International Class Blogs

In Canada, Ms. Kreul's class were discussing "A Room with a View", and they took this picture to represent what it would look like. Ms. Kreul asked her students to describe what they saw. On Ms. Kreul's class blog, she describes the activities in the classroom and provides photo's. She also has links to the class newsletter, supply lists, and a calendar. Currently, she has a poll on her blog asking who will win the Super Bowl, Steelers or Cardinals. She plans to incorporate the results in math class.



In New Zealand, Jody Hayes' class of year five and six, which includes students ages 9 to 11, uses blogmeister as her blog source. She uses the blog to keep her parents informed about the activities and current events going on in her classroom. She also provides brief information about herself. This picture was taken of toffee used to simulate different types of rock formation.

School's Using Class Blogs

In 2005, Goochland County Schools began encouraging the use of class blogs by teachers. Now, every teacher has his/her own class blog. The schools encourage parents to use the blogs to continue the learning process beyond the school day. They also ask parents to leave comments and have conversations with each other about the activities listed on the blog. This is a picture of Mrs. Alvis' Kindergarten class after they made reindeer ears as a Christmas project.

School Blog Use Continued

The Weber School District currently uses blogs for all of its faculty. Each teacher has his/her own class blog that students and parents can view current events, assignments, pictures, etc. This is very helpful in keeping parents involved. Students that miss a day can also use the blog to find out what work needs to be made up. This picture is of Mr. Ludlow's 6th grade class at Hopper Elementary School. This picture was on his class blog and it includes students that received reading awards for summer reading. Mr. Ludlow also posts U-Tube video's of class discussions and activities. I think that would be great incentive for the children to be on thier best behavior and to be attentive in class, because they know their parents can view the video's and see their behavior on the class blog.

The Fisch Bowl Video

I visited http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com/2007/06/did-you-know-20.html. This is a very informative video that discusses how rapidly technology is advancing and how our students are not being prepared in the classroom. The video begins with the fact that every 8 seconds, 34 babies are born. Also pointed out were the number of college graduates in the U.S in 2006 (1.3 million). Most of the other countries in the world encourage their students to learn other languages, with China being the #1 English speaking country as a second language. It is estimated that children born in 2006 will have had 10 to 14 by the age of 38. One in three of these children will not make it passed the 5th grade. On the up side, 70% of four year old children have used a computer.

Some other interesting facts were that the internet became increasingly popular in 1995. One in every eight married couples met online. If the number of Myspace users were a country, they would be the 8th largest in the world. They predicted within 15 years, the computer would be more advanced than the entire human race. I found this video very informative. I sat there with my mouth wide open during 90% of the video. I encourage everyone to check it out. The message I perceived from the video is that all people involved in education should do everything they can to incorporate technology into everyday learning, encourage students to learn a second language and go to college, and teach the students to maintain a job for a significant period of time instead of moving from job to job.

ACCESS

Access is Alabama Connecting Classroom, Educators, and Students Statewide. This website offers perks for teachers, students, and even parents. Students can take advanced placement courses through Access that may not be offered in their school. Also, students can get early admission into college and take college courses while still in high school. This a great tool to get a jump start on a college education. Parents are able to view what courses are taught and other options that are available to their children. Teachers can use the interactive classroom option to have video conferences and other unique learning experiences. Under the distance learning tab, teachers can view job opportunities that are available to them. Access can be explored at http://accessdlstate.al.us/.

I plan to use Access for the interactive classroom on a regular basis. This will give my students the opportunity to see first hand what we are discussing in class without the cost and headache of a field trip. Most schools only allow one or two field trips per year, and this will be a great substitute. I may also be interested in teaching a few distance learning classes once I get my masters.

ALEX

ALEX, The Alabama Learning Exchange, is an amazing tool for new and veteran teachers. The website, http://alex.state.al.us, can also be used by students, as well as administrators. This website provides teachers with a multitude of resources. The site is broken down into tabs for easier access. Teachers can search by subject and grade level, locate current standards, and view sample lesson plans. The tab for professional workspace allows teachers to store and submit lesson plans and teacher web pages. There is also a tab for ACCESS, Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators, and Students Statewide. ACCESS is a distance learning site that allows high school students to take college classes. This allows students to get a head start on their college education.

As a future educator, I am truly impressed by ALEX. This site will be very helpful to me as a new teacher. I will definitely refer to this site for lesson plan examples and to search various activities. I would like to teach high school in the future, and I will encourage my students to take college courses, and ACCESS makes that possible. I plan to teach in Mississippi, so I'm not sure if Mississippi has a similar website. If not, I will refer to ALEX. I encourage everyone to check out ALEX.

A Little Info About Me!!

I'm 25 years old. I've been married for 7 years and have 3 children. Natalie just turned 7, Kynsea is 4, and Jathen is 2. So as you can see I stay pretty busy. I live in Hurley, MS. I graduated from George County High School in 2001 and have been going to college on and off since then. Sometimes it feels like I am a professional student! Fortunately, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. My expected graduation date is Dec 2010. I can't wait. I worked for Singing River Headstart teaching preschoolers for a few years, but my classes conflicted this year, and I could not juggle both, because I would never see my family. Now, I play the part of Supermom!! It's tough but definitely worth every minute!!

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