#littlefishteacherblogger




Hello!  My name is Christina and I am a little fish in the GIANT ocean of teacher bloggers out there! Thank you to Katie for the inspiration for this graphic.  You will find out exactly who she is if you read on.  Do you feel like a little fish?   Do you write a post knowing that only a few people are even reading it.  If you feel that way then you are not alone.  We all have to start somewhere, so read on.

Thanks to the wonderful new social media app Periscope you can now see and hear amazing messages from top teacher bloggers.  I have recently been very inspired by a number of scopes on Periscope.  If you have not yet heard about Periscope then you must head over to this {POST} to learn all about it the app and how to get started.

This past weekend I was watching a scope by Angie Olson of Lucky Little Learners and Katie Palmer of Pop Into Primary.  They were talking about blogging and offering encouragement to those in the room who were starting their blogging journey or were newer to blogging.  Angie has been blogging for quite some time and has an amazing blog {HERE}.  Katie is a newer blogger.  You can find her blog {HERE}.  After listening to them I realized that we little fish need to rally together and support each other in any way that we can.  This is how the hashtag #littlefishteacherblogger was born.


The idea of a Little Fish Teacher Blogger Network is still developing.  My plan, first and foremost, is to INCREASE OUR READERSHIP.  How will we do this?  Stay tuned for suggestions but for right now this is what I propose:

Here is your first challenge:

1.  Find 5 bloggers below that catch your eye - Why did you choose them?  Do they teach the same grade as you?  Do you like the looks of their button?  Do you "know" them from other social media? (These questions are just for the purpose of reflecting - we can share this info at a later date).

2. Go to each of their blogs and look for a post that sounds interesting.  Read it over and then leave a meaningful comment about the blog post in their comments section.  Sign it and make sure you hyperlink to your own blog.  Here is how:  <a href="YOUR BLOG URL HERE/">YOUR BLOG NAME HERE</a>. This way they can click on you signature and go to your blog too. Another tip, make sure you are not a NO REPLY blogger.  You can read a blog post {HERE} to see if you need to change your settings.  

3. Do this for each of the bloggers you have selected.

It is my hope that each and everyone of the teachers that have linked up will get some meaningful interaction with a reader by doing this.

FOLLOWING each others blogs.

I have struggled with this one.  It would be super easy to ask you all to follow all of the blogs that are listed below in the link up.  I considered suggesting that as the first challenge but then reconsidered. Here is why:  I have a criteria for following a blog.  I  love reading blogs that have content aimed at my grade level or division.  I teach grade 1 and read blogs by other grade 1 teachers but also blogs by other early primary teachers as well.  If a blog fits that criteria I will more than likely follow it.  So, even though you may have an awesome blog if you teach 6th grade I will probably not follow you as I won't find a lot of content that will be useful to me as a teacher.  It is totally your choice if you wish to go through and follow each and every person who linked up.

Here is what I AM suggesting.  Go through the blog links below and take the time to click through to the blogs that look like they might meet the criteria that you have for wanting to follow.  If you choose to follow someone then please leave a comment on their most recent blog post and let them know you like their blog and that you are now following.  Don't forget your signature and your link back to your blog (see above in #2)

My final challenge  is to share this far and wide.  The best way to get our names out there is to share on as many social networking platforms as possible.  Share this blog post on our FB/IG and twitter account so that other teachers can join and expand the network.  Share the #littlefishteacherblogger or #littlefishteachersbloggers as well and link back to the post so people can find us.

What do you think?  Are you up to the challenge?


36 comments

  1. Awesome idea, Christina! I love that you're embracing Persicope!

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    1. Thanks Angela! I has been fun. Thanks for linking up.

      Christina

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  3. Thank you so much for hosting this Christina! I have definitely been feeling like a little fish! Love this opportunity! Following your blog :)

    Ashley
    One Step Closer Teaching

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    1. Thanks Ashley. I hope that you find some new people to follow and that you gain some new blog readers as well. Thanks for linking up.

      Christina

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  4. Love! Love! Love this idea!! Thank you for posting this. Definitely a little fish in a big ocean!! Amazing!
    Marisa
    Yee-Haw in Kindergarten

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    1. I am glad you found it and linked up. I hope you find lots of new blogs to follow and that you gain new readers as well.

      Christina

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  5. Love this idea! We put so much effort into our posts and it saddens us when there is not an audience. I am hoping this brings large waves to our blogs.
    123kteacher

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    1. I hope that it does too! I am glad you found it and linked up!

      Christina

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  7. Thank you for helping to make the education blog world a little bit smaller! I am looking forward to checking out some new blogs and making some new friendships :-)

    Elizabeth
    LearningWithLizzR

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    1. You are welcome. I do hope that you find some new "friends" here.

      Christina

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  8. Thank you for putting this together! How FUN!

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    1. You are welcome! Thank you for linking up.

      Christina

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  9. I love this idea!! Thank you so much!!!!

    Magically in First

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    1. You are very welcome. I hope you find some great blogs to start following. Stay tuned for more info to come.

      Christina

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  10. Thanks Christina for hosting such an amazing linky! Love all that you do!

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    1. Thanks Najda! You are so sweet. Thanks for linking up!

      Christina

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  11. Thanks for starting this for us little fish! It's such a good idea. I'm feeling a little ill today but I'll start looking at and following blogs as soon as I'm a little better. Thanks!

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    1. Feel better soon! I hope you find some interesting new blogs to follow. Stay tuned for more info to come.

      Christina

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  12. I am having such a fun time going through these blogs! There are some great ones. I've already found well over 5 and I'm only at number 30. I can't stop. Thanks for putting this link up together. It's so encouraging for all of us littles to come together to support each other.

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    1. I am so glad you are finding new people to follow. I hope this group helps to support those new people and give them an audience. Stay tuned for more to come!

      Christina

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  13. Thank you so much for doing this! I'm just starting out and it can be so overwhelming... I truly appreciate the effort you've put in for all of us to connect and support one another! THANK YOU!

    Melissa
    Real Life in First Grade

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    1. You are so welcome. Please make sure that you continue to check out the blog for more things coming up.

      Christina

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  16. Thanks for organizing this. I love any opportunity to connect with other teachers, especially new(er) bloggers like myself.

    Ms. McGaha

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    1. you are welcome. Be sure to keep an eye out for the #littlefishteacherbloggers so you know when I have things going on for us here on my blog.

      Christina

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  17. Thank-you for acting on this wonderful idea. I appreciate your encouragement to find blogs that fit your criteria rather than blindly following everyone. I recently realized I was doing entirely too much blind following (and too much blind writing of posts I wouldn't want to read to be honest). I wrote a post about it recently. I thought others here might be interested in it (please don't interpret the somewhat strong language as meanness though!) Why I Unfollowed Your Blog I'm looking forward to finding some new blogging buddies!
    Deb
    Not very fancy in 1st

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  18. Hi Deb, Thanks for your thoughts about this. I do agree there is a lot of follow me and I'll follow you when the content doesn't always match our interests. I do hope you found some people to follow. I am considering another link up of blogs by division or grade so that it is easier to find a blog with content that would match your interest. Thanks for linking up.

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  19. Thank you for organizing this - what a wonderful idea! This took a great deal of time - you are appreciated!

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    1. Thank you so much for linking up and for your kind words.

      Christina

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  20. Christina,
    I just watched your Periscope about changing the name of Little Fish teacher bloggers. I want you to know I think you're amazing for starting this. I think that a lot of us took your Little Fish the way that you meant it to be. When I saw it for the first time, I thought it was adorable. I really appreciate you for doing this. You're awesome and I'm so glad you did this to help all of us new bloggers out. You're great! Thanks for all you provide to us new teachers.

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    1. Thank you so much for your kind words. I didn't anticipate how this could be perceived so making the name switch hopefully put this whole issue to bed. Thanks again for stopping by and linking up.

      Christina

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  21. What a fantastic idea!! Thanks for organizing!! Look how many "little fish" there are; it reminds me of the book where all the little fish come together to form a "big fish" (I forgot the title!) Here's to supporting all us "little fish"!!

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  22. Thanks for hosting this! We've already found some great blogs to follow!
    -Caitlin and Jill
    Journey Through Elementary

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