Keeping a blog gives me a lot of chances to learn from other bloggers. I’m often inspired by someone else’s post, and that inspiration can be the beginning of a terrific conversation and blogging relationship.

Below are ten education blogs that are “favourites” in my feed reader. Some of these are well-known and widely appreciated, but others might be new to you – I encourage you to go check them out.

(Note: I recently switched from GoogleReader to Feedly and am loving it. It presents your feeds in a magazine-style format, with images and summaries; this makes it easier to skim and choose what to read.)

1. School Gate: The Times Online’s Education Blog.
Sarah Ebner writes about the UK education system, but many of her posts have international relevance. She regularly invites guest posters with varying perspectives on education issues. Her latest post – about a pregnant grad student who decided to terminate her pregnancy in order to stay in her competitive program – is gut-wrenching.

2. Prone to Laughter
Dance’s blog features intimate little ruminations on moments in the teaching life. Her latest post comments on dancing at her students’ graduation, and touches on both self-consciousness (“should I really dance to this raunchy song?”) and self-righteousness (“why are they dancing to ‘Thriller’?”) Reading her blog is like taking glances inside her brain.

3. Line 46:
Another blog I love for its intimacy and honesty. Like me, she writes ongoing sagas about specific students, and makes a point of counting the blessings.

4. Change.org’s Education Blog:
Clay Burell is always pointing me toward stories and ideas I want to learn more about. For example, a recent post about a graduation speech by Steve Jobs got me thinking more about the opportunities (or lack thereof) for kids not willing or able to follow a traditional educational path. He writes a lot about the American system, but non-Americans can still find stuff to chew on.

5. Joanne Jacobs:
Joanne is my guide to finding interesting education stories all over the web. She posts daily, sometimes several times a day, but her posts are usually brief summaries with links to other sources and the topics are always interesting. For example, she recently directed me to an L.A. Times article about two boys with similar abilities and ambitions who will probably live their lives very differently because of external circumstances, including differences in their schooling.

6. Learn Me Good:
Mister Teacher is a 3rd grade math teacher who writes on subjects that speak to teachers on all levels. His latest post, a list of “25 Edu Blogs Worth Reading” from guest poster Karen Schweitzer, was the inspiration for this post.

7. So You Want To Teach?:
Who doesn’t love a good list? This blog is full of them, and they are truly useful. Some examples: How to Make the Most of your Summer Vacation: 7 Simple Tips; 20 Blogs I Wish Were Around When I Started Teaching; and 9 Reasons to Quit Teaching (and 10 Reasons to Stick).

8. Wicked Teacher of the West:
Another personal teacher blog, one I discovered only recently. I identify with many of her ruminations, including this one about how we often misinterpret student intentions.

9. The Core Knowledge Blog:
I go to this blog, like I do to Clay Burell and Joanne Jacobs, for education news. It’s also pretty America-centric, but many of the stories have wider implications.

10. Detention Slip:
Headlines and brief summaries of outrageous education stories, mostly about teachers behaving very, very badly. Hilarious and disturbing.

There are loads more blogs in my Feedly reader, and I’ll post about some others at another time. I’d also love to get your feedback – do you have any favourite education blogs that I should know about?