Bonnie Sainsbury (@bsainsbury) “Social media will help you build up loyalty of your current customers to the point that they will willingly, and for free, tell others about you.”

Blogging is an excellent Professional Development tool because it allows educators to communicate with colleagues, parents and students, and gather information from other professionals, while also providing a venue for reflective thinking. This communication and information sharing will build loyalty within the classroom, within the school and within the community, which in turn can lead to better support. Reflective thinking on the part of the educator leads to a greater understanding of the content and students which can also aid in garnering support. Below I will explain how blogging can be used to communicate, gather information, and provide a venue for reflective thinking, all of which are important to the educational profession.

Blogging is one of many ways in which educators can communicate with colleagues, students and parents about what they are doing in the classroom. By sharing on a blog, which can be accessed by anyone around the world, I am sharing my lessons with others who may need inspiration. Additionally, when I want to share what students have been learning in my classroom, I can link my blog to emails, Twitter, Facebook, and other forms of social media. In this way, parents have easy access to my curriculum. Since I started sharing my own experiences on Blogger, I have received wonderful feedback, encouragement and suggestions from family, friends and colleagues around the state. By maintaining a classroom blog, students have an opportunity to share their successes and failures with the world. Knowing that other people are reading what they write can be a powerful motivator. Communication with all parties can be enriched through maintaining a blog.

Reading other educators’ blogs is a great way to gather ideas and information. There are several Librarian blogs that I follow in order to gain insight into the profession. I have come across wonderful lesson plans, bulletin board ideas, resources and funny librarian jokes that keep me inspired (see below for links to these blogs). As a school librarian, I am the only person in my building who teaches my curriculum. When I want to gather ideas, my in-house colleagues may not have a full understanding of what I mean, especially if I’m using Library specific lingo. I have to look outside the confines of my physical building for professional development that suits me. By connecting with other librarians through their blogs and my own, I now have colleagues that I can rely on around the world. Their support, advice and knowledge have brought my own teaching practice to a higher level. It has also helped me to build a Professional Learning Network(PLN) that is specific to my needs.

One of the most informative aspects of blogging is the reflective piece. Each time I sit down to write something, I ask myself “why is this important to share?” Some days I reflect on what I have learned, either in the classroom setting or from my peers. Some days I share my experiences in the hopes that others will be inspired to try something new, or avoid something that may not work! Other days I just marvel at the joy that I experience in my classroom, in my life, in my experiences as a teacher and a human being. This reflection makes me examine what I’ve done that I count as successful and what I need to improve. It also means that I look at what I’ve written more than once before I post it, making my writing stronger and my voice more confident. As educators, we often do not give ourselves time to be reflective; we are too busy pushing through with the next initiative, to the next state test, or onto the next challenging student. However, just a few minutes a week can lead to better practice when we take the time to analyze what worked and what didn’t.

Overall, I believe that blogging is an excellent way to connect, share and reflect. Since the format of a blog can be professional, personal or somewhere in between, there is no right or wrong way to approach it. It will enable you and your students to communicate in a meaningful way with the community and gain support. I highly encourage others to take the leap and begin blogging. You might be surprised by what you learn about your profession and about yourself.

Blogging Sites and Survey

Below are some of my favorite blogs. I use them to inspire my teaching on a regular basis. In addition, I have added a link to a short survey about blogging. I would love to hear what you think about blogging.