The A-Z of Education Blogs: Letters S-TC
In this multi-part series, we are profiling the best of the best blogs in education, in alphabetical order. In the previous article, I introduced letters M-Q and in this one, I will discuss letters S-TC.
Click here to access all of the articles in this series.
This blog scores top points for originality – it’s a blog by cheerleaders who work in science. The blog features interviews with different cheerleaders, which serves to inspire more girls to join the field of science. It’s not exactly the kind of blog you’d use to implement new classroom strategies, but you might want to share it with students to show that women who work in science have diverse interests. Most people don’t think Harvard grads and women working on the forefront of science do cheerleading.
Score: Activity 16, Originality 17, Helpfulness 18, Authority 18.6
Total Score: 69.6
Email: darlene@sciencecheerleader.com
Twitter: @TheSciCheers
This blog is a lot about creating a Google classroom, which the author, Kasey Bell, has written an entire book about. This isn’t so surprising given she’s a certified Google educator, innovator and trainer. The posts are regular and contain useful information for anyone who wants to run a digital classroom.
Score: Activity 22.5, Originality 20, Helpfulness 20, Authority 24
Total Score: 86.5
Twitter: @ShakeUpLearning
They claim to connect education professionals with industry news, insights, resources and trends, which they do. It’s all curated.
Score: Activity 22, Originality 20, Helpfulness 23.5, Authority 21
Total Score: 86.5
Twitter: @smartbrief
Smart Classroom Management is Michael Linsin’s take on classroom management and offers weekly blogs on the topic. The blog has over 100,000 subscribers which says something about the usefulness of the topics covered and Michael has taught every grade level from K-12. It’s, of course, his biased take on classroom management, but it’s a take well worth considering.
Score: Activity 16, Originality 17, Helpfulness 18, Authority 18.3
Total Score: 69.3
Email: michael@smartclassroommanagement.com
Wesley Fryer documents his work with students and educators around the globe in the creative use of multimedia. Recently he offered a digital literacy challenge to create an information filter bot.
Score: Activity 24, Originality 20.5, Helpfulness 20.5, Authority 22
Total Score: 87
Email: wfryer@pobox.com
Twitter: @wfryer
Digital learning specialist Kerry Gallagher shares tips for safe and ethical use of technology in the classroom. Recent provocative topics include the spread of fake news and the prevalence of “sexting” among teens.
Score: Activity 16, Originality 20, Helpfulness 21, Authority 21
Total Score: 78
Email: kerryhawk02@yahoo.com
Twitter: @kerryhawk02
A pioneer in the field of educational technology, Steve Hargadon offers timely suggestions for things like turning PCs into Chromebooks and even has the occasional fun giveaway. Articles focus on edtech as a vehicle to drive meaningful learning.
Score: Activity 25, Originality 17.5, Helpfulness 21, Authority 20.5
Total Score: 84
Email: steve@hargadon.com
Twitter: @stevehargadon
Student Affairs & Technology Leadership
Take a look at higher education through the eyes of Joe Sabado. His blogs cover many of the challenges he has faced and experiences that have enriched him on his road to becoming the CIO of Student Affairs in Santa Barbara, CA. It is well worth the read if you aspire to become a higher education administrator, or simply want to improve in areas like public speaking and communicating across different departments.
Score: Active 15, Original 21, Help 19, Authority 17
Total: 72
Twitter: @JoeSabado
Tammy’s Technology Tips for Teachers
Tammy Worcester works independently as an instructional technology specialist and curates hundreds of tools, tips, and ideas on her website. She is especially savvy at tricks for using Google apps in unique ways in the classroom.
Score: Activity 25, Originality 18, Helpfulness 18, Authority 17.9
Total Score: 78.9
Email: tammy@tammytang.com
Twitter: @tammyworcester
Officially the blog for the Texas Computer Education Association, this website is crammed with great ideas and resources for educators everywhere. Most recently, it offers tips on photo editing and a roundup of leadership courses.
Score: Activity 24, Originality 17, Helpfulness 21.9, Authority 21
Total Score: 83.9
Email: tceaoffice@tcea.org
Twitter: @TCEA
The slogan for this blog, posted on the Teaching Channel, reads: “Our blog is filled with great ideas from passionate educators just like you. Let’s get better together!” and that pretty much sums it up. Here a squad of teachers share techniques to implement in the classroom as well as thoughts worth pondering around education.
Score: Activity 25, Originality 24, Helpfulness 23, Authority 23
Total Score: 95
Twitter: @TeachingChannel
Well, that’s it for letters S-TC. Did we miss any?
