Blogging inspiration for the early childhood classroom

By Deborah J. Stewart

As a preschool teacher, I am constantly inspired by the early childhood community of bloggers. The community of early childhood bloggers is growing and each time I discover a new blog, I get excited to see what this educator has to share. There are all types of early childhood bloggers out there that share information on topics such as play, science, art, music, math, and even current issues that effect those of us who work in early childhood education. Today, I want to share with you some of the ways blogs inspire me as a teacher....

Blogs inspire me to try new ideas in the classroom....

Finding a new idea totally inspires me. It gets me thinking outside of the box and makes me want to hurry up and get back into the classroom so I can share it with my class.

Blogs inspire me to be more reflective and flexible in the classroom...

Reading about how children play in other classrooms has made me more flexible in my teaching approach and more reflective on what is important in the process of learning and teaching. 

Blogs inspire me to try new teaching techniques and practices in my classroom...

Every time I read a blog post related to teaching practices or techniques, I reflect on whether or not the practice or technique is something I have considered applying in my own classroom. I like being challenged to constantly reconsider my own teaching practices so I work at keeping them fresh and effective.

If you are just discovering the world of early childhood blogs, let me give you a few tips about reading blogs that I apply to my own teaching practice...

1. Look for early childhood blogs that inspire you, challenge you, or cause you to reflect on your own teaching practices.
2. Always remember to apply what you read from early childhood blogs in a way that works best for the age of the children, number of children, and diversity of the children you teach. Use common sense and your best judgement when it comes to adapting and applying any idea that is new to you.
3. Read more than one post from a blog you follow so you can get a well rounded perspective of who the blogger is and the type of teaching practices the blogger applies in his or her own classroom.
4. If you have questions or wish to communicate with the blogger, leave a comment on the blog post so the blogger can interact with you.
5. And finally, keep in mind that you are reading only snippets of an early childhood classroom day or experience. No class is perfect but bloggers tend to share what is working so they can inspire you rather than discourage you.