Blog Review #3

Blog Review #3

http://bsherry.wordpress.com/

Brenda Sherry has created a great website that an educator will find useful and thought provoking. This well constructed website was recognized by the Canadian Weblog Awards. Brenda works as a tech coach in Ontario with her interests in “incorporating technology in constructivist learning environments.” Brenda places an emphasis on critical thinking and deep understanding, which can be easily overlooked in an information rich world. One of the quotes found on her website was “what kind of thinkers do we want our students to be, rather than what stuff do we want our students to know?” This is a great thing for educators to focus on, which makes a move away from teacher delivered content to real student initiated learning.  

Brenda has categorized her website into various categories so that you can easily find articles on key subjects like coaching, collaboration, web 2.0, media, technology, constructivism etc. The website itself is simple, easy to navigate and visually appealing. You can also follow Brenda through twitter. Brenda’s focus for the website is equipping educators with valuable resources and articles to stimulate thinking. These educators build on each others ideas and link to each others updates.. Brenda’s website demonstrates collaboration among peers with an emphasis on technology.

One way Brenda shares her learning process is by writing about what she has learned after attending professional development, or from other learning experiences. One post that Brenda added was about her experience in delving into social media and online learning communities. Brenda listed three tips for getting into networked communities of educators. She said that she was inspired to do this after attending an Elluminate session. The first tip was to “get on there!”. She writes that it is a good way to find people who share your interests, find resources, and get rich professional learning on an ongoing basis. Her second tip was “Don’t Worry About Seeing Everything.” Teachers are often very thorough, and Brenda believes that letting you off the hook on reading and responding to everything is important. Her third tip was to “share your thinking online”. There is so much unspoken knowledge, Brenda writes, that should be shared. She sees on-line learning communities as a potential global staffroom for those who are interested in the best for the students.

I would recommend this website to any teacher interested in furthering their own learning. Brenda really wants to promote critical thinking among her educational peers. This kind of collaboration among teachers will foster potential for innovation. This reflective process for teachers will lead to well informed ideas infused with imagination.