IT'S WORTH TAKING A LOOK AT THIS BLOG

After being included in Barbara Hoskins Sakamoto's list, I am happy to keep up the 'tradition' of recommending 10 blogs that are well worth a read. My intention was to form a list that would portray the diversity of topics and their writers existing in the blogosphere, choosing to expand a little from the common EFL blogs we usually come across.

Although I am constantly learning a lot from all the edtech gurus who receive daily doses of reference and acknowledgment,  I decided to urge everyone to visit blogs, maintained not only by teachers but also students, which are a delight to drop by whenever I have the chance. What I did to facilitate the  exploration of my list was to divide the suggested sites in categories. Hopefully, this list will result in more bloggers getting the recognition they deserve and in students being prompted to express themselves through more posts. So, here we go!  

Classroom Ideas:

1) Every Photo Tells a Story:

Imaginative photos to be used in all types of lessons. A blog that needs to be given credit for encouraging creativity and the adoption of a different world perspective.

2) K to 3 Web Site... ings of the Day:

A variety of meticulously chosen sites for young learners by Sue Roseman. A site that proved to be of great help, especially when I first became interested in using technology in the classroom.  

Teacher bloggers:

3) English.gr

Smaragda Vamvakari is a school owner on the Greek island of Syros who invariably blogs about EFL news and activities, some of the most prominent being the online ones  her students completed on Earth Day.  Admittedly, she is one of the most creative teachers I have 'met' and the ideal person to exchange ideas with. 

4) The Cambridge English Exam Professor:

David C teaches in Portugal and records his personal thoughts on Cambridge Language Exams, giving tips and ideas to teachers and students. His genuine interest in his students' success in this type of exams manifests itself in every post he writes.

Student bloggers:

5) Alice's adventures in the land of learning English:

Alice is the mother of two children and an eager learner of B1 level. For more than a year, she has been maintaining her own blog which she has by now turned into an electronic language portfolio. She publishes her vocabulary calendars every month, also recording memorable experiences and collecting her favourite links. I have referred in greater detail to the way we use blogging at school in my guest posts on Barbara's Teaching Village. 

6) Joanna's Corner:

Similar to Alice, Joanna is an adult student of C1 level who copies her essays and vocabulary calendars on her blog along with some grammar rules to aid her memory. Numerous readers have already paid a visit, filling the world map with the red spots that she always enjoys keeping track of.   

7) George's Blog:

A blog by a previous C2-level student of ours, now finishing his degree in Cardiff University. George mostly writes to raise awareness of environmental issues, but he has also posted excellent book reviews and some personal thoughts. His inclusion in the list will hopefully give him an additional incentive to keep blogging as soon as his exams are over! 

Greek bloggers:

8) Photoholic:

Michael Kapsalis takes artistic photographs and posts them without editing them to enable everyone to travel to places he has been by the flapping wings of imagination. The English captions that accompany all photos convey the special message of each capture. 

9) The Hyperactive Teacher:

Giannis Ver, who is a Greek state school teacher, posts everything that is related to the curriculum of the Greek primary school as well as interesting slides, documents and pictures that could be accessible even to non-Greek speakers.  

10) A Father's Diary:

Kostas Stoforos is a multi-talented man: he successfully plays the role of the writer, the journalist and the father of three children. When he writes, he humorously narrates his diverse experience as well as  comments on the political and social life of Greece. He has made us the honour to travel to Crete in order to present and discuss parenting topics in the premises of our school.

Those mentioned in the list now need to do as I did:

• Choose 10 blogs they would like to recommend to their readers.
• Write a post explaining the process and listing the links along with the picture of the 'eye' that accompanies all posts of this kind.
• Let the bloggers in the list know of their mention and urge them to continue the chain of posts!