Let the Blogging Continue

Hello again.  I decided to start blogging again.  Usually I try to get in the zone:  Sit in my living room chair Friday night or Saturday morning and reflect on what I've learned that week while at the same time trying to add some quirky humor.  Well it's track season and many evenings are filled with meets or running, so when one finds time to blog, one must blog.  

Some people may naturally be inspired to blog.  Me on the other hand, well . . . Anyways, checking out other educational blogs can give you inspiration to blog or inspiration to try new things in the classroom.  Here are a few that I found this week:  

Will Richardson 

I was drawn to this blog because Will Richardson is a TED talk presenter and blogs about technology.  I enjoy watching TED talks because they are short, but they also cause you to think about things differently.  As I looked through this blog, I came across a couple articles talking about smart phones in the classroom and the future of grading.  This blog would be beneficial to the educator who wants to be challenged to think about the use of technology in the classroom.  

The Big Picture

This blog features current events and happenings through pictures.  Any educator who is wanting to talk about current news could use this blog as a resource.  The news is portrayed through many pictures with short one to two sentence descriptions.  I enjoyed this blog because it blogged the Boston Marathon through pictures.  I have a goal of qualifying and competing in Boston and I was able to share the moments and memories of those who competed this year through the pictures on this blog.  

Free Technology for Teachers 

This blog is filled with technology tips.  This blog is geared towards educators who are wanting to learn tips that will help with the 1-1 implementation or just trying to learn tips for using Google products and devices.  I have a class set of chromebooks, and this blog included free technology guides for Google resources as well as posts about changes to current technology apps.  

Cool Cat Teacher Blog 

Vicki Davis is an educator who is passionate about all students learning.  She writes this blog to teach other educators tools and tips she has learned in hopes that educators will be inspired and better able to reach their students.  

As I looked through blogs, I thought a lot about Twitter, Pinterest, and other social media platforms that educators are using to gain professional development.  Reading blogs is another way that I can learn through the experiences of educators who may lives miles away from me.  Blogs can provide an inspiration to try new things because real people are trying them and sharing their experience.  But wait, when does anyone have time to find blogs and read them unless they are doing it for a grad school assignment?!?  

With the help of an RRS feed, new blog posts are brought to me.  Check out this video for an explanation.  

So, an RRS feed will bring new posts to me, but I need a reader to collect updates.  I chose Feedly as my reader.  Here is a quick tutorial on how to use Feedly.  

I like Feedly because it collects all of my news and blog updates without filling up my email inbox or taking my time to search for all of my blogs.  With everything in one place, I am more likely to stay up to date with the new posts.  Feedly is very easy to organize and add more content/blogs to follow.  Here is a snapshot of my current Feedly.  

Click here to find out more about Feedly or to set up your own account.  Make sure to add my blog to your account!