I think that these last C4K assignments were definitely my favorite. I like how there were two weeks dedicated to two great classroom blogs.
For C4K #7 I was assigned to read a post on the trail of tears class discussion video on Mr. McCLung's World. Since I am a history major this assignment appealed to me. I really like how Mr. McClung uses many different types of media on his website. I think that, if I decided to have a classroom blog, this would be how I would use it. In this particular post Mr. McClung had set up a video camera to record a class discussion. It was obvious that the topic had already been introduced. The students knew what they were talking about and they seemed very passionate about their views on the topic. My favorite part of the video was when one student made the comment to the effect of "The Indians weren't contributing to society so they didn't deserve anything." A second studend responded to the effect of "Well what do you do to contribute to society." I thought it was really cool that the students were so into the discussion. I also like how Mr. McClung guided the discussion but let the students do the majority of the speaking.
For C4K #8 we were again directed to Mr. McClung's world. We were told to go more in depth in the category in which our first assignment was posted. I though this was really interesting. Again I was able to see multiple types of media put to use. Mr. McClung links every posting to at least one category (even if that category is uncategorized) so that you can see all information that is similar to the post you are looking at if you want to.
For C4K #9 we were introduced to Ms. Yollis' 3rd grade classroom blog. I was really surprised by the quality writing on this blog. The writing you see on this blog is not just done by Ms. Yollis but by her students. They are very impressive for 3rd grade students. This month is Family Blogging Month so we were assigned to comment on this section. I think that is is amazing how the families participate in the blog. I kept seeing parents commenting on every post. I think that this is a great way to keep parents involved with their kids. Ms. Yollis uses her blog as a writing and reading tool which I think is a great application of a blog. When her students write on the blog everything they write has to be quality marerial or it will not be posted. I think that this is great because she is using this to teach them to write correctly and effectively. Ms. Yollis also required that any comments left by others are considered quality comments. This means that she will not approve any comments with spelling or grammatical errors. I think this is also great because it sets the right example for her students.
For C4K #10 we were again sent to Ms. Yollis' blog. This time we were assigned a particular child to comment to. I was assigned to Grace. Grace recently wrote a blog about her Bunny. Her Bunny is now her "mascot." She has had Bunny for 9 years-she got him when she was born. She had pictures on her blog post of Bunny dancing and playing the piano. I thought that the quality of her post-and the inclusion of pictures- was great. The first comment left on this post was by Grace's mother. Grace had mentioned in her post that she had gotten another Bunny just like the original and she was Bunny's sister. In her comment Grace's mother shared the story of how she got this second Bunny after her father turned around after they were an hour into a trip to visit family because a 2 year old Grace had forgotten Bunny. I thought it was great that her mother shared this in her comment. I shared with Grace how great I thought her post, and her classroom blog were.
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