I am participating in the 2015 Edublogs Teacher Challenge
http://teacherchallenge.edublogs.org/personal-blogging/
This series is for educators who want to have their own personal blog where they document their learning, share their teaching practices or use to create a portfolio of their work.
Each week I will be sent emails consisting of a link to the content to read, as well a task to complete as part of the challenge.
Step 4 relates to Connecting with others
- My Twitter handle is @jofrei
I love Twitter and particularly enjoy participating in the weekly chat session on the hashtag #gtchat. All the information, links and blog posts referenced during the chat later posted on the GT Chat blog http://globalgtchatpoweredbytagt.wordpress.com/
I notify my newly posted blog entries on Twitter adding the hashtags of the main groups I follow and I find that most of the posts by other people that I follow are announced on Twitter. - I have now loaded Flipboard onto my iPad and will have a play with it when time permits. I can see that it could be a very useful tool.
At present I choose to find blog posts to read and comment on via Facebook, Twitter and especially via blog hops such as Gifted Homeschoolers Forum monthly Blog Hop http://giftedhomeschoolers.org/blogs/blog-hop/ HoagiesGifted monthly Blog Hop http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/blog_hops.htm and the annual New Zealand Gifted Awareness Week Blog Hop. - A PLN is such a valuable asset for any educator and posting on a blog and commenting on the blogs of other people is a great way of connecting with them to share information and encouragement.
Flipboard is a new tool for me to add to my toolbox.
I could add share icons to my blog and will look into doing it (I think I might learn about that in the next step of this challenge)
I have found a few more Twitter contacts via this step of the challenge and read a few blog posts from challenge participants.
One which I particularly enjoyed was a post on Mrs. McNally’s Mumblings
http://mcnallymumblings.edublogs.org/2015/05/07/10-things-your-teacher-wants-for-teacher-appreciation-week/
This is the comment I left for her
I just love your mumblings about how your students can show you their appreciation! I particularly like that you want primarily for them to be happy and engaged in their learning!
My blog post about this step of the challenge can be found at https://jofreitag.wordpress.com/2015/06/07/2015-edublogs-teacher-challenge-step-4/
FEEDBACK for Step 4