Welcome to the fifth step in our free professional learning series on building your PLN.
The aim of this step is to:
- Explain what a blog is.
- Unpack the benefits of using blogs as part of your PLN.
- Describe some of the ways people keep up to date with blogs.
- Explore how to use blogs as part of your PLN.
Blogs play an important role in most educators’ PLNs and making blogs part of your PLN is more than just publishing posts on your own blog. If you don’t see yourself setting up your own blog, there are many benefits to simply reading, commenting, and sharing other people’s blogs.
What Is A Blog?
Blogs have been mainstream for well over a decade, so you might be very familiar with what a blog is (you’re reading a blog right now!).
However, let’s take a moment to define what exactly a blog is as the term continues to evolve.
Over recent year, the lines between blogs, websites, ePortfolios, and other online spaces have been blurring.
| BLOG | WEBSITE | PORTFOLIO |
|---|---|---|
|
Dynamic Community Feedback and interaction (comments, sharing, RSS, and subscription) Typically journal-like |
Static information General term for online space — complex or simple |
Scaffolding, showcasing or organization of student work Typically over a period of time (years) |
A blog is simply a website, although traditionally a website will have been more of a static space.
What makes a blog different than a simple website?
- A blog traditionally would be updated fairly regularly and display posts in reverse chronological order.
- Comments have always been a key feature of blogs, providing an interactive space.
- Most blogs have pages where some key information is housed that isn’t updated very frequently (for example, an About Me page).
Nowadays, some people have a website that has a blog component; the home page doesn’t change but readers can click on a tab to view a regularly updated blog.
An example of this is Langwitches’ “Online Hub”. This is a website that displays Silvia Tolisano’s professional portfolio and there is a blog section that readers can navigate to from the front page.
An Introduction To Blogging Video
This video also provides a simple overview of what a blog is.
Reasons Why Educators Blog
The main reasons why educators have personal/professional blogs include to:
- Share information and tips with other educators.
- Collaborate with a global audience. Increased collaboration with others leads to greater innovation and new perspectives.
- Reflect on their learning or their teaching/work practices.
- Learn how to blog themselves so they can use blogs effectively with their students.
Refer to The State of Educational blogging in 2017/2018 for more information on why educators use blogs.
Your personal blog extends your relationships outside of your school and allows you to connect with global educators who all willingly help each other.
Using Blogs As Part Of Your PLN
Sue Waters, who is the backbone of Edublogs has reflected on her own experiences of blogging.
I’m sure that lots of people would be totally surprised by the fact that initially I really struggled with the concept of blogging — ‘Why would anyone blog and why would anyone read their blogs?’
It took almost a year from being shown what a blog was to becoming a blogger.
The online tools I used before blogging were excellent for sharing information. But blogging gave me what they lacked; the ability to reflect, collaborate, exchange ideas, and connect with other people.
Ultimately, blogging completely changed my life; it’s the reason why I’m now employed to do the work I do and blogging helped me build a strong PLN.
It’s also important to remember that not everyone who makes blogs part of their PLN are bloggers themselves. It’s really up to you!
Some educators prefer to read and comment on other people’s posts while other educators also have their own personal blog.
If you have a vague thought in the back of your mind about starting your own blog but you’re not sure if it’s for you, hopefully Sue’s words above remind you that you can jump into blogging with some reluctance and you may be pleasantly surprised.
What have you got to lose?
Tips For Building Your PLN Via Blogs
The key components to making blogs part of your PLN are really simple:
- Read and comment on other people’s blog posts. Then share anything that resonates with you with your PLN (e.g. on Twitter).
- Publish posts on your own blog to reflect your thoughts, ideas, and/or to share resources. Remember, this is optional but keep it in mind!
Like everything, there are tips that’ll both save you time and make you more effective.
Reading Blog Posts
There are thousands of educators out there who are regularly publishing on their own blogs. Many of these blogs revolve around specific topics, interests, or subjects areas. Others are more general reflections on all areas of education.
Reading blog posts is an important part of connecting with other educators. But how do you keep up to date with your favorite blogs and know if something new has been published?
There are three main ways you can keep up with your favorite blogs:
- Email subscription or email newsletter if available
- RSS feed (using a tool like Feedly)
- Social media and curation tools like Flipboard
Interestingly, when we did a quick poll of our Edublogs community in July 2018, 61% of respondents indicated that their favorite way to keep up to date with the blogs they like to read is via social media.
This might demonstrate that people are okay with consuming information serendipitously (there’s no guarantees they’ll see posts on social media). To avoid being swamped by emails, perhaps people choose to subscribe to only their very favorite blogs in this way. Feel free to tell us what you think in the comments!
Email Subscription
Many bloggers have an option to be notified via email when they publish something new. This might be via a simple email subscription widget on the sidebar of their blog. In this case, you’ll receive an email automatically to alert you to new posts.
It’s also becoming more common to see educators (and bloggers in general) create their own personal email newsletter to keep readers up to date. This might be sent out every time they publish something new, or there might be a weekly or monthly summary email.
Check out the sidebar of your favorite blog and look for a sign-up box.
RSS Feed (Feedly)
One of the easiest ways to keep updated with posts from your favorite blogs is to subscribe to their RSS feed using Feedly. The free version of Feedly allows you to follow up to 100 sources which should be enough to keep you busy!
Refer to these step-by-step instructions on how to set up Feedly.
This short video by Joshua Essary explains how to get started with Feedly.
There are other similar tools, but Feedly is one of the most popular.
Here are just a few popular education blogs you can subscribe to using Feedly.
Click here to open this spreadsheet in a new window.
Social Media And Flipboard
If you follow your favorite bloggers on Twitter, no doubt you will see them announcing when they have something new on their blog. Of course, there are no guarantees that you will always see this.
Another option Sue Waters uses on her mobile devices is subscribing to her Twitter timeline and Twitter hashtags using Flipboard.
This pulls all the links shared on Twitter into her Flipboard account in a magazine format where it’s easy to read, share, and comment on articles shared by her network.
You’ll find detailed step by step instructions on how to set up Flipboard here.
Watch this video to see how Sue uses Flipboard.
Commenting On Posts
Your commenting skills and how you engage in comments with others on blogs posts is one of the most important, and often overlooked, aspects of using blogs as part of your PLN.
The comment section is where the deep learning, questioning, and reflection can occur. Comments turn your blog from a static space into an interactive conversation.
Commenting Tips For Bloggers
1. Don’t just lurk — comment!
Of course you’re probably not going to comment on every blog post you read, but every now and then make the concerted effort to scroll down to that comment box and type a response, ask a question, or share your own insights. Your comments don’t have to be long to make an impact.
Remember, being part of a PLN is about giving as well as receiving. Taking the time to begin conversations will pay off!
2. Approve comments quickly
If you’re a blogger and someone leaves a comment on your post, make sure you approve the comment quickly (if you moderate comments).
There’s nothing more annoying to a reader to see that their comments haven’t been published. They might forget about it and not check back to see your response.
3. Always respond back to readers on your own posts
If readers have made time to comment on your posts the very minimum you should do is respond back to your readers (ideally each reader) in the comments on your post.
This is very important for building your blog’s community; it demonstrates that you value your readers and their input.
Below is an example of replying back to a comment using threaded comments:
4. Use the Subscribe to Comments option
If a blogger provides a subscribe to comment option, then make sure you select this option when leaving a comment, so you’re notified by email of any follow up comments.
It’ll make your life easier. 🙂
Set Up Your Own Blog
If you’ve never blogged before, hopefully you’re reading this with the open mind to consider starting a blog now or even in the future.
But there are so many blogs out there! Why should I start one?
This is a common concern for people contemplating whether to start their own blog. They might feel like there is so much noise and so many blogs that are already established. They wonder what they could possibly have to add to the community?
We can assure you, you do have something worthwhile to share!
You are the only you. Your unique perspectives could be exactly what someone else needs to hear.
As George Couros has said,
My best advice…write for you and don’t overthink. See every blog post as a rough draft to something you are building over time, not a college term paper.
The more you do it, the better you will become.
The better you become, the easier it will be.
Be kind, be thoughtful, but don’t overthink. It is probably holding you back for inspiring someone else, and probably surprising yourself.
Still not convinced?
Check out Obvious To You, Amazing To Others by Derek Sivers.
A Blog Is Your Online Home
There are many advantages to blogging.
George Couros’ three reasons for blogging are shared by thousands of educators worldwide.
One of the great advantages of having your own blog when you’re setting up your PLN, is that it’s your online home.
Maybe you’ll discover a really cool tool, article, or resource. You could write about it (and share your learning with others).
Perhaps you’ll connect with some like minded teachers and possibly start some sort of collaboration. This would be perfect to blog about.
Even if your blog doesn’t really have an audience, a blog can be a fantastic place to keep track of all the work you’re doing both online and offline.
Your blog can also become an excellent professional portfolio. This can be an advantage when you’re trying to demonstrate who you are and what you’re passionate about for future career opportunities.
As Stephanie Thompson pointed out on her blog,
An effective personal learning network and a willingness to share has enabled me to enjoy some incredible learning opportunities both inside and outside the classroom in the last few years. When I look back, even getting that first job offer in a market saturated with teaching graduates was directly attributable to an online professional presence.
What Platform Should I Blog On?
If you’re still reading, hopefully you’re thinking that setting up a blog is a possibility.
So you might be wondering where to set up your blog?
There are many choices.
Edublogs and CampusPress are powered by a customized version of WordPress. WordPress is the tool of choice for the large majority of professional bloggers and online publishers. In fact, over one-third of the entire web is powered by WordPress.
It’s highly customizable, export-friendly, and it works!
It’s free to sign up for a blog at Edublogs and it’s the world’s most popular platform for educational blogging. Just go to https://edublogs.org/ to sign up!
Read more about the advantages of using a WordPress based platform like Edublogs in this post.
How Do I Start A Blog?
Ready to start your blog? We can help with that.
Our Personal Blogging Series takes you step-by-step through the process of setting up your own personal educator blog. It includes links to other educators’ blogs so you can see how they use their blogs.
Already dabbling with blogging? You’ll find our tips for writing more effective blog posts here.
Conclusion: Why Blog When You Can Microblog?
There’s a lot you can learn from getting involved in the blogging community whether that’s writing your own posts, or simply reading and commenting on other blogs.
However, this takes a certain amount of time. So what is the benefit of using blogs as a part of your PLN, as opposed to a tool like Twitter or other forms of social media?
Simply put, the more you put in the more you get out. Blogging allows you to dig deeper and really form strong connections with others. You’re not limited to 280 characters like on Twitter. You can write thousands of words if you like! Or at other times a few short sentences might suffice. The choice is powerful.
Tom Barrett created the following diagram for a post where he explored the impact of microblogging.
Tom Barrett said,
There is nothing wrong with the amber lit retweeting and sharing, but for many people we are sharing in an attempt to have the most impact on others. The micro engagement that occurs as people share without reading and, reposting content without engaging any further, is much more prevalent than the more in depth discussions of 10 years ago.
There’s definitely room for the amber, but think about the benefits that the green could bring to your professional life too.
Like all other aspects of building a PLN — what you get back is directly related to what you put in!
In an article for EdTech Review, Saomya Saxena explained how blogs are an essential part of an educator’s PLN,
Hence, blogs are one of the most significant online tools that can help you build your professional and personal learning networks. There’s no limit to the people we can connect with, be inspired by and stretch our professional wings with and blogging offers a great opportunity to do that. I feel that, blogs will be a must for anyone who wants to develop a PLN for himself, since it is the most open, creative and free way of sharing knowledge and expressing oneself. So embrace blogging in your daily lives and grow your learning networks personally as well as professionally.
Definitely food for thought.
Your Task
We’d like you to add your voice and ideas to our ongoing conversation about PLNs by undertaking one or more of these challenges:
- Share a link to an educator’s blog that you enjoy reading. Tell us what the blog is about what you get out of following the blog. Also, mention how you stay updated with the blog. Do you just check from time to time? Do you have an email subscription? Or do you use a tool like Feedly or Flipboard?
- Set up Feedly and/or Flipboard, referring to the instructions in this post. Leave a comment to tell us how you went setting up the tool. Let us know who you subscribed to and why.
- Write a post on your blog with your own thoughts about using blogs as part of your PLN. Please include @edublogs if you tweet your post so we can share your post with our network. Leave a comment with a link to your post so we can read it! In your blog post, you might like to cover topics like:
- How do you use blogs as part of your PLN?
- What tips do you have for newbies?
- What did you learn about using blogs for building a PLN that you didn’t know?
- What do you like/not like about Feedly, Flipboard, email subscriptions, or blogs?
Also feel free to leave a comment to ask any questions or share your tips.
How to leave a comment: Scroll down to find the comment box. Write your comment, then enter your name and email address (email addresses are not published). Enter the anti-spam word. Press submit and we will moderate your comment ASAP.
Educator’s Blog: http://www.thesocialstudieslab.com/
The Social Studies Lab is a blog that is great for history teachers. It has links to a bunch of different sites that work on specific topics in history as well as their own resources for lessons and activities. They also have a tab that shows popular applications that one can use for themselves in creating lessons. I would use this blog from time to time, seeing if they have anything I could add on to my own lessons.
LINK: https://cassiestephens.blogspot.com/
Cassie Stephens is an art teacher, blogger, writer, podcaster, and amazing creator that I have learned so much from. She has several books written for art teachers about using clay and fabric with elementary students, and has a blog with an extensive archive of projects, activities, advice, and more. I particularly love her as she works as an elementary school art teacher, and focuses specifically on her work with younger students. She is also incredibly expressive and interesting, and I enjoy her personal aesthetic: she’s a lot like a modern Ms. Frizzle! I keep up to date with what she puts out as I am subscribed to her podcast on Apple Podcasts, and I follow her on Instagram. This is great as I will see her posts and stories on Instagram anytime she has a new podcast episode or blogpost out.
I decided to join the Cult of Pedagogy podcast. I really enjoy the material they share and the layout of the blog itself. I love that they share personal stories and experiences.
I will be responding to the first prompt.
https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/blog/
Above I have listed my favorite blog for education, “The Cult of Pedagogy.” This blog covers a variety of topics and is updated frequently. I also really enjoy this website/blog because of the podcasts included to supplement the blog posts. Though I am not subscribed to the blog, I check in at least once a week to see what’s new and to listen or read through something I usually have never even considered. Before going through this step, I had never heard of Flipboard or Feedly but I will consider using them in the future!
In response to number 1: https://www.edutopia.org/article/schools-finding-hope-hopeless-time
The blog is centered around finding hope in this seemingly hopeless time. The blog talks about how hope is something that is learned and it is crucial in a student’s success. It also states that students who are hopeful have higher self esteem and social skills. This blog gives a lot of information on how to give hope to students. One of the things that stood out to me was the author saying that small shifts in the curriculum, assignments and tasks can really affect how a student sees themselves and their world. I check the blog from time to time to keep up and stay posted and get new ideas.
Cult of Pedagogy blog is one that I have grown to love this year. It has been used as a resource in my education and has provided really great conversation around education. I stay updated by checking in on their website. I listen to their newest podcast or read their newest blog post.
https://www.cultofpedagogy.com
http://www.thelemonadestandteacher.com/search?max-results=10
My favorite blog to follow is The Lemonade Stand Teacher. She has a bunch of classroom management tips, different lesson plan ideas on teaching certain topics, and she also includes links to her TPT, Instagram and her FaceBook. Her page is very organized and it is pleasing to look at. I love going and checking out the different lesson plan ideas she posts and I like to save them.
https://minds-in-bloom.com/
I first discovered this blog site through their Facebook page. This blog site does an excellent job providing resources to educators on cool math/reading workshops, digital resources, and task cards. You can stay updated with this blog site by signing up through their email list, so whenever they update their blog site, you will get an email. However, I stay up to date by getting a notification on Facebook since I am following them through there.
https://minds-in-bloom.com/
This is one of the blog sites I occasionally visit in my free time. I initially discovered this site through their Facebook page. The site gives free access to any person/educator on just about anything. They provide materials for math/reading workshops, digital resources, and task cards.
To stay up to date with this blog site, I often times get notified from Facebook but I am also subscribed to their email list. So whenever they post a new post, I get notified via email.
https://amylemons.com/ I’m fairly new to this blog site but i was drawn in because 2nd grade is the grade I’d like to teach. Amy Lemons takes teaching 2nd grade to another level. Math, reading, and writing resources– all come with free goodies. She also displays her Amazon page with recommendations for great resources, especially books! I especially loved her Christmas book selection.
I viewed the Free technologies for teacher blog which was really interesting. I have been struggling to find good resources to use in this hybrid teaching setting I am in. This blog will really help me branch out on the activities I can use with my students online and in person. I look forward to using some the things I found in the class to see how well they do. Flipgrid is awesome, I use it to create instruction videos for my students and for them to create posts and respond to each other on. It has been one of the few places that has allowed my students to stay a little more connected and actually get to know each other outside the classroom.
I set up a Flipboard by creating an account and then I searched for math education posts. I subscribed to various sites like theconversation.com, redtri.com, edutopia.org, and mindmatters.ai. I subscribed to these sites since they discuss grievances with common core mathematics as well as offering ways to mitigate those challenges. There also resources for free supplementary math material on some of the sites.
The blog I have been visiting often is called Cult of Pedagogy. The “cult” is made up of professionals posting things to assist and inform teachers about various teaching related topics. There is a blog, a podcast, and videos. There’s even an online store with teaching materials, books, online courses, and merchandise. I just check the website frequently, I despise getting emails from anything less than crucial information to my personal life – thus I will not be signing up for email notifications.
An educator’s blog that I follow is Learning Is Messy at http://www.learningismessy.com. The author of the blog is a teacher who specializes with at risk students so, in his blog, he shares his ideas for learning in a personal style, showing that learning isn’t linear. He shares his student’s work, videos, and STEM lessons as well. I stay updated with the blog just by checking time to time when I remember to check honestly.
When I set up my feedly account it was extremely easy. I was able to connect it with my gmail and after I typed in my email and password it set my account up for me. One of the blogs I decided to follow first was a page called “Free Technology for Teachers”. I chose this blog because I want to be able use new and different types of technology in my classroom my students to learn and use. Knowing about the free technology will help me to keep expanding my knowledge on technological apps that I can use for different subjects and lessons and saves me money. Another reason I decided to follow them is because they post 16 times a week, which means I will be learning something new everytime I read.
(3) I wrote a blog post on my educational WordPress site with some thoughts on the uses of blogging in my PLN, and how I can integrate my blog with Twitter. Please follow this link to read it: https://rampages.us/tedu510sp21kylerogers/2021/04/02/week-10-professional-learning-network/
I checked The Jose Vilson Bolg. He’s a teacher from New York City who is spreading awareness about race and inequality in education. His blogs are great because they give you a different outside perspective. As someone who comes from a family of immigrants, I can relate to his thinking and advice he provides his viewers. Race and inequality in schools are overlooked and should be more focused on in schools and districts. I recently explored the blog, but I love to explore what’s new from time to time.
https://thejosevilson.com/
One of my favorite educator’s blogs that I enjoy reading and visiting is the “Shake Up Learning” blog written by Kasey Bell. This blog spans a multitude of topics and also has a podcast which I enjoy listening to when I am walking or running. I think that Kasey does a great job of showing educators the different technological ways that they can change up their classroom and their teaching. I only check it from time to time, but the page is bookmarked on my computer.
http://schoolpsychws.blogspot.com/
“Psyched About School” is a blog that provides a variety of resources and tips for school psychologists to help their students navigate some specific challenges around their academics and mental health. I check it from time to time, but I will look into setting up Feedly to keep up with it more regularly.
One educators blog that I’ve enjoyed reading and exploring more is https://misskindergarten.com/ , I like this blog because it gives you examples of activities to do with students that are both creative and informative. Her blog is very colorful and happy, it really does a great job at attracting readers to the site. I keep updated with the blog from time to time to see new posts. It’s nice that you don’t need a subscription to view her readings on teaching fun crafts, lesson plans etc.
I set up an account on a Feedly page. I created two categories to organize my feeds by; chemistry and teaching chemistry. I searched for various websites, blogs, and news sites that would be appropriate to add to each of these. I placed ACS research sites into my chemistry category. I placed science education resources, Flinn Scientific, NSTA, AACT, and Discovery Education sites into the teaching category. I also linked education blogs that I follow to the teaching category as well. Now, when I look at the feed, the later information from each of these sites pops up and I can scroll through them. This is a very organized tool that helps me to streamline content so that it is easily accessible to me. Keeping up with these two areas, the professional world of chemistry research and new pedagogy strategies for chemistry lessons, will help me prepare materials that are most appropriate for my future classrooms.
A blog that I have really enjoyed is http://www.breezyspecialed.com/ She is an educator who provides many helpful ideas for things like classroom management and navigating covid times. The way she formats her blog is very inviting and organized. I always can find what I am looking for thanks to the menu bar at the top. You can subscribe to her blog and get updates when she posts but usually, I just check from time to time. I like looking under the life skills category to see what new ideas she has to teach them. I feel like people don’t talk about teaching life skills enough so I appreciate that section of her blog a lot.
Share a link: https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/9-ways-online-teaching/
this link is a podcast by Jennifer Gonzalez. She has multiple podcast and blogs on effective ways to teach. The podcast is free to listen to and I just approach the website from time to time for insight.
https://mathequalslove.blogspot.com/
The Math Equals Love blog is high school math teacher, Sarah Carter’s blog in which she shares many of her engaging and fun lesson techniques that she has found to work. I think the benefit from a blog like this is that she has experience trying these methods, so you can decide if you think it will work in your classroom. Instead of having to have a “guinea pig” classroom, she offers her opinions on what works and what doesn’t. As someone who wasnt to teach math, I think it offers alot of great insight about how to make a math classroom more engaging and how to make students love the subject as much as us teachers do. I am not subscribed to this, however whenever I am creating lessons or am stuck on how to make a lesson interactive and interesting, I always check here to see what methods she suggests.
In response to prompt 1, my favorite blog is “Organized Classroom”, https://organizedclassroom.com/blog/. One thing that I like about this blog is the fact that it has a ton of members, giving perspective from multiple teachers. Because there are so many contributors, there is almost always new posts to be read. I haven’t yet set up any subscriptions to the blog or notifications, but I do look over the blog whenever I feel like I should. There is also a large variety as it pertains to subjects and grade levels represented on the blog, which I think is good for educators that are interested in many different aspects of teaching. Even if an educator isn’t necessarily interested in diversifying their subject or grade level, learning how other teachers teach in certain scenarios is beneficial. Most of the posts are created by Charity Preston, and her insights are interesting and seem to be valid. While it may not be the best blog for me, it’s my favorite that I’ve found thus far.
I follow several different blogs, so it is hard to choose just one! The blogs that I follow are a great resource for teaching information and sharing teaching tactics that work in the classroom. It is a great way to get new ideas and new paths to teaching. I unfortunately do not check back on the blogs as frequently as I would like as I have a busy schedule, but hopefully I will get caught up soon! Feedly is a new blog that I was introduced to here, so I look forward to creating an account with them and checking it out.
http://justcaracarroll.com/
My favorite educator’s blog is “First Grade Parade” by Cara Carroll. Cara was a K-2 teacher in Texas before she became an educational consultant and TpT author. She shares many activities, tips, and even discusses her personal life. I do not have a monthly subscription, but I check out her blog every once and awhile when I need some inspiration. I love the aesthetic of her blog and her activities really reflect the kind of classroom I want.
I set up flip board. It did not take long at all. I subscribed to J. Manuel Fernandez because they had the first article to come up on education. It just shows how easy it is to connect with others based on similar topics.
1. http://tweenteacher.com/blog/
This link discussed how the teacher Heather has some students come back to her classroom to see if they could look at old assignments. She remembers the student being a quiet boy, but now he’s grown and changed as a sad looking young man. In the end, the teacher Heather ended up being a resource for the student to return to when he wanted to see an old assignment he did in her class that would help with his current assignment. Currently, I have been looking at other blogs and getting used to how they are. I find them very helpful! I check out blogs from time to time.
2. I made an account on Feedly. I though the website was very organized and clean. It wasn’t hard to navigate at all, and it was very color coded which I liked. All I had to do was use an email that I have with Google and my account was set up! I subscribed because I like how the industries are categorized into their own spot. Again, Feedly is super easy to navigate.
3. https://feedly.com/i/collection/content/user/3bab5dc9-e70e-42d7-a5b0-9a3fbda99cf9/category/ff310b4f-4829-47cb-94ff-295553cb9515
On Feedly, I made a blog called College, and I searched up “Education” for resources to pop up for other individuals to see resources about education. The only thing I didn’t like about Feedly was I’m still not sure if I made a blog because there is not really a create a blog button. Still, I believe it is super beneficial for educators to use blogs as a part of their PLN because you can gain so much information from other individuals and educators that you may not have known about. Having as many sources as you can is always going to be good for you. Therefore, I will leave my blog comments here. I can use blogs as a part of my PLN because blogs can provide me with significant information that can be a resource to me. Some tips I have for newbies is to open up about technology and have an open mind! Try new things and see multiple blogs to get familiar with how they work, and the purposes of them. I didn’t know that using blogs for your PLN can be you talking about your own experiences. I liked the link I shared for the first question because it was the teachers experience of a past student she worked with who decided to come back and refer to her for help. Hearing about these kind of experiences are really intriguing because it is nice to hear about what other educators go through. The only thing I didn’t like about Feedly and Flipboard was that I could not find where to make a blog at. I could see what articles I want to read about from certain topics which was cool, but I found it hard to locate where to make a blog.
It sounds good and I have read so many people’s blogs but I think making blog is a bit challenging to me right now.
I love the 2 Peas and a Dog blog. It’s got a great blog full of resources. They are separated by subject. I enjoyed perusing the language section and getting ideas like a digital escape room!
https://www.2peasandadog.com/blog
It was an easy process to sign up for Flipboard. I just entered pertinent information and my acct was created. I think I’m going to use Weebly as my blog site.
We have started blogging within our M. Ed. coursework and I have found that getting responses to your thoughts is extremely validating. I love the collaboration that this creative format has offered so far.
I have never blogged myself but read more blogs than I know the names to. I recently set a Feedly account and I am looking forward to seeing how I utilize this new platform.
https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/ I check in with Mind/Shift once per month but have started using Flip board as of this module and am going to continue with this as a way of storyboarding. I love the process and it fits well with the pedagogical approach of my content so it isn’t that big of a switch trying it out…fits within my existing schema.
Through browsing through the Edublog post I stumbled across the account:
https://thebittersbunch.edublogs.org/2020/10/05/what-teacher-school-doesnt-teach-you-teaching-is-stressful/
These blogposts are from an educator who shares different resources and personal learning experience to help other educators. Specifically the post I linked is about what they don’t necessarily teach in teacher school. And offers a perspective that is fresh and honest opinion on teaching and the reality of what it takes beyond just teaching academics. I follow the blogger so now all I will have to do to stay in contact will be logging on to this site at least once a week which is the given amount of how frequently she post. But she also has her Twitter linked in her site which I can get alerted that way whenever she writes a new blog post or shares her tips via the Twitter platform.
One blog I discovered was https://www.i-heart-edu.com/ and I loved looking around and observing the various things Meagan has on there to help educators with all sorts of things! I also really love how she has things involved tech based and online classes, especially with how most schools are still online based.
I decided to set up Feedly so I can see all the updates on my favorite blogs. I followed the video example above and searched some of my favorites in the search bar. I started with Edutopia, then Cool Cat teacher, Shake up learning and the Inspired classroom. These all were added to the feed in the sidebar under a tab “education” that I created. I am excited to start using this source!
One blog that I really enjoy is https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/blog/. I have used this resource in my Teacher Prep program and it has been a great resource! As a part of my Tp prep program, I also have been taking a course on technology, and we have been using a blog format for our assignments.
An educator’s blog I enjoy reading is Jennifer Gonzalez’s blog Cult of Pedagogy. I became knowledgeable of this blog during this Fall 2020 academic semester through a classroom management course. Reading this professional learning series about PLN’s has convinced me to follow Jennifer on Twitter. Twitter or social media is now the way I keep up to date with her blog.
I’ll attach a link below to a blog post I just read the other day that introduced me also to the idea of educator blogs. They are encouraging to hear from other people who feel the same way as you do, want to learn and teach the same way you do, and how to grow and challenge yourself when it comes to personal growth. I agree with the article above that even if you do not start a blog of your own (which if you want to – do it!), then listening, commenting and connecting is a great second choice!!
https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/marigolds/
Blogs can have a wide range of information and opinions. A blog that is used throughout many of my classes is https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/blog/ Also, it has a podcast and the podcast is available on spotify, so it is something that I can listen to while I am doing other things. I choose feedly because it allows me the option to keep the different blogs more organized as I am learning and saving content. Email subscriptions can be easily mistaken for spam, so I think I would just periodically check the blog from time to time.
I created a Feedly feed simply by logging in with a google account. I clicked “create new feed” and then added the blogs from the spreadsheet by entering their links. I chose to follow all the blogs from the spreadsheet because I do not know any education blogs and figured that the spreadsheet would be a good place to start.
I think blogs are a great outlet for posting your own thoughts and ideas for others to interact with. It seems a bit more professional than social media but because it is not as casual, it might be harder to have conversations and communicate with others. Blogs have a more distinct set up for people who prefer to voice their own ideas and people who just prefer to read and comment. There is also more autonomy/control with blogs because you can choose what is posted and what is appropriate enough to be commented.
https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/blog/
I’ve been introduced to the Cult of Pedagogy podcast in my Master of Teaching program. I really value the content they share. I love the easy layout to follow and my favorite part is the Stories section where personal experiences are shared.
I really think that it would be misguided to start your own blog as a way to create a PLN. If you have a big idea to share, make a thread of it on twitter. If you want to write a long post that will be seen by many, post a picture of it on twitter. I think that the age of personalized blogging is long dead. It is a useful tool for educators running a class like this one and people sharing recipes. If your PLN develops into something where there are 10,000 people reading your posts, maybe then you should start a blog. But I think that we have moved past the time where blogs could be useful on an individual level. I looked at a few of the articles shared by this page and most of them tie to a larger network or people who have a large following on some other form of social media.
I really liked the idea of using feedly to stay up to date on blog posts. I wouldn’t want to have spam emails with blog updates, and I try to limit my time on social media so I feel as though I would miss the updates. The video showed how easy it was to use feedly and how you can stay very organized by creating folders and categories.
For a class I am in right now, the whole course is set up over a blog, and each class member had to create their own blog (and link it to the course blog). All of our assignments are submitted here. I love that I can see other students work and we can communicate about lesson plans with one another
As someone who is in the same generation as many of my high schoolers (Gen Z), I’ve found that many students and future teachers are unaware of how to navigate blogs or find the right ones that meet their needs. Asking to see if anyone else has newer, more modern ways to share ideas in a blog-like format that will stand the test of time as more people in my generation enter the workforce? Is there a way we can compile blogs onto a form of social media that teachers actually frequent?
Hey Clara, once you create useful and relevant content, sharing across social media platforms is the most effective way to get your blog found. Engaging with each others on social media, commenting, and offering advice is all part of the blogging journey, which has the benefits of driving traffic, or visitors, back to your blog. All the best with your blogging journey!
https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/blog/ is my favorite website/blog! Posts are well-organized by broad topics (e.g.- “classroom management” or “leadership”) but you can also search through more specific topic links, some of my favorites including “Grades 6-8” and “First-Year Teachers”. I have an email subscription but quite honestly it goes to my junk account… I much prefer checking in occasionally, but I also follow Cult of Pedagogy on Facebook and Instagram!
I enjoy reading a blog by Deborah Stewart https://teachpreschool.org/blog/. The blog is about teaching preschool and different activities you can do in your classroom and also posts about ways to make certain things better in your classroom. I get a lot of great hands on activities from the blog. You can even look at the activities by category such as sensory play or literacy. I use this blog as a go to when I am planning with my co-teachers about things we can do to connect the curriculum to our students in fun and engaging ways.