Did you know that depending on which statistic you believe that there are somewhere between 133,000,000 and 200,000,000 blogs that have been indexed by Technorati since 2002 according to their report State of the Blogosphere. Now obviously most of these are not written by teachers but even if just a tiny percentage is, that is a whole lot of writing, sharing and collaborating going on.
If like me you are a full-time teacher struggling to find the hours in the day to not only write yourself but to read other teacher’s blogs how do you find the ones which you will find relevant? Where do you find ideas and inspiration for your day-to-day reality as a primary teacher?
This post is dedicated to all you primary teachers. Do you describe yourself as ‘just a teacher’ or worse ‘a nobody’. Well, I for one know that my life, my growth as a teacher and my professional development has grown immeasurably since I started not only reflecting on my own teaching through blogging but importantly, also started reading other teachers blogs.
I have seen lists of the top 100 teacher bloggers, I don’t know about you but faced with that I just don’t know where to start. So I thought I would share with you just a few of the blogs I have saved on my RSS feeder. These blogs are all on my blogroll because they are written by teachers, who share ideas and reflections about life in a primary classroom. I do not claim to have created a comprehensive list by any means and I know there are still hundreds I have yet to find. But nonetheless I can recommend these as primary teachers who, in the spirit of collaboration are well worth reading.
Splodgeplodge Mrs_Dem is a casual teacher who obviously has an interest and skill in art. While Mrs Dem waits for her local schools to recognise that they really should be employing her, she creates art lessons and places them for the world to view on her blog. Well worth a visit if you are seeking some inspiration.
Prospecting for treasure Barbara Day is a teacher from Iowa with 23 years experience in the primary classroom. Barbara writes about life in her classroom and projects she is working on. I have picked up several ideas and tips from reading her blog.
Nina’s Arena Nina Davis is an infant’s teacher in Victoria, Australia. She writes about many interesting things, including educational therory. I particularly enjoy her posts on life in her infants classroom. They should be compulsory reading for all new infants teachers.
whatedsaid Edna is a teacher from Victoria, Australia, with many years experience, who, like me, is embracing technology in her classroom. She shares thoughts and ideas on what works for her. Her blog is both interesting and informative.
Kelly Tenkley If you only pick one of these blogs to take a look at Kelly’s should be top of your list. Not only does Kelly share ideas, thoughts, lesson plans, web sites and more. She runs the bloggers alliance of which I am part. Incredibly she also still finds the time to regularly read and comment on mine and others blogs.
Bits and pieces place 2sparkley’s blog is packed full of links, websites, examples and resources. It is well worth bookmarking for so many reasons. If you have never visited it – go there now!
So these are a few of my favourites, please tell me yours? Who have I not included? Not 100 please, I don’t have time for that but maybe one or two.
8 Comments
Dear Henrietta,
What a wonderful list. There are many that I have not known about and now are going to be on my blogroll.
Thankyou for being so kind as to add my blog here as well.I feel honoured.
Hi Henrietta,
It would be very interesting to know how many teachers are blogging. I have a feeling there would be a high percentage of people who start, but don’t continue blogging as I find this is often the case when I help fellow teachers set up class blogs.
I agree that it is a juggling act to find time to blog and read other teachers’ blogs however I agree with you that it does make us better teachers to engage in these reflective practices.
I go through phases where I’m right on top of my Google Reader but then all of a sudden have hundreds and hundreds of new posts ready to be looked at!
I feel like my pursuits in educational technology could also be a full time job although of course I would hate to removed from the classroom!
If Kelly Tenkely replies to this post I would love to know how she gets around to so many different blogs while still doing everything else!
Kathleen
Hi Henrietta. Prospecting for treasure is a new one for me so thanks for sharing. I feel that I have far too many in my feedly reader at the moment, and find it difficult to keep up. But then I feel guilty if I don’t read those I follow, as the reason I followed them in the first place is that they have so many interesting things to say!
On a personal level I find I keep up to date more easily with my class blog than I do with my personal blog. I’m not quite sure why that is, although I often feel that some of the things I might write about have been put so eloquently by others.
Reading other teachers’ blogs and following others on twitter has been enlightening and a wonderful way to gather new ideas and learn about new tools.
Thanks for including me! I’m really glad I started blogging. Even more so to have joined the blogging alliance. I love reading other teachers blogs and find that different blogs inspire me in different ways. Wait… I’ll save my response for my own blog post
I agree that when I first started blogging I was unsure if I would find enough to write about however for me the opposite has happened. i have about five posts ready in my head just finding the time to write them is the problem! I need more hours in the day.
I love your class blog Pam and in fact if I ever get around to writing about the joys of blogging with ones class I will include you. my class is at http://year5rc.edublogs.org/
I only started in January but my class are loving the process. Luckily I share the work with my co-teacher as it is a blog for the whole of year 5.
I am very flattered to be included in this list. Thank you. I follow most of these people on Twitter, but I had only seen some of their blogs. I have added several to my Google Reader. It really helps me to read blogs written by teachers, because they know what really works in a classroom. They also know what it’s like to learn and use technology in situations that are not ideal. These blogs encourage me, they help me to grow, and they inspire. It’s why I am doing things with my students this year, that I didn’t even know existed a year ago. Thanks for the post.
Henrietta, I am so humbled to be a part of such a great list! I would add your blog to the list (although I suspect that isn’t necessary since your readers are already here
I have found a few new blogs to follow thanks to you. It is so much fun “meeting” these other teachers and getting a glimpse of their classrooms. It is a fun time to be a teacher!