www.awaytoteach.net is a good blog site for many reasons. The home page shows about a paragraph of the most recent blogs with links to read the entire thing down the center of the page. Because this list could seem potentially never-ending, the bottom of the page has links to the 2nd, 3rd, 4th etc. pages. This whole site is easily maneuverable because of the top bar, which gives links to different kinds of text, literature, and lessons. Then there is a sidebar for active forum topics as well as most popular blogs. The opposite sidebar has a place for teachers to vote on things of importance to the classroom. And under that, there is a section called: “Fresh Ink – Most Recent Content,” with links and a search bar. Under this, there’s another section called: “Well-Worn (Popular) Text,” which also has links and a search bar. At the top, there is also a place on the left side to sign-in. You can also click the “connect” link to sign in with Facebook.
Jim Burke’s “The English Teacher’s Companion” site (http://jimburke.typepad.com/my_weblog/) claims to be about teaching teens, as well as literacy, and literature in our world. This site is also easily to go through. It is less complex then the previous site mentioned because it is put together by a single person. The top has a bar listing links to: Home, Bio, Subscribe, Speaking, Teaching Tools etc. The left side has a picture of Jim Burke. Underneath is a search bar. And then there are links to other web sites on the sidebar as well as his books, recent posts, archives, and blogs he reads. This makes the site very easy to maneuver. It’s well-organized, the blogs are not too lengthy, and he makes the titles in bold (in a different color), and he also has pictures here and there.
The awaytoteach site is pretty cool. It seemed that the writer had helpful stuff on it. It wasn't too hard to navigate.
ReplyDeleteOn "The English Teacher's Companion" I like the simplicity of the blog, yet it is a little bland. I think more pictures would add some interest to the blog, but as far as the writing goes it looks like an interesting blog.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you both. Awaytoteach was definitely more helpful, while the other could use more add to it. In its defense, "The English Teacher's Companion" was done by one guy, and so I can understand why it wasn't as comprehensive.
ReplyDeleteI feel kind of overwhelmed at the site for awaytoteach.net the content isnt separated enough for me. That said once I got my bearings it seemed very informative and interesting.
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