Blogs and Blog Readers

Ashley Laake

LSSL 5391

Feedly

I chose this feed reader resource because it was easy to use.  There are other feed readers that are free as well but not as easy to use as this one.  There is no cost associated which is nice, but the easy to navigate part is a must.  There are options to upgrade, and this provides more access to this website, but it is not necessary.  New feeds can be created on the left hand side and are visible.  Blog categories can easily be renamed or deleted.  If you know the blog you are looking for, you can copy and paste the link on the front page of this website, and the blog will show up.  You can choose to follow, and then categorize it.  This can all be done in a matter of seconds.  What makes this feed reader unique is the “AI research assistant – Leo – that knows how to read and analyze information, so your feeds always remain clutter free.” 

https://feedly.com/i/discover/sources/search/feed/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.alsc.ala.org%2Fblog%2F

Cool Cat Teacher Blog

I will be introducing the Cool Cat Teacher Blog which has a ton of useful information.  This is an award winning blog and was listed at the Top 40 Edtech Influencer of 2022. You can sign up to get a free newsletter.  This blogger will send you 200 + tools that can be used for school.  This blog is very easy to use.  Starting from left to right, recent posts are dated and paired in twos.  The right hand side lists topics that are popular.  At the very top of the blog, there are drop down menus that you can look through to find what you are looking for. 

Technology is an important tool.  On this blog, it is the one of the first tabs that you will see.  One category is for chromebooks.  If you click on this category, it will take you to a page.  The most popular posts for chromebooks are listed.  One is 100+ google classroom resources for educators strictly for the chromebook.  What I really like is there is a category that you can click on that focuses on who you are.  For example, it breaks it down from: teachers, librarians, students, administrators, and parents.  Depending on your role, you can find tools to help you specifically. 

https://www.coolcatteacher.com/category/education/libraries/

Free Technology for Teachers

A great blog for teachers or librarians is Free Technology for Teachers.  This is super easy to scroll through.  Old blogs are archived on the right side broken down by month and year.  It tells you how many blogs are listed in each month.  

There are thousands of blogs posted on this site yearly.  What I love about this blogger is that he links videos that he makes himself about each technology tool he highlights. If you want to learn about Flipgrid, there are over 20 videos that will help you learn this tool.  Some posts are about the month’s most popular posts.  If they are popular posts, they are definitely worth looking at because that means many educators are looking at them.  One popular post was about a Classroomscreen service. Check this out because it gives you access to countdown timers, random name selectors, and noise meters.  This is a very useful blog to spend 10 minutes or an hour searching because it will introduce you to many tech tools and teach you how to use them.  

https://www.freetech4teachers.com/2021/12/classroomscreen-timers-names-and-noise.html

Teach Junkie 

Looking for a blog with a plethora of free teaching ideas?  Teach Junkie is a blog that does just that.  Scrolling down this site, you will see 3 big icons: activities, freebies, and bright ideas.  If you scroll below this, there are featured blogs or even a search bar for a more in depth search.  

Under the activities icon, there are many different choices.  You may be looking for STEM ideas.  These choices can be customized by subject or grade level.  This gives you the availability to search and find new ideas.  

https://www.teachjunkie.com/category/language-arts/

Teen Librarian Toolbox

I will be sharing a blog called Teen Librarian Toolbox.  This blog highlights teen literature.  While some of the posts can be rather lengthy, it is easy to scroll through and find topics about new books.  It is easy to navigate this page.  It begins with the recent posts at the top.  Below this are topics that are trending. Towards the bottom are book reviews.  

What is unique about this blog is that some authors do guest appearances and explain why they write the way they do.  The author of this blog, Karen Jenson, will list each book with a picture of its book cover.  She gives summaries of the books, then includes her own review.  Her blogs include a diverse collection of teen books which is helpful for librarians looking to diversify their collection or the average reader wanting to try something new.  This is an excellent resource.

https://teenlibrariantoolbox.com/

ALSC Blog | Pursuing Excellence For Library Service To Children

The Association for Library Services to Children is the next blog I will be talking about today.  Each new blog title is in the same blue font color which makes each new post easy to find.  It is easy to navigate; all you have to do is scroll down.  It is easy to share this blog or favorite certain posts.  I just wish there was a way you could search within the blog.  This would make it helpful.

This is a great sight for librarians because it broadcasts different conferences that happen each year.  There is an infographic in the blog which shows you what grants you can apply for depending on the needs of your school.  It has a plethora of information on this blog.  This is beneficial to parents too because there are posts about screen time and how much is healthy, books by autistic authors, and stages of play theory.  

https://www.alsc.ala.org/blog/

Extra Credit Tumbler Account:

https://www.tumblr.com/blog/readingtakesyouplaces