Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/436829
Feature Educator takes blog on the road Palo Alto High School English teacher David Cohen is finding plenty to blog home about. The National Board Certified educator is taking a year's sabbat- ical to blog about what's happening in classrooms throughout California. With a desire to focus on positive things in public schools, he plans to visit 50 schools in a year. A longtime blogger, Cohen's work has been ad- mired by education expert Diane Ravitch, who has written of him in her blog: "Unlike the 'reformers,' David is not looking for failure. He is looking for success and knows he will find it and document it. He is a gifted writer." The former associate director of Accomplished California Teachers (ACT) — a teacher leadership network under Stanford's National Board Resource Center — is spending the year visiting inspiring teachers he met through ACT, Twitter and CTA networking opportunities. He is documenting his odyssey in an Education Week blog, Road Trips in Education (blogs.edweek.org/teachers/road-trips- in-education/2014/09), and his personal blog (dbceducation.com/about). He'll return to Palo Alto as a classroom teacher next fall and self-publish a book about his experiences. She works in a remote rural area, but thanks to her blog, Glenda Anderson is a worldwide resource for information about "assistive technology" who helps people with disabil- ities ranging from cognitive problems to physical impairment live independently and succeed academically. The former special education teacher turned "education assistive tech- nology specialist" averages 25,000 hits a month on her blog, Glenda's Assistive Technology Information and More, some- times receiving 900 hits a day. Being a "constant research- er" in the field of educational and assistive technologies has earned her followers in the U.S., Canada, the United King- dom, Russia and the Philippines. Advertisers pay to appear on her blog, which has been going strong for seven years. I STARTED BLOGGING BECAUSE… I was giving the same information out over and over again and realized I could make my life easier if I could pull it together and say, "Here's my blog, and you'll find that information." Blogging is a way to organize the numerous resources I need at my fingertips and a way to keep other teachers in the loop about providing the best products, strategies and services to better the lives of those with disabilities. IN THE BEGINNING… I was told not to use Butte County Office of Education on my blog, but now my county has begun to realize it is a powerful resource, and my blog is now linked on our county website. MY ADVICE FOR BLOGGERS IS… decide what you want your focus to be, and follow that focus. Decide who you want your audience to be, and write for that audience. Glenda Anderson, Butte County Teachers Association atclassroom.blogspot.com @ 20 www.cta.org