United States Class Blogs

I found a class of 6th graders in Georgia using blogs in their English class. The teacher's name is Ms. Osteen. Ms. Osteen has her class use blogs to review books they have read in class and write their own stories and journals. She leaves comments on their blog posts to encourage them to use their blog. I really enjoyed reading some of the posts made by her 6th graders. She also uses her blog to post homework assignments and links to other teacher's blogs at the same school. Below is a link to Ms. Osteen's Class blog:

Ms. Osteen's Class Blog


Another class blog I found in the United States was in Long Island, New York. Mr. Dugger's 4th graders use their blogs for communication and exploration of the subjects they are studying in school. He has his students use the science lessons he teaches in class and post blogs about where they see that lesson being used in the real world. The blogs about electricity are very interesting to read. He also has class notes and places the students can go to find other resources to further their knowledge. Below is a link to Mr. Dugger's Class Blog:
Mr. Dugger's Class Blog

Classrooms Using Blogs Internationally

I found a first grade class taught by Ms. Cassidy in Moose Jaw, Canada using blogs in their classrooms. Ms. Cassidy is teaching her students how to read and write and reinforcing that knowledge through blog posts. One child named Jasmine posted a blog about visiting her grandmother. Ms. Cassidy also uses the blogs to have "Getting to Know You" sessions. She lets the children chat through "Yak Packs" with other children around the world. Using these blogs, these six year olds can get education from all over the world, and show how much they can do to millions of people. Below is a link to Ms. Cassidy's class blog.

Ms. Cassidy's Class Blog


I also found a class blog of 2nd and 3rd graders in New Zealand! Mr. Nelson's room 9 class blog features writing blogs, photo blogs, and reflection blogs as well as artwork done by the students. These students blogs are a little more developed than Ms. Cassidy's because they are older and more capable of using the computers. I think having the children post blogs daily on a number of subjects is a great way to help them become technologically literate as well as spark interests in many other fields. Below is a link to Mr. Nelson's Room 9 Class blog:

Mr. Nelson's Class Blog

Access

The ACCESS program being started in Alabama is a wonderful way for high school students to receive education in areas that they would not have had the opportunity to learn in previously. Governor Bob Riley saw this plan as a great way for students to get high quality education that is not currently available in Alabama high schools. The ACCESS program works both through approved internet courses and certified E-teachers online who provide instruction teachers in the schools cannot.

The biggest advantage of this program in my opinion is the fact that it gives all school participating in it the opportunity for it's students to receive college credit through dual courses. I was lucky to attend a high school that offered such courses with I took advantage of to put me an entire semester ahead in college before I even graduated. Giving this opportunity to students who do not attend schools with teacher qualified to teach dual classes is a wonderful thing.

Overall, I hope this program has great success and I will support it in anyway I can. I look forward to being a part of such a wonderful program, and I hope it can be used in my classroom one day.

John Strange Web Site

Using ALEX in my classroom!

As I said before, I am very glad to have access to this website. The standards of the new Alabama Course of Study are now so specific that I sometimes find them hard to follow. ALEX makes it very clear what the standards mean and for what subjects they are meant for. Using ALEX in my classroom when I begin to teach will help me stay on track with what I am responsible for teaching my class.
Lesson planning is very important for teachers. Being required to teach all of the courses of study outlined in the ALCOS can be confusing and difficult. Having example lesson plans for each standard will help me greatly in making sure I am teaching material that is appropriate for my grade level and standard. I am grateful for the creation of this website and I feel quite certain that I will use it often when I begin to teach.

My thoughts on ALEX

Alabama Learning Exchange (ALEX) is a website that gives people access to the different standards of the new Alabama Course of Study. In my opinion it is a very useful website because it breaks the standards down by course of study. Not only is it broken down by course of study, but it is also broken down by grade level. This saves time for someone who is looking for a specific standard for a certain grade because you get to choose what you are looking for.
Also provided on this website are links to other helpful resource websites dealing with the Alabama Course of Study. Having all of these websites located in one place is a very good thing for teachers who do not have a lot of time to search the entire internet for what they are looking for. Lesson plans are a big part of teaching. ALEX provides example lesson plans for each course of study and each grade level. This is very helpful for teachers who might not know exactly what each standard is meant to teach the classroom. Overall, ALEX is a very helpful tool for teachers and I am very glad it is available for use.

Random Blog Post

so, this is my random blog for the day! I am looking forward to taking a nap in about 2 hours, other than that, I have nothing to say for today!!! Thanks for visiting!

The Fisch Bowl

After watching this presentation I was quite concerned about the growing technology in the world today, and my own ability to participate in it. The world has changed so much in just 10 years and I, for one, can't even imagine where it will be 10 more years from now! I fear that I will not be able to keep up with the advances technology is making in all aspects of life today.
The fact that over 60,000,000 people used Myspace in 2006 is quite disturbing to me even though I am one of those 60,000,000 people. What happened to playing outside and doing things that do not require a remote control with a million buttons and an instruction manual. Technology is taking over the world and it is quite scary to think of what it might accomplish in years to come. I think technological advances have set the world at a faster pace and made it very hard for some people to even keep up. The children of this generation better be very well prepared for a world of computer generated information that will change faster than their brain can even process it.
I realize that I sound old fashioned but excuse me for being a little freaked out that a man-made machine will soon surpass the capabilities of that same man's own brain. Don't get me wrong, I am thankful for the knowledge of these machines and some of the things they have made possible, but I think without proper supervisions growing technology could potentially cause enormous trouble.

My very first blog post!

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