International blog usage K-12

I would not call myself simple minded but I never really take the time to think about other places in the world. When we were given the assignment to find an International blog I thought to myself, “Where am I suppose to find that?” The same technology we are using today in the U.S. is being used all over the world. Many teachers are using blogs as a way to stay connected with their students. I am so intrigued by the fact that people so many thousands of miles away are learning in the same way that we are.

I found a blog for a first grade class in an American school located in Shanghai, China. The teachers name was Mrs. Toa. She calls her students Toa’s troops. Mrs. Toa uses her classroom blog as a way to keep her children internationally connected in more ways than one. The blog displays maps and weather reports from many countries around the world. The main use of the blog is for students to be updated about the class. She posts all upcoming assignments so the students know exactly what they are responsible for. This weeks post featured a video and picture from their Chinese New Year’s Day assembly and she tells the students what a fantastic job they have done. I can tell just from looking at the pictures and her comments to the students that teaching is her gift and she has a very special relationship with her students. To check out Mrs. Toa’s class blog you may visit http://www.teachers.saschina.org/stoa/.

I continued my search for International blogs. I came across a blog for a combined 5th and 6th grade class in Australia. The teacher calls himself Mr. C. When I first clicked on the blog I could automatically tell that Mr. C was a fun teacher. The first thing I noticed was a letter to his students talking about how much fun the New Year pool party was. How much fun would it be to have a pool party at school? I do not think my 5th and 6th grade teachers even owned bathing suits. Apparently in Australia you are in 5th grade for half a year and then you become a 6th grader because he gave them a challenge for becoming 6th graders called towers of paper. In the challenge the students had ten sheets of paper and a few other materials. They had to build a tower that would stand by finding the weakness of the paper. He included pictures on the blog of the students hard at work. Mr. C uses the blog to get the students involved in the class in an exciting way. He does not just post assignments but also stories, fun facts, videos and gives his interesting point of view on each. I think the way Mr. C’s class blog is set up really has the student’s attention. I think everyone should take a look at this blog at http://www.562008.edublogs.org/.

I feel as If I learned so much from the International blog search. The whole world is different and we could all learn a little something from each other. No matter where you go there is someone with the desire to teach and someone yearning to learn. These blogs display just how much teachers get involved with their class. To me teaching will be more than a career. I love children and by becoming a teacher I am willing to dedicate my heart and soul to the students I teach. I hope I will retain some of the useful knowledge I gained from exploring these blogs and deposit it into my classroom.