Welcome to the fifth step in our free professional learning series on building your PLN.

The aim of this step is to:

  1. Explain what a blog is.
  2. Unpack the benefits of using blogs as part of your PLN.
  3. Describe some of the ways people keep up to date with blogs.
  4. 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.

Langwtiches Online Hub

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:

  1. Email subscription or email newsletter if available
  2. RSS feed (using a tool like Feedly)
  3. 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.

Poll showing 61% people keep up to date with blogs 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:

Comment on a post

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. 🙂

Notify of follow up comments

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.

Reasons George Couros Blogs To share my thinking. To develop my thinking. To archive my thinking.

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 Microblogging
Image by Tom Barrett

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:

  1. 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?
  2. 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.
  3. 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.

617 thoughts on “Step 5: Using Blogs As Part Of Your PLN

  1. I currently follow a couple of blogs. The first one is https://www.mashupmath.com/mashup-math-blog. This blog has many different ideas and resources for the math classroom. I get emails from them as well as follow their feed on Twitter. I have used several of their resources in my classroom. The other blog I follow is https://www.freetech4teachers.com/. I follow them on both Twitter and Facebook. I like to be able to share the resources on the blog with my colleagues.

  2. A really like Lucky Little Learners by Angie Olson. This blog helps teachers by offering ideas and printables that align with state standards. As a new teacher, I found myself going to this website time and time again for teaching ideas. Now, I am a subscriber so that I can keep up with all the new techniques and freebies.

  3. Link to “The Learning Network” : https://www.nytimes.com/section/learning?module=BlogMain&action=Click&region=Header&pgtype=Blogs&version=Blog%20Category&contentCollection=U.S.
    This blog is run by the New York Times, and focuses on sharing resources to bring the world into your classroom. I have had a NYT subscription for a few years now, and I visit this blog somewhere around once or twice a month just to stay up to date with things happening in education around the world. I personally get email notifications every time something is posted, but it could also just be a website that you check up on every once in a while for updated content!

  4. https://www.maneuveringthemiddle.com/teaching-multiplication-facts-in-middle-school/

    I stumbled upon the Maneuvering in the Middle blog about a year ago when I was looking for some standardized test review resources. I love this blog because it’s all things middle school, which is what I teach. Noelle’s content is relatable, easy to follow, and correctly done! She also always has great ideas and shares her own resources. I don’t subscribe to the blog, but if I’m looking for something, I know going to the blog is a good place to start.

  5. https://learninginwonderland.com/about is a blog by a second grade teacher. She is enthusiastic and discusses different ways to engage her students In a fun way. She provides elaborations on activities and even posts some of her materials. I am subscribed to the newsletter so I get told whenever a new article is posted.

  6. I follow the blog Mrs. D’s Corner. https://www.mrsdscorner.com/ It has lots of special education content and ideas for the elementary grades. I like my updates via email or social media. I will look based on the content and my time available.

  7. One blog that I enjoy keeping up with is Teaching with a Mountain View. This blog offers a lot of different techniques and perspectives in teaching from someone who has experience in the classroom. I tend to keep up with this blog by checking on it periodically or when they come out with a post that is relevant to the work I am currently doing.

  8. The blog I found is http://www.techsavvyed.net/ . The blog is about integrating technology into the classroom. There are multiple different tabs on the blog for different school subjects/topics. I do not use any sort of notification system for the blog, I just type in the URL when I would like to read it.

  9. This blog is amazing because it not only has tons of resources, but also tons of ideas of what you could do or use in your future classroom. I love this blog because a lot of the resources or cute little classroom posters etc. are free, which is a huge plus. I stay updated with the blog through an email subscription which is nice because once I’m in my future classroom I’ll still be getting more/new ideas sent to me.

  10. A link to an educators blog that I enjoy reading is https://www.colorincolorado.org/blog. This website has multiple bloggers, but all provide great information about helping ELL’s succeed in the classroom. I think this is very important because as teachers we will have students who are ELL’s and it is important that we are able to have the information that we need to help them grow and learn. This site provides strategies and tools that can be beneficial to all educators. I usually jut check the blog on my own time, but now that I have learned about Feedly, I am thinking about getting updates though there.

  11. A teacher blogger that I follow is on tik tok, youtube, and has a blog. Her personal stories are touching, and she has really creative ideas for classroom management.

  12. I sometimes read the cult of pedagogy blog. https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/blog/
    It is very informational regarding different classroom techniques and theories such as classroom management, technology, equity, and instruction. Sometimes I put the podcast on when I am getting ready in the mornings as well. I check the blog from time to time but I am not subscribed to it.

  13. I subscribed to the Feedly tool, which was a bit confusing in the beginning, but I was able to easily figure it out. When it comes to using some form of media platform, it is important for it be user friendly. For this tool, it was user friendly, and I was able to follow a couple of feeds that are interesting to me.

  14. https://gettingnerdywithmelandgerdy.com/blog/ Getting Nerdy with Mel and Gerdy is my favorite shop on TpT for interactive biology lessons. They require my students to get up and work collaboratively. They also have awesome interactive notebook templates. Loving their shop caused me to search for them on facebook and the internet. I found out a few weeks ago that they have a blog for science teacher tips! I keep up to date with the blog by following them on facebook.

  15. The blog I found the most interesting was the secret teacher because it is a blog where teachers post anonymously about whatever they want and I tend to gravitate toward different perspectives and opinions about the education world.

  16. The blog I found was the : https://www.nytimes.com/section/learning?module=BlogMain&action=Click&region=Header&pgtype=Blogs&version=Blog%20Category&contentCollection=U.S. There is a section on The New York Times website called “The Learning Network”, which shares a bunch of activities for students and resources for teachers. This includes “Lesson of the Day”, “Word of the Day”, and even current event conversations. This blog is for teachers, students, and parents and any of them can subscribe, as well as an email subscription to it to stay up to date.

  17. As an AP Language and Composition teacher, I love reading anything from Beth Hall at https://coachhallwrites.com/blog/. I first became familiar with her videos on YouTube, and I recently discovered her blog to help teachers with synthesis, rhetorical analysis, and argument. My students also appreciate her work, and I will often refer them to her video and tips. I’ve also purchased some of her sentence frames for more effective writing. Because I’m more familiar with her teaching strategies via her blog, I am able to transfer her tips and tools to my students more effectively. In the past I have just logged onto her web site to find more material and information as needed, but reading about blogs here in this teacher challenge has inspired me to sign up for her email updates and newsletters. I will also be sire to follow her on Twitter now that I have updated my account and feel more confident with using this social media more purposefully.

  18. Share a Link to an Educator’s Blog That You Enjoy Reading: http://www.mightylittlelibrarian.com/ is a blog made by Tiffany Whitehead, who is a school librarian and a speaker. This blog is one that I enjoy because posts are very informative and there are not tons of posts on this blog to cause overwhelm. There are tons of resources within each post such as interactive slides, videos, other blogs, etc. It provides other librarians with ideas for learning activities for students that can be fun and engaging, as well as tips and tools for researching and efficiently using space within your library. Because the posts are moreso quality over quantity, this blog is one that can be checked from time-to-time and email notifications would not cause your inbox to be chaotically full.

  19. I signed up and set up my Flipboard. I followed an education, crafting, and books hashtag. I figured these could all go together well with teaching. This website gives many great article you wouldn’t usually see if you didn’t search for them specifically. This is a great site to have all the news you care about right in front of you.

  20. The two blogs that caught my attention were “shake up learning”(https://shakeuplearning.com/blog/) and “Engage their minds”(https://engagetheirminds.com/blog/). They caught my attention because going to school to become an educator I have questions that go through my mind like “how could I keep students entertained?” And “What do I do if a student finishes their work earlier than other students?” The first blog is about different ways to spice up your teaching so that student can learn in a more fun and engaging way, like adding sounds to powerpoint slides or making favorite tv shows into fun lessons. The second blog is also about learning how to incorporate different ways of teaching, ways that will have students encouraged, having fun, and also learning all at the same time. I stay updated with the blog by getting an email notification whenever the creators post a new blog.

  21. While doing some reading on blogs I came across Two Writing Teachers blogs. When I first explored this blog I assumed it was solely about writing in education and teaching language arts. After having researched more, I found that it is so much more than that! They provide an insight on different ways to approach learning using games and other aspects that students are more willing to engage with! They even have resources and tips on how to help students with high levels of energy and ADHDin the class. I loved the book they provided called Unstoppable Me. The blog explains how to let students with this energy use it to the best of their advantages and it also provides a transcript from an interview with the author explaining that she wrote this from her own experiences growing up! I plan on staying updated with the blog by subsribing with my email. I check my emails regularly and can easily find out when nbew blogs are posted!

  22. https://www.coolcatteacher.com/ This is a fun and engaging blog that I looked into. I really liked all of the content on this blog as it was informative and relatable. The blog offers many pages and links to different content areas. It has resourceful tabs that relate to age-related content, trends, lessons, and podcasts. This blog offers a monthly newsletter that is sent out monthly after signing up. It also offers free lessons on how to teach news literacy.

  23. I really enjoy Larry Ferlazzo’s blog, https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/ It features a wide variety of topics, ranging from classroom management to how to engage with parents. His primary focus is on English and English Language Learners, and as a future English teacher I have found a lot of resources from his blog that I know will help me in the future. I have the website bookmarked so I can view it whenever I have free time.

  24. The blog/website that I enjoyed looking through is http://www.weareteachers.com. I actually feel like I’ve heard of this website before trying to look into it myself. But it was helpful for me to look at the online field trips. Due to COVID or even budgets, it’s hard to schedule in-person field trips. Thus, students should still get the opportunity to experience something outside of their classroom. So, I liked looking at the Zoo in real time while watching the KC Zoo Polar Bear Cam. Apparently there’s even the Giant Panda Cam at Smithsonian’s National Zoo.

  25. I’ve always thought of blogging myself, but always thought I didn’t have the talent, or unique enough voice to do that. Maybe now I will try and start a blog myself, but in the meantime I found this blog post from the Cult of Pedagogy https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/silenced/. This talks about how the recent laws and movements around what teachers are teaching.

  26. One blog that I discovered earlier this year as a part of a separate class I am taking is Cult of Pedagogy created by Jennifer Gonzales. This blog is composed of a variety of topics that relate classroom learning whether it be about instructional practices or different technologies that can be used in the classroom. Personally, I find it fascinating to read about other educators’ viewpoints and experiences in and outside of the classroom. As well, this blog provides an incredible amount of helpful material that I can implement into my own future classroom. I check this blog fairly regularly as I have set up email notifications for new posts. Here is the link: https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/who-we-are/

  27. I set up a Feedly account and it was super easy. I went to feedly.com and logged in using my gmail account. From there I searched for blogs under the topic of education and followed the account “Free Technology for Teachers”. I subscribed to this account because I believe it would be a wonderful resource once I become a teacher and even now as a student in education.

  28. I like following TeachThought.
    https://www.teachthought.com/pedagogy/ways-to-help-students-build-confidence/

    I like how it caters to different student needs. Educators are given questions or discussion topics for students to enhance themselves as learners and develop themselves as educators too. I follow their news because I joined the community. This site/blog even has professional development opportunities that benefit teachers and other educators.

  29. I don’t personally follow blogs but I decided to check out the Teacher Voice Blog on https://educationpost.org/tag/teachers/ and I found it interesting. The reason being is that this blog site posts what teachers are having to deal with in our current climate and I found this helpful since they publish issues teachers are facing all over the U.S. I feel it is important that educators don’t feel alone with what they are facing and this blog allows them to read and share their feelings and frustrations.

  30. The link to the teacher blog I enjoy reading is: http://www.edutopia.org. The blog discusses improving student learning and engagement. It also has a lot of good articles about teacher care, especially during burnout, which I really appreciate especially today when teachers are burning out faster than ever. To stay updated, I check it every once in a while, because I don’t like email subscriptions.

  31. I like listening and reading the posts on https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/higher-order/, which is written by Jennifer Gonzales. It provides a great insight into various lesson types, classroom set-ups, and overall tips to help succeed in the journey of teaching. It is helpful to note that she includes personal experience and insight, as well as other testimonials of the methods presented. I check in to this blog every once in a while to see the new posts being posted.

  32. I spent some time looking for a very specific kind of blog. I wanted to find something on helping students with grief or helping them through it. In recent years loss has been a big part of a lot of people’s lives, especially with COVID. My family was in tragedy in 2020 with the unexpected loss of the “baby” of the family (20 years old). This shook us all but it definitely had an impact on her nieces. In education courses, you do not learn how to best help the students who experience loss but their teachers have gone above and beyond helping them. It was truly amazing. In my search, there isn’t much on this topic as it is an uncomfortable one. I did find the work of Brookes Blog which has many resources for educators learning how to help students who are grieving. Here are some that I read through and think it is important for many to read through even if it is uncomfortable it is something everyone will have to experience.
    https://blog.brookespublishing.com/5-ways-you-can-support-grieving-students-this-year/
    https://blog.brookespublishing.com/supporting-grieving-students-what-to-say-what-not-to-say/

  33. Engage their Minds by Terri Eichholz was the one that caught my eye in the list of links above. I was glancing over her website and then went to her blog page. She had an interesting article on religious holidays of April, and how as teachers we can support students who may be observing them. I think it is so important to celebrate the individual diversity of every one of our students. We can only appreciate and celebrate that properly if we continue to educate ourselves on such topics that we may not be partial too. That is another reason why I was excited to find a link under the article about religious holidays which took me to a whole separate webpage with countless articles under the title “Anti-Racism”. I highly recommend anyone who wishes to become more inclusive equitable in their classroom approach to check it out!

  34. – My practicum teacher actually told me about this blog awhile back. It is called “Raising Readers and Writers.” The weekly blog discusses teaching with different and “unusual” approaches. It also discusses innovative/interactive classroom projects. The blog also teaches students how to blog in children’s terms. Lastly, if gives tips on how to navigate teaching elementary school. I stay updated with this blog through an email subscription that comes each week.

  35. One educator blog that I really like is The Cult of Pedagogy. It was started by Jennifer Gonzalez in 2013. It covers an incredible range of topics, all related to teaching, and has blog posts and podcasts. The website has information on technology for classrooms, how to best make lesson plans, helpful instructional tips, classroom management information, culturally responsive teaching information, etc. I am subscribed to the blog through email so I get emails regarding new posts and any other information they are sharing but I also frequent the website to go over posts that I have never heard or to listen/read specific ones that relate to an issue or question I might have.

  36. The blog I chose was Greg Miller’s blogs on https://gregmiller68.com/. You didn’t have to sign up to read, which I liked personally since I’m not a fan of putting my email if I don’t have to. I liked how he mentioned and discussed the lack of practical application in the classroom and how the focus has been primarily on memorization in education. I found myself relating to his ideas and enjoyed reading!

  37. Because of my background in Lutheran education, https://www.lea.org/leaven-blog/ is a blog page that connects to several different blogs from Lutheran educators. It is a great way to feel connected in the Lutheran education world. It is also a wealth of information for all levels of Lutheran education. I go to it when I looking for inspiration and to be reminded “why we do what we do”.

  38. The blog I chose was Learn and Lead by Greg Miller https://gregmiller68.com/.
    It dealt with the need to move away from memorization skills and focus more on application skills when it comes to preparing our students for the workforce. I thought it was an interesting read.

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