Blogging as Professional Development

This year discovering the blogging world has ended up being more helpful than I ever could have imagined as far as professional development is concerned. I have the blogs that I most frequently visit on my own blog to notice when there is a new post. I love getting glimpses into other people's classrooms as a means to reevaluate what I am doing and ways to constantly improve. Tonight I just added one more to my list.

This year I have seen Sarah at the Reading Zone frequently mention Two Writing Teachers. I know that I had glanced over the site before but am baffled at why I did not start watching it consistently. It has a wealth of information. This summer I am going to really reflect on my current reading and writing practices and develop a strong plan for next year of how I want to improve and changes I want to implement. Blog posts will be a key component to my reflections.

Although it is my fourth year teaching, I have been to three different schools. The one position that I was at for two years felt different both years because the mandated curriculum changed. My positions ranged from high school English Language Learners support and Spanish, middle school reading specialist, and my current 6th grade self-contained in a dual immersion setting. Next year I will have both 6th and 7th graders as our school grows.

My current position is my ideal job where I have the opportunity to implement my own curriculum, but it is also a challenge to get the vision of best practices from various sources, to blend them together and achieve a good balance. Next year I will finally have the benefit of being in the same position for multiple years. While my position will change for next year, it will actually get easier by being able to just focus on language arts, social studies and English Language Development rather than all subjects. I am really excited about how much I will be able to improve just by having processing time over the summer before the start of my second year. It is so nice to be settled in a position with the plan to be there for multiple years.

Being able to have a combination of professional development books, the blogging world, and talking to friends in education provides me with the support to not be afraid to try something new and to get a wealth of ideas on how to fine tune the components that I want to implement.

I am excited to continue following blogs such as Reading Zone and Two Writing Teachers, as well as discovering more education blogs to add to my blogs to follow list.