A session I presented at last year's Sakai Summer Institute about blogging in the classroom:
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About a year ago, I wrote a series of blog posts listing some of the comic strips, blogs and podcasts I read, watch and listen to on a regular basis. Over the past year, I've given up on a few of them and added a few more to my RSS aggregator and my iTunes subscription list. Here are a few blogs that I've grown to love over the past year or so: Catalog Living This is a very silly blog that mercilessly mocks the very silly photographs in upscale catalogs. Dilbert.com Blog Scott Adams, the cartoonist behind Dilbert, is also a really interesting blogger. He's got some very odd, very thought-provoking ideas. I like articulate people who write well. I'm wacky that way. Eggbeater Shuna Fish Lydon is a pastry chef, restaurant-owner and blogger in Brooklyn. I became an instant fan of hers when I read her advice on how to quit a job. Forgotten Bookmarks The idea behind this blog is a pretty simple one - the bookmarks that people forget in old books can be fascinating. Frog Blog Frog Blog is a series of very odd photos, illustrations and video clips that have nothing in common except their awesomeness. They are posted by cartoonist Teresa Burritt. I suspect that she and I would be friends if we met. Letterheady One of the more specialized blogs out there - nothing more or less than the personalized stationery of various historic people and businesses. (My favorite is that of Zella, the Frog Man.) Lunch Bag Art This is a blog by an artist dad who designs new bags for his children's lunches. They are awesome. Matador Network This isn't exactly a blog, per se; it's a travel website with articles, videos and other items designed to make you feel like you are missing out on something, but you can add it to your RSS aggregator as if it were. 'Where exactly IS this allowed?' Paleo-Future You know those predictions from a long time ago about how by now we'd be commuting via jet-pack and we'd all look like June Lockhart or Wallace Beery? This blog is about those predictions. Second Rate Snacks This blog compares mainstream snacks with their cut-rate, dollar-store counterparts. I can't imagine a less important blog; it will not make any kind of difference in anyone's life. I love it. Take One Hundred Another blog I love more than words can articulate. A fourteen year-old girl is working her way through the American Film Institute's Top 100 movies of all time and reviewing each one. Three More Food Blogs I've recently started reading these three blogs by enthusiastic home cooks: The Tipsy Baker Smitten Kitchen Not Eating Out In New York Sunday Magazine This is arguably the only blog on this list of any practical use in my classroom. It is a collection of very old, fascinating newspaper articles. I will use some of these during my New York City unit. Next time - Podcasts you may have missed. The third place I get great stuff from is blogs.
(Okay - I'm about to use a scary-sounding word. Don't let it freak you out.) I set up an RSS Aggregator to update the blogs I read on a daily basis. (That was it - "RSS Aggregator". Did it intimidate you? Please don't let it. I'll explain it, then over the next week, you can casually drop it into conversation - "So anyway, I was playing around with my RSS Aggregator and I discovered something odd...". Your husband/girlfriend/children will look at you and say, "I don't even KNOW you anymore!") As I'm sure you know, an RSS Aggregator checks in with all the blogs you read and lets you know when one of them has been updated. (See? That wasn't too bad.) |