Who do I follow and why?

As a new teacher, following experienced teachers on sites such as Twitter and their own personal blogs is a great way to get ideas for the classroom, instructional practices and see what other professionals are doing in the field outside of my own district. Joining Twitter became overwhelming as I kept stumbling across familiar names and organizations in the field. Because I teach first grade bilingual education, I tried to follow others on Twitter that provided information on language acquisition, bilingual materials, reading instruction, etc. Here are a few of the Twitter sites I have chosen to follow:

• Reading Rockets - I chose to follow this site because of the information it offers on teaching reading and writing. In particular, I came across an article that would be very useful for parents, titled "Raising a Reader." This article talks about the importance of reading to your child as soon as possible and offers tips for parents. I think this would be a great article to discuss with or give to parents and help them support their young readers at home.
• Florida Literacy Coalition - I chose this Twitter user because I have used materials in the past from their website. I came across the link to their Literacy Resource Page which provides links to reviewed wesites relating to all different topics in education (ESOL, Math, Reading, etc.)
• National Center on Response to Intervention - With RTI being the new push in school to support students with meeting academic standards, I thought it would be a good idea to educate myself on what's going on in the world of RTI. I came across several documents and links which proved helpful in determining which interventions would best support certain students.
  
• Colorin Colordao - This user is great for parents, teachers and administrators. It offers bilingual resources for anyone and everyone working with ELLs. I found the link "Tips for Teachers Working with ELLs" to be especially helpful and would be a great document for all teachers, whether trained or not, in working with ELLs.
• Scholastic Teach - I love all of the polls and open questions that are posted on this site. For example, Scholastic Teach poses the questions - "Educators, what are you doing this summer to prepare?" I think it's insightful to hear from educators all over the nation to see what else is going on.
• Bilingal Planet - A great source for bilingual teachers or Spanish teachers of any age students. This site offers pdfs of songs, stories and other resources in Spanish and English that are ready to be used in the classroom.
  

I have also come across some great blogs during my searches that have given me some great ideas that I've already started preparing for use this fall. Here are the people/bloggers I'm currently subscribed to:

1. TESOL - In the News Blog - follows current issues and stories related to bilingual education and TESOL. This site is the blog site from tesol.org and has a lot of up to date information related to what is going on all over the nation in relation to ELLs, TESOL and bilingual education.
2. First Grader...At Last! - Awesome blog! I can't say enough about the ideas and resources that this first grade teacher has posted on her blog. She has helpful links, center ideas just to name a few. Check her out :)
3. Mrs. Kilbourn's Kiddos - if you need an idea for something in your classroom, this website most likely has it. This teacher has blogged about bulletin boards, thematic units, lesson plans, etc. Very, very helpful!
4. Education Week - Learning the Language - up to date news stories from the world of teaching ELLs. This site is easy to follow and breaks the information down into categories for easy navigating.
   
5. Beginning Reading Help - This blog is great for teachers looking for ideas with their struggling readers and young writers. The blog has great ideas for all sorts of topics related to early literacy.