CPD, EDUCATORS, SOCIAL MEDIA

UK Blog Award nomination – 2018

Today the public vote has gone live for the UK Blog Award nominations with the winner to be announced in 2018. I am absolutely delighted to have been nominated for the second year ( I don’t know who nominated me but thank you!). Winning is always lovely but I’m so pleased to be recognised and nominated! You can vote for my blog to win here:

https://www.blogawardsuk.co.uk/ukba2018/entries/lovetoteach87

“My blogging journey”

I first started reading educational blogs when I joined Twitter in 2015. I had no idea teachers were using Twitter for professional development. I feel naive to admit I had no idea teachers were actually blogging about what they do in their classroom. The first bloggers I read were Ross Morrison McGill aka Teacher Toolkit and Mark Anderson aka ICTEvangelist. In 2015 they were already experienced and well known educational bloggers. I was so impressed by their blogs and I loved how I could read blogs on a regular basis – as they weren’t time-consuming and a great source of useful free CPD. After sharing ideas and resources on Twitter I was asked to write some guest posts for other bloggers and educational magazines. My partner then encouraged me to set up on my own educational blog. I was reluctant to do this for a long time because I thought hosting a blog/website would be much more difficult than it actually is and I also didn’t think I had anything to share or write about. A year later and there are over 50 blog posts on this site!

Why I enjoy blogging …

  • Blogging is a wonderful method to reflect on your teaching practice. I write about resources/strategies I have used in my classroom and unlike Twitter I am not restricted to a word limit!
  • It has improved my literacy skills! As a historian literacy skills are of course very important ( years of writing long extended answers and essays as a History student) but posting my blogs so publicly has made me realise and value the importance of drafting. I never rush a blog post and hit publish! I take my time and read my posts again and again often spotting typo and spelling/grammar errors that I then self-correct. When I read my old blogs from over a year ago I can see the obvious difference in my style of writing. I am constantly improving as a writer, as a result of continued regular reading and blogging.
  • Showcasing my pupils work to the world! I am very proud of the work and progress that my pupils achieve. Through blogging, I am able to share their wonderful examples of work with the rest of the world!
  • I actually find blogging relaxing and enjoyable! I don’t blog as much as I would like to, especially in recent months as I am now focusing on writing my first book, but when I do blog I really enjoy it. I like to go to Starbucks (I have my own regular table and the staff know me well!) and I type away at my Mac (I compare myself to Carrie Bradshaw although writing about completely different topics!).  Blogging doesn’t feel like work because it simply isn’t! I can blog whenever I want, there are no deadlines or pressure and that makes it enjoyable. I love my job (hence Love to teach!) and now I love writing about teaching too.

Why vote me?

  • I share ideas and resources with the hope to inspire others and that teachers can use or adapt my resources to use in their own classroom with their pupils.
  • Lovetoteach – the name for my blog and hopefully my enthusiasm, passion and dedication for the profession shines through on this site. I don’t use my blog as an opportunity to rant, moan or complain about the education system or policies ( although I am not critical of those that do challenge and express their opinions, they are much braver than I am!). My blog is all about sharing and reflecting.
  • All my ideas and resources are original or otherwise credited to those teachers.
  • There is a wide variety on my site with posts covering Edtech, literacy, History teaching, CPD, teaching internationally and more. Hopefully, there will be something on my website for every educator.
  • If you don’t want to vote for me then may I suggest voting for Victoria Hewitt – MrsHumanities for her wonderful blog which includes her honest and open struggles with teaching and how she has overcome them to achieve great success as well as her mission to replace marking with feedback!

 

2 thoughts on “UK Blog Award nomination – 2018”

  1. Jamie says:

    You’re amazing

    1. Kate Jones says:

      Thank you – so kind and lovely!

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