Blogs from around the world.

Here are some international classroom blogs I was able to locate:

http://2mgems.blogspot.com/

This blog comes from a "grade 2" class (6 and 7 year olds) in Brisbane, Australia. Their teacher Mrs. Marrinan has really developed a very impressive blog for her students. It is amazing to me that kids are starting to blog at such a young age but these kids really seem to enjoy it. They have set up their blog where they can chat internationally using a program called Yackpack which uses your computer microphone so your voice can actually be heard. They also have a map that points out the places where they are currently receiving visitors to their site. When I was viewing the blog there was a dot on Mobile, AL. This blog keeps the kids up to date on important information such as what they are currently doing in class, what is going on in their area, as well as important events going on in the world. It posts a "routine reminder" which lets the kids know what they need to be doing daily. There are many helpful links as well as video uploaded onto the blog. They just recently won an award for excellence in blogging and it is evident why. They really have done an impressive job.

http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=1337&blog_id=&listclass=15889

Here is a blog I found with an even younger group of students at William Grayson School in Canada. Mrs. Cassidy teaches a 1st grade class and has developed a blog detailing what is going on in her classroom. With such young children, this blog does not seem to be so much for the children to keep up with what they are supposed to be doing so much as the parents. This blog allows parents to see what their children are doing and what they should be working with them on. The blog also uploads videos of actual activities in class so parents can go inside the classroom. They do let the kids blog as well. They let them type out a sentence (which is riddled with typos, of course) then they type what it is meant to say under it. It is a great way to begin getting children to begin learning skills that will be so important as they grow older. They won't have to go through a difficult assimilation stage as they get older because they are doing it now.