Blogging challenge helpers
Having run three blogging challenges and having more and more participants each time, I find it fairly hard to keep up with all the commenting. I try to comment when the student or class joins the challenge, then at least three other times throughout the challenge.
So Sue Waters from The Edublogger put out a call for commenting helpers. She has allocated each helper with 5 class blogs and about 10 student blogs. This will mean every class and student will have a visitor at least once a week, if not more often. All helpers will be either a teacher, a student, a pre-service teacher or a blogger related to education. Sue or I will have checked out their blog before allocating them to class and student blogs.
If you are interested in being a helper with the commenting, please drop by The Edublogger leaving your name and the URL of your blog. Sue has included some hints and tips about leaving comments and email addresses to contact either her or myself if you have any queries.
We are asking each helper to comment back on this post and to leave a little blurb about themselves so you can come here to find out about your helper.
September 14, 2009 @ 7:56 pm
Hi all,
I’m Graeme Bennett, and I’m a teacher in a little town called Camperdown, in rural Victoria, Australia. My Year 5 & 6 students entered the world of blogging in June for the first time, and we’ve been on a steep learning curve ever since! We have now reached a point where we would like to visit other student and class blogs, and improve our commenting skills.
I’m really excited to be a part of the Student Blogging Challenge, and I’m really looking forward to visiting lots of blogs, and learning lots!
You’re most welcome to drop by our class blog at: http://misterb.globalstudent.org.au/
Cheers,
Graeme (aka MisterB)
[Reply]
September 15, 2009 @ 3:46 am
Hi all
My name is Janet Bianchini and I have been a teacher of English as a Foreign Language for quite a long time. I have been having a bit of a break for the past year and learning about Web 2.0 tools and integrating technology into the classroom. I have been blogging for less than a year and still feel I have lots to learn.
I have never had a class blog or organised student blogs, so I am really keen to see what your blogs are like and look forward to reading all your contributions and learning from you!
I love blogging and feel it has opened up a new, exciting world of sharing information and communicating with others from all over the globe.
You are most welcome to drop by Janet’s Abruzzo Edublog at
http://civitaquana.blogspot.com
All the best
Janet
[Reply]
September 15, 2009 @ 8:57 am
Hello
I’m teacher-librarian at Mossgiel Park Primary School in Endeavour Hills, a school of 420 students in outer south eastern Melbourne. We’ve been developing blogging as a major strategy for student engagement and are (starting to) develop student skills in making high quality comments – more than just the yay-hurray stuff we often see around. The URL above is my library blog, but there’s also our school blog http://mossgielparkps.globalteacher.org.au/ which has links to all the class blogs developed so far.
(And Graeme Bennett (above) if you want to drop me a line, maybe we can set up a long term connection – check out the Y5/6 reviews http://mppsliblog.edublogs.org/2009/08/20/book-reviews-from-56dw-coming-soon/which I have been doing as an action research project and feel free to get your students commenting if you like.)
[Reply]
September 15, 2009 @ 1:01 pm
Hello
I’m an English, History and ICT Teacher at St Philip’s Christian College in Port Stephens, NSW Australia. Our school has around 700 students in Kinder to year 12. I’ve been developing blogging with my Yr 9 and Yr 10 English and History classes in 2009 and my 9/10 Information and Software Technology class is part of this blogging challenge. You’re most welcome to have a look at their class blog http://mswilliamsist.edublogs.org and you’ll find that they each have their own blogs listed in the blog roll on our class homepage, so why not visit these as well?
I am looking forward to meeting you online soon and I really hope you learn a lot about how useful blogging can be for making learning much more fun!
lgw
[Reply]
September 15, 2009 @ 7:33 pm
Hi everyone,
My name is Cathy-Anne Scott, I am a 2nd year pre-service, primary school teacher. I live in Brisbane, Australia with my husband and 3 boys. I am relatively new to the world of blogging, having only recently started experimenting with my own blog http://jamavon.edublogs.org/ (a blog in progress). I am really excited to be part of this blogging challenge, I can’t wait to see the amazing creativity, ideas and passions of young people!
[Reply]
September 15, 2009 @ 9:59 pm
Hi everyone.
I’m a Year 6/7 classroom teacher & Learning Technologies Coordinator in Adelaide,
South Australia. This is my 2nd year using a blog with students, but my 1st year with students having their own blogs. It has been a positive learning experience for all of
us. My students love blogging and have learned a lot whilst visiting other class and
student blogs.
[Reply]
September 16, 2009 @ 3:38 am
Hello,
I’m an Instructional Technology Specialist at Armstrong Atlantic ETC in Savannah, GA. We work with five school districts to integrate technology into classroom instruction. We provide training to teachers and students on integrating technology We recently shared with teachers how to use blogs in their classroom. I am really excited about the learning from others on how to use blogs with students and teachers. Here are two examples of blogs that have been created by teachers during training sessions, http://mrsmithsclass.edublogs.org/ and http://mlaboy.edublogs.org/. This is a blog that I created for training purposes… http://techteachers21.edublogs.org/
[Reply]
September 16, 2009 @ 6:09 am
Hello blogging world,
My name is Ms Burton and I teach English I in New Orleans, LA. My school houses about 1200 students. The freshman and sophomore classes have computers to use for class so I have taken every single technology course available so that I can do wonderful things with them on the computer. This will be our first real blogging experience and I am up for the challenge. (I only hope that they are as well)
I have come a lonnnng way in a short time. This time last year I had lots of accounts that I did not know what to do with, and now I have 2 Twitter accounts, 7 Ning memberships, 3 Edmodo classes, 3 epal classes, 30 wikis, 5 blog pages and a partridge in a pear tree. I believe in diving into things head first and have done so by incorportating as much technology into my classes as possible. I look forward to working with you all. My class wiki can be found at http://msburtonisonline.pbworks.com. It is always a “work in progress.” Feel free to check it out.
[Reply]
September 16, 2009 @ 1:07 pm
Hi, I’m Greg Stevens and I teach junior kindergarten through fourth grade computer classes in St. Louis, Missouri. Our fourth graders are using personal blogs which are private, and also sharing a class blog which is public http://blogs.micds.org/rbs4th/ I’ve taught computer classes in the same room at the same school for 16 years. While I’m not the most progressive computer educator / instructional technology specialist, I do have a wealth of experience in the field. The blogging movement of the past few years is very exciting, and the interaction between students seems to be motivating. I look forward to seeing how long our students can sustain blogging their own writing and commenting on other student writing; I’m hopeful that this is a real benefit to them as writers, communicators, and collaborators. Thanks very much for this wonderful list of class and student blogs. We’ll definitely be visiting, reading, and leaving comments.
Sincerely,
Greg Stevens
[Reply]
September 17, 2009 @ 12:12 am
I have a bit of an unusual job in that I am a teacher who has no class to teach. At the moment I work with special education teachers in making online resources for teachers in Western Australia. (It is a log in website so won’t post url here.) We have just started using online forums so participating in the blogging challenge will be a great opportunity for me to develop my facilitation skills and encourage students in their blogs. Before this job I was a specialist teacher for students with learning difficulties such as dyslexia, dysgraphia and dyspraxia. When I first started out I was a science teacher in high schools and have maintained a keen interest in science.
I am have been using Twitter for a few months and learning heaps about online learning through those that I follow. My Twitter name is SuzetteI. I have had a go at setting up a blog but have not really found my voice yet. My blog can be found at http://onlinelearning-suzette.blogspot.com/
Regards,
Suzette
[Reply]
September 17, 2009 @ 4:53 am
Hi, I am Karen Henchy and I teach Computer and Art classes in a catholic school in Warwick, RI. We have a small student population of 245. I have been teaching here for 14 years. I am relatively new to blogs, last year was my first year using a blog and I am still learning. I am really excited to see how others are using blogs with their students, and really excited to be a part of this experience!
Karen Henchy
[Reply]
September 17, 2009 @ 5:25 am
I work as an Instructional Technology Facilitator at a preK-6th school in Los Angeles, CA. We are slowly embarking on blogging at school. Before this position, I taught fifth grade language arts. I am an avid reader and writer, and I love encouraging students to publish.
[Reply]
September 17, 2009 @ 7:37 am
I am Mrs. Poulin, a kindergarten teacher from Southampton, Massachusetts, USA. My students are 5 and 6 year olds and are a long way from the kind of blogging the participants here are engaged in. I have my own classroom blog through Edublogs and it’s been lots of fun learning all the tricks. I look forward to helping students develop their own blogging identities and styles.
[Reply]
September 17, 2009 @ 12:48 pm
Hello Everyone,
I’m a classroom teacher (mostly 5th and 6th grade) in Elk Grove (south of Sacramento), California. Currently I’m supporting teachers and staff in technology integration. I’m very excited to be joining you as a co-commenter and sharing in this learning adventure.
[Reply]
September 17, 2009 @ 2:50 pm
Hello
My name is Michele Berner and I’m a teacher at Rowville Secondary college in Melbourne, Australia. I teach English and IT and one of my roles is to assist teachers in implementting ICT in their classrooms. My Year 7 English class has a class blog this year where all class work and activities are posted. Each student has their own blog where all their class work is published. The Yr 7 English blog can be found here: http://7eenglish.globalstudent.org.au. I looki forward to reading other student and class blogs.
[Reply]
September 17, 2009 @ 11:28 pm
Hi Everyone,
I am a high school librarian at an all boys school in Cleveland, Ohio. I am new to blogging – I have read a lot of blogs, have commented on a few of my favorites, but have never taken the personal or classroom blogging leap before this endeavor – I’ve created a brand new Book-Techie blog; it is truly a work in progress. My hope is that because of this opportunity to begin blogging in this supportive environment… that I will be able to do it with confidence, plus make some great friends along the way. I am so very excited to part of this global learning community.
Milena
[Reply]
September 18, 2009 @ 1:21 am
Hi Everyone,
My name is Fiona Beal from Cape Town South Africa. I am the computer teacher for Grades 1 – 7 at my school. I absolutely love learning new things in Web2. This year I thought I would introduce blogging at my school, in one class, in the form of a classroom blog with the students’ blogs linked to it, using Edublogs; and we would reach out to the community (and world) with different projects. It has been the most exciting time ever for us. (These blogging projects also won me some Innovative Teacher Awards in South Africa and Pan-Africa and I will be participating in the Microsoft World Finals in Brazil in November). That’s how exciting blogging can become! My blog address is http://fionabeal.edublogs.org.
I look forward to helping, and learning, in this blogging challenge.
[Reply]
September 18, 2009 @ 7:26 am
Hi, I’m Isaak Kwok. Formerly a public librarian in Singapore, I’ve relocated to Adelaide, Australia and am still looking for work within the library or education industry. As a public librarian, I assisted students in answering their enquiries and conducted information literacy workshops. I also conducted training on the use of social media in the library context to library staff. So, I’m looking forward to reading some of the student and class blogs and commenting on them.
[Reply]
September 18, 2009 @ 8:37 am
Hello
My name is Alyssa. I am a student from West DesMoines Iowa. My class and I are doing the blog challenge. Come visit our blog at barrettb.edublogs.org. When I first got on your blog I saw that your cluster map is full. Good Luck on the Blog Challenge!
P.S. Please post a comment on our blog, thanks!
[Reply]
September 19, 2009 @ 5:51 am
Hello Everyone
I am a Literacy Consultant in the UK. I work with schools and teachers and am on a mission to get as many as I can blogging.
I am looking forward to reading your posts and commenting and will invite some of the schools that we are working with to join in as well.
I blog about literacy at http://literacyresourcesandideas.edublogs.org
[Reply]
September 19, 2009 @ 11:19 am
Hi!
My name is Mrs. King. I teach Music, Computers and Gifted classes at a small rural school in southeast Missouri. My gifted and talented students will be blogging in the Student Blogging Challenge for the first time this year. I’m excited to see what other students are writing about!
[Reply]
September 21, 2009 @ 3:34 pm
Hi there
My name is Ann Coleby. I’m a teacher at a primary school in Sydney, Australia. I have a Grade 5/6 class (10-12 year olds)
My students and I started a class blog at the beginning of this year, and some of them are starting to blog on their personal blogs as well. We have had fun throughout the year finding other class blogs. Our most exciting times have been when we found red dots on our Clustrmap.
I found blogging quite challenging at first, but of course my students worked out how to do it really quickly.
We’re looking forward to connecting with other bloggers.
Visit our blog at: http://mrsc123.edublogs.org
[Reply]
September 24, 2009 @ 12:29 am
Hello everyone my name is Ms. Cahusac (a.k.a. Eagle Eye) and I am a teacher in a very cool classroom
Come check out the 5E Eagles in the Eagle Nest,
http://mscahusac.edublogs.org
We are a Grade 5 class at the Canadian International School of Hong Kong (CDNIS). We are lucky enough to be a 1:1 macbook school and Gr. 5 is the year that students get their very own computers! CDNIS is also an PYP school and our first Unit of Inquiry this year is How we Express Ourselves With Digital Technology. Needless to say, the splash into student blogging (and class blogging) has been exciting and wonderfully challenging. This blogging challenge has really inspired our class as writers and creators, and motivated us towards a commitment to achieving our personal best.
Thanks a million Miss. W and The Edublogger!
[Reply]
Gail P Reply:
September 24th, 2009 at 9:36 pm
Hello Ms Cahusak
I do believe I am following the blog of several Eagle students. Hope you enjoy the experience.
[Reply]