Sign up to a blog aggregrator (RSS feed service such as Google Reader) and subscribe to a number of blogs that you will follow throughout your program. We recommend the Google products because with one account (login and password) you can access a number of Google products, including Google Reader, Picasa (photo sharing), Google Alerts, Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Docs.  You will be using many of these tools in courses throughout your program.

When you are looking for blogs to subscribe to and follow, you might want to find blogs related to your personal professional development (e.g. Educational Technology or School Libraries), but you are also welcome to ‘follow’ blogs related to your personal or family interests or hobbies (there are some great blogs about music, entertainment, quilting, and knitting, for example).  

To start you out on your quest to find blogs to follow and to get started in forming your PLC, here is a select list of blogs and bloggers that we recommend you follow.  We have not provided direct links to these blogs...please search for them through Google Reader or a general search and add them to your reader.

Educational Technology

Doug Johnson’s Blue Skunk Blog

Will Richardson’s Webblogg’d Blog

David Warlick’s 2 Cents Worth Blog

Danah Boyd's apophenia Blog

Dean Shareski's Ideas and Thoughts from an Ed Tech

Jeff Utecht's The Thinking Stick 

Vicki Davis' Cool Cat Teacher Blog

Kim Cofino's Always Learning Blog

Judy O'Connell's Hey Jude Blog

School Libraries

Joyce Valenza’s Neverending Search Blog

Stephen Abram’s Stephen’s Lighthouse Blog

Buffy Hamilton’s The Uniquiet Librarian Blog

American Association of School Libraries (AASL) Blog

Cathy Nelson's Professional Thoughts Blog

Children's Literature

Betsy Bird's Fuse 8

Liz Burn's A Chair, A Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy

Jen Robinson's Book Page

Cindy Dobrez & Lynne Ruttan's Bookends Book Blog

PBS' Booklights blog

Laurie Halse Anderson's Mad Woman in the Forest Blog

Lois Lowry's Lowry's Updates blog

John Green's Weblog