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As a teacher blogger, I feel like I have so much to say because I want to help other teachers. However, sometimes, when I sit down to write, I can’t decide what to write about. Through taking a couple blogging courses and figuring things out on my own, I’ve come up with some strategies for what I can do when I have writers block. I also want to provide you with a list of ideas you can write about if you ever experience a shortage of ideas.
Tips for When You Have Writers Block
Brain Dump
A brain dump is when you write all your ideas from your head onto paper (or somewhere electronically). I like to think of all the parts of my day during teaching and what I do throughout the year, to get me started on the dump. This is helpful when thinking about what you want to write about as these are things you are an expert on. When you’ve finished your brain dump, think about what other teachers might struggle with or might find interesting and pull from your list.
A brain dump can also show you if things relate to each other and you can write a series. For example, I wrote a series about using guided math in the classroom.
Everything You Need to Know to Launch Guided Math in Your Classroom
How to Write Differentiated Lesson Plans to Use During Guided Math
Guided Math Centers: What are students doing when they’re not meeting with me?
How to Assess Student Learning During Guided Math (Standards Based Grading)
All Your Guided Math Questions Answered: A Collaborative Post with Sam Ripley
Marketing
Marketing is a huge part of having a blog and business. If people can’t find your work or website, how can they read or follow along with your journey? My biggest marketing tool is Pinterest. With Pinterest, I use Tailwind, which schedules my posts to go out at optimal times throughout the day. If you’re having trouble writing, start pinning what you’ve already written!
Another way I market is through Instagram. There is a huge teaching community on Instagram and they are the most supportive, helpful people you will ever meet. When I have a new blog post, I make sure it gets posted to Instagram so it gets out to my followers.
Work on Another Aspect of Business
When you have writers block, you can work on other aspects of your business. It’s pointless to force yourself to write. If you’re not feeling it, you’re not feeling it. Whenever I have writers block I work on some of the following.
TpT Products
If you also sell on TpT, this is a great time to work on a new product. Then, when you have your new product, you can write a blog post about it, explaining it further! Instant inspiration!
Photographs
Having writers block gives you a chance to take pictures. Go to your classroom and start snapping away. Stage your pictures so they look professional and take multiple in different sizes. You never know what you’ll need!
Social Media
This is also a good time to work on your social media. I focus primarily on Instagram but you can choose what you like best. Facebook is beneficial or twitter. Reach out to people on these different platforms and make connections!
Schedule Out Posts
To avoid writers block, try to schedule out your posts a month or two in advance. That way, then you sit down to write, you have an idea of your topic and a few key points you want to write about. This really helps me be consistent as a blogger and keep writers block away!
Teacher-Blog Post Ideas
When you do have writers block, you can refer to this list to help you with ideas you can write about!
General Classroom Ideas
- Favorite activities you do in your classroom
- A typical day in your classroom
- Your classroom set up/decor
- Why ___ subject is your favorite to teach
- Your behavior management system and why it works for your class
- Favorite tools (technology, school supplies etc)
- Favorite books
- Why ___ is important in (teaching, your classroom, your grade level)
Specific Parts of the Day
- How you set up ___ subject in your classroom
- Why ___ subject is your students’ favorite
- Ideas for ___ (a holiday, season, special event ex: 100th day of school)
- Explain a TpT product you have in your store and how you use it
- Tips for teaching ___
- Favorite art projects
- Favorite ___ (subject) activity
Organization
- How you plan your week
- Why you organize using ___ (bins, files, etc)
- Setting up your small groups
- Favorite organization hacks
- What you do at the end of the day to be ready for the next day
- How to set up ____ (folders, notebooks, writing folders etc)
- Why you use ___ instead of ___ (ex: book bags instead of book boxes)
- Any classroom DIY (explain how you made it)
About Your Students
- How to challenge your high learners
- How to support your lower learners
- How to build relationships with your students
- How to differentiate
- Students favorite part of the day
- What you do to engage all students
- Ideas for building a classroom community
Hopefully this list will help you when you experience your next writers block! What do you do when you find it hard to write? Let me know below!
You may be interested in…
2 Simple Steps to Creating Your Teacher Blog
The Top 3 Resources I Use to Grow my Blog and TpT Store
