International Class Blogs

Well, as I said in last weeks post I found a great blog from a first grade class in Canada. The teacher, Kathy Cassidy, posts videos of the class applying different concepts that they are learning in the classroom. Also they have a chat pack where you can chat with the class live if they are near the computer. In addition to all of these great features there is also a class roster. When you click on a child's name it navigates you to their own blogs. Each child makes posts to there own blogs!! I really enjoyed reading the children's posts. What a wonderful way to keep parents involved with what's going on in the classroom as well as teaching the children a wide variety of skills that will be useful from now well into adulthood. I found this blog particularly interesting because of its wonderful features and because this is the age group that I think I want to teach. I have included a picture of a few of the children coloring on the first day of school(below). Also seen here the class is watching a pheasant being released into the wild(above)!! You can check out Ms. Cassidy's 1st grade blog here! Another international class blog that I found was a class of 8 and 9 year olds in Rotorua, New Zealand. This class is the first to go digital in their school and they look like they are having a great time on their digital journey. Some of the students work is displayed on the site as well as their own posts about different topics. They also correspond with other classes all over the world via their blog and also use live feeds to see and talk to each other. All of the blogs I visited had really great features and what a great way to correspond with other children around the world. Some children will never have the opportunity to travel to other places and meet people from other cultures. These blogs provide these great experiences right in the classroom! I could not get any pictures from this blog but check it out!!