blogging · video

Google Reader

Ruth Ayres

Do you read a lot of blogs? Ever wish the posts would come to you instead of you going to them? If you’ve not already met Google Reader, I’d like to introduce you. Say hello to Google Reader…

Google Reader allows me to manage a high volume of blog reading. It saves time because I don’t have to click on each blog I want to read, instead it all comes to me. I’ve set up folders in my Google Reader to help manage the different kinds of blogs I read. My folders include:

Blogs I’m Following (If you follow blogs — you know click the “follow” button on the sidebar of many blogs — then this folder is automatically created for you in Reader.)

Creativity

Favorites

School

Slicers

Writing

I have my Google Reader connected to my iGoogle homepage which is set to appear each time I hop on the internet. So I always know how many “unread” items are waiting for me. There is also a powerful sharing feature, but I haven’t taken the time to figure it out. In the interest of full disclosure, you should know that sometimes I keep up with my Google Reader and sometimes I just have to go in and click “Mark All Read” and start again. Currently there are 256 unread items in my Reader. Sometimes blog reading just slides to the back burner. Other times there are 2 unread items.

I also have to be a little more intentional about leaving comments. It’s easy to fall into the trap of take-take-take when bouncing from blog to blog. However, as a blogger on the other end of the computer, I know comments are crucial to fueling me. So I try to slow down and leave comments.

I hope you have some time to play with your own Google Reader and see how it helps you be more efficient with your blog reading. Regardless whether you have time to set it up right now, will you share 3-5 blogs you wouldn’t want your Reader to be without?

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Published by Ruth Ayres

Unhurried. Finding the magic in the middle of living. Capturing a life of ridiculous grace + raw stories.

13 thoughts on “Google Reader”

  2. I love google reader, but was going crazy because of all my blogs I follow! thanks so much for letting me know about the different folders you can make, that makes my life less crazy!!!!

    I am addicted to:
    http://www.younghouselove.com/ –An adorable couple who blog about their DIY adventures. Chock full of tutorials and I love their sense of humor.
    teachersblogaddict is also a fav of mine!

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  5. Have always loved Google reader, but I didn’t know I could have folders or that I could put it on my igoogle page. I spent some time yesterday afternoon doing just that. LOVE it. Thanks for the info!

    A couple of my favorite blogs this summer are:
    http://2000hours.blogspot.com/ (a teacher blogging and recording the hours he spends outside of school on school work)

    Jay Asher’s blog (author of 13 Reasons Why)
    http://jayasher.blogspot.com/

    I just discovered Sarah Dessen and Laurie Halse Anderson’s blog this summer also. It’s been fun reading “real” authors’ blogs. I’m learning a lot!

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  6. I also love Google Reader. A few more hints:
    CLick on the “cog” on top right corner while in reader and you can change your settings. For example, I set it so I can see the little “Favicons” that everyone produced. Also in settings you can click on “Goodies” and there are different options that you can pin to your bookmark bar to help use reader. I pinned “Subscribe” to to my bookmark bar and when I come across a website that I want to follow, I simply click subscribe.

    Blogs that I love:

    http://www.younghouselove.com/–An adorable couple who blog about their DIY adventures. Chock full of tutorials and I love their sense of humor.

    http://chezlarsson.com/myblog/–Another DIY blog, but from an extremely organized, clean line, lady who resides in Sweden. Here house ideas are so pure and simple.

    http://mindwingconcepts.com/–They only update a few times per month, but this a blog designed by a Speech Pathologists from Massachusetts who developed a simple, yet effective hands-on story telling device. (Story grammar marker).

    Thanks!!
    Kitty
    <a href=”The Write Handed Teacher

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  8. I love Google reader! The only problem with it is that I don’t comment on blogs as much, since I have to go to the source to do that.

    Besides this blog and ruthayreswrites, three other blogs I enjoy, that are related to reading, are:
    readingyear.blogspot.com
    http://www.fromthemixedupfiles.com
    booksavors.wordpress.com
    I seem to follow lots of blogs about reading!

    Two “fun” blogs I follow are:
    weallscreamforicecream.wordpress.com
    poochcafe.com

    One more I just learned about today:
    theboyreader.blogspot.com

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  9. Ruth,
    I love reading blogs in my Google Reader. Yours is always one of the first I read. Other teaching/reflection type blogs that are my current favorites right now (it is always changing) are:

    Catching Readers Before They Fall
    http://catchingreaders.com/

    Reflect and Refine: Building a Learning Community
    http://reflectandrefine.blogspot.com/

    Literacy Learning Zone
    http://literacyzone.blogspot.com/

    Here are some that I love for uplifting thoughts:

    1000 Awesome Things
    http://1000awesomethings.com/

    thx thx thx a thank you note a day
    http://thxthxthx.com/

    The Happiness Project
    http://www.happiness-project.com/happiness_project/

    Jill

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  10. It’s soooo much easier to keep up with the blogs I want to read using Google Reader! Especially during the school year, when time is at a premium. The only drawback is if I open a bunch of articles in new tabs and then get distracted or don’t have time to thoughtfully engage with them right then…it can take a while to get through them all!

    Three other teaching blogs I read religiously:
    http://itsnotallflowersandsausages.blogspot.com/ (She makes me laugh.)
    http://blog.mrmeyer.com/ (Aimed at high school teachers, but he really makes me think about the way I teach math.)
    http://teachertomsblog.blogspot.com/ (A preschool teacher, but makes me think about classroom community, and helps me check myself when I find myself saying, “Oh, my students couldn’t do that.”)

    Reading blogs definitely helps me be a better, more reflective teacher.

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  12. I LOVE my Reader, and I plan to explore it as a source of engaging content with my sixth graders this year, as well.

    Troy Hicks recommended to me a few kid-friendly feeds. I plan to start out with http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/wnc and
    http://kidsblogs.nationalgeographic.com/kidsnews/

    I enjoy Donalyn Miller’s Ed Week Book Whisperer Blog, and a colleague just recommended to me this principal’s fantastic blog: http://georgecouros.ca/blog/ What a reflective leader!

    Finally, just for fun, I like to read dooce.com, a hilarious “mom blogger” 🙂 I like her voice.

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