International Classroom Blogs

In 2007, Ms. Rachel Boyd used blogs in her room 9 classroom at the Nelson Central school in New Zealand. Her classroom has a blog from last year that is very interesting. This blog page has videos posted by the students in this classroom. There are also links to their class writing blogs, blog archive, podcasts, other classroom blogs from Nelson, and even more interesting links. Ms. Boyd also posts a video about why we should let students blog. You can also click on the link they titled "Our 2008 Blog" to find out what her class is doing this year.

A teacher from a Manaia kindergarten classroom in New Zealand uses the classroom blog to post pictures of the students at work. In some of the photos they are making good use of technology by working on kindergarten concert invitations on the computer. The teacher has also posted blogs about events outside of the classroom that the students participated in. This blog page also holds links to other blogs from the same school and elsewhere. The teacher has also posted other links that are of interest to the students.

U.S. Classroom Blogs

Salem Elementary School in Morganton, North Carolina has teachers who use classroom blogs. One teacher, Mrs. Putnam, has a fifth grade classroom blog that informs about what the students are learning in the classroom. I noticed that she posts the class homework assignments and information about future tests as well. This is also where the students can go to find the 50 states and their capitols if they shall need it as a reference. The students can also find other links that are useful and links to other classroom blogs. Mrs. Putnam also makes good use of her blog page by expressing how well some of her students are doing in her classroom.

Springtrail Elementary School in Carol Stream, Illinois also has teachers who use classroom blogs. One teacher, Mrs. Cindy Blakely, has a kindergarten classroom blog that keeps up-to-date information about what is going on inside as well as events that occur outside of the classroom. She has also provided links to educational games that her students can play to help strengthen their knowledge of the games subject area. Parents also have a link that can be accessed for further understanding of what their child is learning in the classroom and ways that they can help them in certain subject areas. Mrs. Blakely also has links to other U.S. and International classroom blogs on her classroom blog page.

Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators, and Students Statewide

The Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators, and Students Statewide which is also known as ACCESS is a program that provides distant learning to high school students. This program is used over the internet and makes use of technology. ACCESS gives high school students who attend schools thatado not offer advanced courses the opportunity to take those courses online. Students can have the feel of still having a teacher and a class right there with them through video conferencing technology. Amazingly, activities that are normally done in a regular classroom can also be done online.

Teachers have access to various resources through this program. Some resources continue to educate them and keep them up to date on the technology they are required to use in their instruction. Teachers are also able to use technology to educate students beyond their normal classroom setting.

Alabama Learning Exchange

The Alabama Learning Exchange or ALEX is a gateway to educational resources for teachers, administrators, and students. ALEX has a variety of resources that are helpful in aiding educators to create lesson plans, keep track of Alabama Course of Study Standards for their grade level subjects, and also enhance teaching skills. ALEX is an excellent tool that teachers can use in order to help their students reach Alabama Course of Study goals as well. ALEX also has seperate web links for students and administrators that help them enhance their knowledge of particular areas of interest.
ALEX works for educators in several unique ways. One way is to help a teacher who wants to find a created lesson plan that targets the content standards for a subject area he/she is teaching. When the full, detailed lesson plan is in view, the targeted standards are shown as well. Teachers can also create their own lesson plan that ensures effective teaching and targeting content standards. The Alabama Learning Exchange can be accessed at http://alex.state.al.us by doing a search in Google.
When I begin my teaching career, I will use ALEX as one of my resource tools. I will primarily use the sections that will ensure that I target content standards and use various learning styles in my teaching. I will also use the web links for teachers so I will enhance my professional development. This is a great tool for everyone to use especially for math.