Midwinter Break with Google Reader!

We're on Midwinter break this week! The wife and I are off through Tuesday, then she heads back to her 2nd/3rd grade kiddos and I head back to the university. January and February are awful as far as consistency, an underestimated part of learning in my eyes. Every other week has a day off because of a holiday, day between semesters, or teacher training day. This week is great for the student teacher, as it is a chance to focus on the classwork and get a little rest Monday and Tuesday.

For me, this week is a good chance to run some more (92 miles instead of the 75/wk I have averaged), and a chance to catch up on my Google reader. As I mentioned earlier in the week, the blog posts to be read ballooned to over 100. How about now? Well, I am down to 9... they are the ones that I need to really invest time to read (Bridging Differences, Will Richardson, etc).

What has Google Reader taught me?

• There are lots of people writing about writing instruction.
• Facebook has lots of users. It could be seen as a tipping point in ed-tech. I wonder if ed tech will change because of what the capabilities of a site like Facebook, and not facebook itself (the "see how useful this is" type of thing). Makes me think of globalization... it can be really good, but can also be really scary and/or misused.
• Alfie Kohn isn't universally liked. The line that stuck was "wet streets cause rain."
• Track records aren't just used in corporate America... imagine being a teacher, or superintendent evaluated based on how your kids did? Should they?
• Student teachers worry about standards. Me? Not so much. I want solid teaching that has a purpose, and is linked to standards, but I know you can't focus on the standards.
• We should be sure not to take the Internet as fact... kinda like how kids think everything in the newspaper is true.