K-12 Teachers Using Blogs in Other Countries

I found a blog that is made up of pictures and notes about what is going on in Mrs. Toa's First Grade Classroom in Shanghai, China. It is a great way to see what students are experiencing and studying in other countries. The cultures are different and that does seem to affect the curriculum some, but overall they have the same subject areas as the United States. Mrs. Toa's blog not only shares pictures and ideas, but also has links to many other blogs and websites that are interesting and helpful. I loved looking at all of the pictures and reading about what students are learning in other places. Also, she picks student authors for the week and they get to add to the blog. I think that this is great to include technology in learning and I'm sure the students and parents love seeing their pictures and work on the blog. Mrs. Toa also uses this blog as a way to communicate with the parents. Another thing that I enjoyed was the Flag Counter that shows how many times people visit her site and from what country they are in. This makes you aware of how many people are interested in what she is doing. I really enjoyed this blog and will probably continue to revisit the site for updates.













I found another great example of a teacher using blogs in his classroom. Gary Coyle's Grade 8 Humanities Class provides a great blog being used in New Delhi, India. He uses the blog to keep students informed about lessons currently being discussed in the classroom and special projects with their due dates. He gives reviews of the lessons that he has already taught and links to more information about each topic. He also provides a link to student blogs. Each student has their own blog and I was impressed by the ones that I looked at. They give their views on the topics and also insert pictures. I think that blogs are a great teaching tool and this example shows how useful they can be.