My favorite teacher blogs!

Anytime I am graced with new ideas for my classroom I am one happy camper. These three blogs I reviewed provide me with just that! I found these blogs to be a great resource AND a fun read!

Blog #1 Pernille Ripp

Review: Pernille Ripp is a teacher, author, creator, and speaker. This blog is great, especially if you are interested in classroom writing and/or classroom libraries. In her blog she provides many teaching tips and a plethora of resources you can use to engage students within the classroom. She also isn’t afraid to get personal in her blog and share some great and not so great teaching experiences. She has a lot of blog posts about picture books and the many ways to use them in the classroom. She has a post about books to use when teaching theme in your classroom, the top picture books for middle school, the top picture books that teach empathy, etc. Just along her header she has categories like; Reading, Writing, Students Engagement, and Global Collaboration. I highly recommend checking out this blog.

Specific Post: As an elementary teacher I have MILLIONS of picture books to choose from. There is an abundance of picture books out there in the world, but how do you choose the right ones? Especially when you’re looking for a very specific topic? Pernille Ripps’ blog post “10 Picture Books that Spark Empathy” is a great resource. Not only does she provide an amazing selection, she gives her reasoning behind each book she chose, and you can tell by her thoughtful excerpts she was meticulous when choosing the books for this list. Within the post she also provides a picture of the book, linked to a place where you can also purchase the book.

Use in the Classroom: This blog is a great resources for teachers in the elementary level who are also looking for resources geared towards reading and writing. She has so many posts about different quality books and how you should use them in your classroom. This blog cuts down your time searching for the perfect book to teach a specific literary concept. She also provides outside resources you can look into that would also be useful to your classroom.

Blog #2 Edutech for Teachers

Review: This blog is an awesome resource for teachers who are looking to up their technology game in the classroom. I wish some of the posts were tagged so I could find them easier, but all in all the blog itself is easy to use and navigate. The articles are short, sweet, and to the point. The author of the blog, Jamie Forshey, also provides outside resources you can use in your classroom. Jamie is also a frequent poster, which I love. It’s such a bummer when you find a blog you like only to find out the author rarely posts anything. You don’t have to worry about that with Jamie, she is consistent in her posts.

Specific Post: One of my favorite posts that she has is called Diigo Weekly Bookmarks. In these weekly posts she provides links to “the latest and greatest web tools and resources that can be utilized to incorporate technology into the classroom”. The resources she posts in these particular blog articles are extremely useful. She finds different apps and tools to use in the classroom, then she provides a small synopsis on the resources and what you could use it for in your classroom.

Use in the Classroom: Like I said earlier, this blog is great for anyone looking to build upon their tech use in the classroom. Her articles explain how she used the new technology in her classroom then give you ideas on how to use them in your classroom. If you’re looking for a variety of different technologies with a variety of functions and uses, then this is a blog for you.

Blog #3 Mrs. Miracle’s Music Room

Review: This blog may be third on my list, but it might just be my absolute favorite I have reviewed (though I may have a personal bias seeing as it’s a music teachers blog). This blog is every music teachers dream come true. The author Aileen Miracle, not only provides lesson plans and ideas for a wide range of musical concepts but, she provides lessons that use different music pedagogy, which in case you didn’t know is a rare find. The blog itself is so easy to navigate, she provides a categorization for each post that can be easily found along the side of the blog so you don’t have to go searching for hours for the one post you need. Within her blog she provides great resources to use in the music room, complete with picture examples, musical excerpts, and she usually has a video she records of herself teaching the lesson to her students.

Specific Post:  Assessment in the music classroom is HARD! You know you have to grade your students, but you also don’t want to stomp on any child’s creativity. I’m also struggling with how to find an efficient way to assess all of my students, considering I see the entire school. Most data collection ideas just don’t work when your working with that many students. In blog post “Apps for Gradekeeping” Aileen provides five different app reviews for collecting data. In each review she talks about the app features and how to use the app within the classroom. She personally has not been able to use each app, but she provides the use of each app within her review.

Use in the Classroom: This blog should be a must read for all music educators. She provides so many lesson plans and resources within this blog. I can see myself using this blog on a day to day basis. You have a variety of sample lesson plans to use, technology ideas, manipulatives to use in the classroom, classroom managements techniques, and so much more!