In the "industry," it is important to credit the work of others. Well, as a HUMAN, praising the work of others should be constant, but, sometimes, circumstances prevent us from being able to give praise where it is due. Twitter, for example, only allows so many lines, and sometimes it is hard to fit in a longer post and the @InsertNameHere. So, the credit gets chopped off to save the precious retweet.
There are instances, too, when time is slim, and I might just be browsing through my many sites and will simply bookmark something to get back to it later. Then I forget where I got the link from in the first place.
So, this post is all about giving praise where it is due...this is my PLN, and I recommend you follow these folks, subscribe to their ditties, and love them as dearly as I do!
General PLN Stuff
I get most of my info from four sources: Diigo, Google Reader, Twitter, and Facebook. I also get swarms of email from various mailing lists devoted to educational technology and teaching.
The A List
If I am pinched for time, I will sometimes skim Twitter or do a pointed Facebook search for my A List posters. These are the sites I follow religiously because the content is soooo good, and I am able to use so much of what is posted! They aren't in any particular order here, as they are all #1 in my book:
1. Larry Ferlazzo - Larry's amazing lists and lists of links are fantabulous. Since he is an ESL teacher, I can find a lot of English related stuff here for my own students. But, he has lists for all disciplines. I love that he is honest, too, about what he finds or if he hasn't had time to truly explore a site. I totally trust his judgment.
2. Cybraryman - Cybraryman has EVERYTHING. I can't even begin to praise his work because I wouldn't do him half the justice he deserves. If I need something, I go to him or Larry. One of them has what I need.
3. Edudemic - This is a more general site, but they have a lot of great content, and I can learn more about bigger tools (like Pinterest). They feature "how to" articles that have bailed me out more than a few times.
4. Jane's Pick of the Day - Jane maintains a top tools list each year, and I love using that as a rubric to make sure I have heard of everything worth hearing about. She has a new blog, so this one doesn't get the kind of attention it used to get, but I still find useful information here.
5. Edsitement - I am always a little nervous about anything produced by our government, but this site is really worth its weight in gold. For a humanities teacher, it is a one stop shopping place for everything and anything you could need to teach English or history.
6. MakeUseOf - While this site isn't necessarily for educators, a lot of the tools they post can be used by educators. Everything is free, too. They have awesome guides on how to use programs like Photoshop, and they have great lists of freebies for your operating system.
7. Mashable - Again, this site isn't just for educators, but they have great content, and I can use a lot of what I find there in the classroom. I also enjoy following them on Facebook.
8. Smashing Magazine - - Despite my lack of coordination with real life clothing, I am a bit of a design hag when it comes to digital spaces. Smashing has everything I need to be a great designer. They have lists of places where I can get free fonts and whatnot, and I love their monthly desktop calendar posts.
9. ICTMagic - This is another site like Larry Ferlazzo and Cybraryman. Martin has everything here, and sometimes it is a little hard to find things, but it is always well worth the hunt. I have much of his work to supplement classroom reading.
10. Free Tech for Teachers - Richard Byrne has amazing tools, too. He also has a lot of great info on Google and mobile apps.
This is where I collect most of the goodies that I then share here on this blog or post on Twitter or Facebook. They are all worth a look!
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