Blogs have always been such an interesting concept to me. The fact that people have gotten book deals that have translated into film (Julie & Julia by Julie Powell for instance) is mind boggling. They're quite the example of how technology connects people and provides real life experiences. I've tried a time or two to begin my own blog, but I've found that I'm not disciplined enough to continue to post or to get my "brand" out there. RSS Feeders, a way to track blogs or articles, have also never been something I could keep up with. Depending on the type of RSS Feeder you decide to use, you could easily keep up with blogs that you follow.
Blog Readers
The RSS feeder that attracted my attention the most was BlogLovin'. Other than the fact that it is completely free, the description comparing it to Pinterest is what caught my eye. I easily created my account and added the widget to my own blog. Then I started browsing. Once I thought of some blogs I've seen posts of in the past and searched them, it became easier to find more to follow. BlogLovin' allows for users to like posts, add them to your own collections for future access, or share the post through other social media platforms. Not only can you follow blogs of regular people, but companies have their own posts as well. BookRiot, AASL, and others can be found through this feeder. Posts tend to be current versus one of the other feeders I checked out that displayed an article from 2014.
Another cool feature from BlogLovin' is that you can blog directly from the website! How neat is that?! Unfortunately, it does not have an app to where you can access the information from.
Flipboard is another type of RSS feeder I came across. I've seen it before, but never actually took the time to check it out. Once you put in your interests, FlipBoard will curate articles for you to check out. You can create your own "Magazines" to return to articles at a later time. Magazines are basically folders. What I liked about this RSS feeder was how it brought together these different articles that were easy to flip through and provided the first few sentences to snag my attention. I've definitely been using it more as it is an easy app to download onto your device.
Blogs to Follow
1. Epic Reads - Learn about the hottest new Young Adult titles with Epic Reads! Quizzes, thematic book lists, and other fun activities are also provided on their website. I followed this blog on BlogLovin' (other other platforms) because I love reading YA and it keeps me up to date.
2. apileofgoodthings11.tumblr.com - apileofgoodthings is a teen librarian in Texas. She takes in questions and answers them to the best of her ability. In addition to her own personal content, she provides recommendations at the requests of users and reblogs other bookish content. She has also become a personal friend. I followed her because when I first joined Tumblr, I was (and am) pretty involved in the educhum community and she is part of that community of educators. It's important to follow others in the trenches with you.
3. TheDaringEnglishTeacher - While this is not a librarish book blog, it has been one that I count on for lesson ideas. I catch the majority of her posts through Instagram where she'll describe lessons and provide examples of content she has created/uses. Even though she teaches high school, I find her posts invaluable.
4. The Hub YALSA - This blog is devoted to different types of reading lists. I followed it because it focuses primarily on YA and I love me some YA. The blog post on January 15th highlights YA Nonfiction titles which is awesome for people like me that a) don't read enough nonfiction and b) don't quite know where to start with nonfiction for my own classroom library. This blog is a great way to stay on top of award-winning and popular titles!
5. Teen Services Underground - This blog promotes teen services and programs for your library. It provides book talks, different ideas for programming (fandoms, crafts, etc.), booklists and more. I followed it because I follow lots of teachers and other book lovers, but not enough library related content. This will help generate ideas for how to make my future library engaging for both middle and high school levels.
Tumblr
I have had a Tumblr for years now. I think I started mine in 2013 probably. At the time I had no clue what I was doing, but I did know that I was going to be a teacher eventually. Because I have a lot of content on it that I'm not sure I feel comfortable sharing, I created a new one and reblogged some content. It is through Tumblr that I found the Educhum community, a tight knit group of fellow educators from around the world that support one another. Much of the community has transferred to a closed group on Facebook. I've made a lot of friends through this community and have found it beneficial, especially when I was a first year teacher. On their own, they made a mentorship program for newbie teachers, and before Amazon Wishlists became what they are now, they curated a list to reblog for others to buy for each other. Neil Gaiman even reblogged it one year. WHAT?!
As of late, I tend to scroll and reblog or queue up posts. "Queue up" means that it will post automatically without me having to schedule it. I currently have it where it will reblog something twice a day.
Make sure to follow me at readingthrough6thgrade!
- K
