Bloggin' and Tumbln'

I love blogs.  I tried to make one a few years ago about stuff I make called "Made in Brandiland."  It went by the wayside because I realized I only made stuff in the summer since there's no time to make stuff during the school year.  No time to make much this summer because of summer sesh.  But, apparently I have a lot to say because I've been using this blog like cray and I love it and I think I need to blog more.  Not sure when that will happen, but until then... here's other people's blogs for you to enjoy until I can get my life on track.

Blog Readers

I discovered Bloglovin' about a year ago.  I downloaded the app and followed some blogs.  Forgot about it for awhile.  About a month ago, I rediscovered the app on my iPad mini and explored using it a little more and started visiting the app a couple of times a week.  I follow a lot of food, fashion, and beauty blogs.  Knowing this assignment was coming up, I tried using Bloglovin' to find some library/book-oriented blogs, but when I searched using the app's search feature, most of what came up was like, people who read books and blog about it.  When I try to browse blogs in Bloglovin' there is no education or technology category, so I was a little disheartened about this.  If I know the exact name of a blog, I can type it in to Search and it will appear, but I really wanted to browse.

I pulled up Feedly's page and immediately liked their browsing options so much better than Bloglovin' (they refer to it as "Starter Kits" and have not only an education starter kit, but a tech one as well, oh and culture and cars and comics!).  I also pulled up the others, but they didn't speak to me like Feedly did.  So I set up my account to explore Feedly and downloaded the app to my mini.

Screenshots from app versions of Bloglovin' (left) versus Feedly (right).  Feedly is CLEARLY more user-friendly.

I feel in love with Feedly even more as I began to use the site to search and set up blog feeds.  If I want to check out a blog before committing to following it, I can click on the blog title, get a taste (kind of like a quick view when you're shopping on Old Navy or Target) and close out of it.   Bloglovin' wasn't as user-friendly as this when I tried searching for blogs.  When I add blogs I can assign it to a category (or categories) of my choosing.  The sidebar easily lets me see what blogs I have where.  When I open a blog and subsequently a blog post on Feedly, little tabs open for each (with the app, not my browser) and I REALLY appreciate that.  I hate a cluttered browser.  Also, you can set a theme (more like color scheme) for your Feedly page.

Here are a few of the blogs I found using Feedly's Starter Kits that I think you'll want to know about:

Make:

I choose this blog because since I've started this summer session, I've seen so much about the Maker Movement, which I didn't even know was a thing.  Now that I know it's not only a thing, but a REALLY COOL THING, I want to scoop up as much info as I can about it!  This blog gives ideas for things to make and examples of things made at Maker Faires.  If you watch the 33-second video from this post, you'll be just as pumped about the Maker Movement.  Two words:  Cardboard.  Dinosaurs.

Edudemic

I'm a sucker for clever names, so I was immediately attracted to this one.  But when I browsed through the blog posts, I found that they shared some really thoughtful and relevant posts about things that matter to me as a teacher.  One blog post that got me right in the kisser?  "7 Reasons to Keep Poetry Instruction Alive."  I found another blog posting that directly relates to a report I read from Pew Research about digital writing tools about using blogs for writing instruction.  Yup, I'm happy to be caught up in this Edudemic.

Awful Library Books

I didn't know what to expect from this blog, but I was intrigued by the blog's subtitle: Hoarding is not collection development.  This blog is a collection of terribly old, out-dated, sometimes hilarious, sometimes horrendous books that librarians find in their collection and submit to this blog.  I like old stuff.  I like funny stuff.  I like it when they both come together.  If you're in need of some comic relief or need to be reminded to be thankful to live in the era in which you do, check out this blog.

Edutopia RSS

This blog addresses a variety of educational issues from ed-tech to classroom strategies to teacher concerns.  They average about two posts a day, so a reader doesn't get bogged down trying to fish through tons of articles.  The blog keeps the topics balanced by switching the subject matter up consistently so you don't get five ed-tech posts in a row.  

What about Tumblr?

Tumblr seems overwhelming at first.  Luckily, the site gives you a little baby tutorial of how to use the site, so that calmed me down a little bit.  After searching "school library" (search function SUPER EASY to use by the way), I found so many great accounts to follow.  It'll take some more practice but I think I'll really like it.  My first Tumblr activity involved reblogging two things:  a gif of baby foxes and an article about this guy who drew dinosaurs in the sand.  You can find me on Tumblr @ miz-raj.tumblr.com.  I'm still working on "changing my appearance" though so don't expect to be dazzled by an amazing avatar pic or banner pic, OK?

School libraries seem to be using Tumblr to communicate about books, including book lists, genres of books, summer reading, etc.  I think some of them use current events to recommend books which I think is a BRILLIANT idea.  For instance, Elmira HS posted several books about LGBTQ characters probably in response to the Caitlyn Jenner hype.  Elementary libraries post a lot about activities kids do in the library, which was adorable and inspiring!  I don't know at what level I'll end up, so it's encouraging to know I have a wealth of information in a variety of sources to help me along the way when the time comes.  :)  But by far one that really spoke to me that I HAVE to share with you guys is...

Librarian Wardrobe  Tumblr @librarianwardrobe

I found this blog on Tumblr.  I chose to follow this one because it mashes up two things I love:  library and fashion!  This blog's mission is to dispel myths about the stereotypes of the librarian look by showcasing librarian's outfits and offering advice to those who seek it. What a great idea!!!

Now... get out there and blog your brains out!!!