John Haley is one of my former colleagues that I keep in touch with through Facebook. John is a fantastic, enthusiastic Earth Science teacher. One of the projects that he’s been working on this summer is Maine Geology Hikes. On Maine Geology Hikes John has been sharing more than just stories about hiking. He’s been sharing lessons worthy of inclusion in books on the topic of Maine geology.

I’m pointing out John’s work not because I think everyone should visit Maine and explore the places John’s featured (although if you’re for a vacation, Maine is beautiful this time of year), but because he blog provides a nice model to follow.

Here’s what makes John’s blog a good model to follow:
1. The purpose of the blog is clear. I know what to expect when I go there.
2. When it is appropriate John is using links to other resources. When links aren’t available he’s including citations to print media.
3. He’s not writing every day (roughly one post per week), but the posts are longer than what you would find on a blog that is publishing new content on a daily basis.
4. The pictures are used as instructional aids.

To complement Maine Geology Hikes John has create a Maine Geology Hikes Google Map. The map uses placemarks to provide a bit of information about the geological features discovered on each of the hikes. And because it is a Google Map you can quickly click to find directions to the hike.