International Classroom Blogs

Mrs. Freeman - New Zealand

Mrs. Freeman's classroom blog for her Year 5 and 6 students serves as a window into the classroom. Many of the classes recent activities are posted on the site. Examples of these are video and a slideshow of a program the students were a part of. Mrs. Freeman also presents questions for the students to respond to on the blog. One of the most recent questions asked what the term 'sustainability' meant. The students were encouraged to post their answers to that specific blog. The blog also contains links to the personal blogs of the students and also to those of classrooms in other countries.

http://m3rbs.21classes.com/




Mrs. McNamara's Year 5 Class -- Sydney, Australia

Mrs. McNamara's blog basically gives a recap of all of the activities her class takes part in. She takes care to include many pictures of her students and their projects. Her most recent post is dedicated solely to the picture story projects her students produced. The blog also presents the work of various students. Many of these posts are writing assignments and other small projects. The students are encouraged to write about fun happenings in the classroom as well.

http://mrsmcsclass.blogspot.com/

U.S. Classroom Blogs

Mr. Ambrose's 5th Grade Class -- Detroit, MI



Mr. Ambrose's blog for his 5th grade class provides a number of great resources for his students. The majority of the posts include links to educational websites that relate to the subject being taught in class. The most recent post has links to online games that help improve typing skills. An interesting feature of the blog is the topic overviews. Mr. Ambrose posts what the next unit will cover and links that the students can view. This allows the students to get a sneak peak at what will be covered and feel more comfortable with the subject. The other resources used allow the students to explore the curriculum outside of the classroom.

http://classofambrose.blogspot.com

Mrs. Julia Osteen's 6th Language Arts Class -- Atlanta, GA

Mrs. Osteen uses her blog as a regular part of her class. The students have their own blogs where they post responses to specific assignments. The most recent assignment required the students to write a short paragraph about their summer reading. The students are also allowed to write about topics that are important to them. Mrs. Osteen's ultimate goal is to nurture communication between the students in order to make the more effective writers.

http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=17192

The ACCESS Program

The ACCESS initiative (Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators, and Students Statewide) is a program that provides high-quality courses through the internet. These courses are taught by state-certified teachers. The courses offered in this program are available to low-income and rural schools that are unable to provide higher level courses or advanced diplomas. Equal access to course is given to all students. Since all of these courses are only available online, the ACCESS program provides computers and other equipment to the schools that have labs. A significant amount of money is given to every school in the ACCESS program in order to fund equipment and support to students and teachers. The biggest plus of the program is that students are given the opportunity to take courses that are not offered at their schools.

Teachers who take part in the ACCESS program have the unique opportunity to reach out to students in other regions. These teachers are board-certified and are given intense training to ensure they are capable of presenting the subject and helping students succeed. This is achieved by requiring that all ACCESS teachers go through training. This training not only covers how to run a distant learning course, but also how to operate the technology that will be used in the course. Aside from the formal training, teachers may also attend workshops and professional development meetings. Help with videoconferencing and equipment is also available. Teachers are compensated according to how many half credits they teach. These resources allow teachers to not only improve themselves professionally, but also to reach out to students they would otherwise not have to opportunity to teach.

The ALEX Initiative

The Alabama Learning Exchange, or ALEX, is a program established by the Alabama Department of Education to help students, teachers, and administrators with their educational needs. The ALEX website includes many features that all students and school personnel can find useful. For teachers, the website features detailed lesson plans and Alabama Course of Study guides. The lesson plans have suggestions for in-class activities to help students learn the material. Other websites are also referenced and have interactive games to reinforce learning. The ALEX program covers all academic subjects, including mathematics, art, foreign languages, and physical education.

Another helpful feature of the ALEX site is the web links page. This page offers students and teachers links to other sites that can serve as a learning tool. The ALEX site also has a separate section for teachers to establish web pages and a workspace. This workspace can be used to store lesson plans and submit lesson plans. There is also a section for professional development. Teachers can find development opportunities, learning tools, and recent news articles.

I believe that the ALEX initiative can be very helpful to educators and administration. The best way to improve schools is to provide teachers with tools that will allow them different methods of reaching their students. Administration can also use the site to help its staff be more effective in the classroom. ALEX also gives students the opportunity to take a proactive role in their education and find learning resources to help them better understand what they learn in class. I think that this website will offer me greater opportunities to provide effective and relevant material to my students. By continuing to learn myself, I will be better prepared to help students who struggle with certain subjects or need different resources for learning.