011

Here are five blogs that I'm reading in 2011: 


The EdReach Network (Collaborative)

I'm excited to announce the launch of a new collaborative blog dedicated to giving education a BIG voice. Spearheaded by Daniel Rezac, the purpose of EdReach is to "To take education forward, by bringing voices together." The contributors to EdReach are a innovative and influential bunch. I am humbled and privileged to be one of them! The regular blog posts that appear on EdReach range from the philosophical and reflective to the practical and specific. In addition to daily posts, EdReach produces several podcasts which are worth the space on your iPod. 


The Blended Classroom (Jonathan Bergman)
One of the "founding fathers" of reverse instruction, Jon Bergman has some innovative ideas that are spreading like wildfire around the country. He is currently working on a book along with his partner, Aaron Sams, fleshing out the benefits of flipping the classroom. One thing that I really appreciate about Jon's blog is that not only does he discuss the philosophical and pedagogical reasons for his teaching methods, he also shares practical advice. A lot of his posts are directly related to what's happening in his chemistry classroom. Jon is very responsive to questions via twitter or on his blog. He is definitely someone you should ad to your PLN. 


Pursuing Context (Justin Stortz)
I can't say that I have ever read blog posts filled with more care and concern for students than those written by Justin Stortz. A 4th grade teacher, Justin shares moving encounters that he has with his students. When you have a day which causes you to wonder "why did I become a teacher?" make sure you read a few of Justin's posts to reinvigorate yourself.
**Update: Justin moved his blog over to Blogger. I've updated the link.*** 

I Teach Ag Blog (Danny Silva) 
The name of this blog is a little misleading. I haven't read any posts from Danny about the best way to grow corn or to keep your livestock healthy. I have read about a lot of really cool tech applications though! I would classify Danny as a "life-hacker", that is, someone who specializes in finding little tricks and secrets to streamline life and become more efficient. A lot of the posts that Danny puts up are related to ways to use Google's products to make your life easier, like how to automate birthday announcements using Google Calendar and Google Groups. If you like saving time and being more efficient, read Danny's blog!


Learning in Hand (Tony Vincent)

Tony's blog is dedicated to harnessing the power of mobile devices in educational setting. Tony has great resources for the iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, and netbooks. The last post that I read was on the cool gadgets that he picked up in 2010. It's quite a list! Tony has a lot of great resources for educators wishing to integrate mobile devices into their classroom including several podcast series. He is also very responsive to anyone who has questions regarding mobile devices in the classroom. I strongly believe that mobile devices are going to become more prevalent in education therefore this is a blog worth following!







That's my  list! Add all five of these blogs to Google Reader by clicking here. 


Check back next Monday for the final installment in my series "5 things to watch in 2011".