When looking for a blog to highlight it’s very hard to ignore this one from Georgia. The regularity with which Georgia posts on her blog is totally amazing. Not only that, but her blog is so varied and well written it keeps dragging her audience back so they can catch up with what’s going on in her life. Georgia manages to post about school work, school events, the things which interest her and her family life. She’s had so many people visiting her blog in her first half year of blogging that she’s far exceeded anyone who’s gone before her from my class. The practical way Georgia has managed to use her blog to make great improvements in her writing has also underpinned the value of teachers using blogs in their classrooms. Well done, Georgia!
End of Term
Well, another term just about over, so things are probably going to go quiet around here for a couple of weeks. No doubt some of the students will keep their blogs updated (hint hint) so there will be plenty of interesting stuff to still catch up with. Have a great and safe holiday!
Blogging Task #8
This blogging task is all about reflecting on ourselves. We are half way through the year and it is VERY important that we reflect on our own performance and progress during our time in LA19. This task is all about YOU! Education is a long process and YOU have the biggest responsibility for your own progress and development. So, where do you think you are right now? How do you feel this year has gone so far? Write about your thoughts and feelings regarding your progress this year. You may wish to include some of the points below.
- What have you enjoyed?
- What have you not enjoyed?
- How have you improved in your learning and your personal growth?
- What do you feel you need to improve. educationally and personally?
- What are your goals for the rest of the year?
- What have you learned this year?
Gamers News
If there are any gamers out there wanting to know what the gaming world is like for year 6’s in WA then Tristan’s blog could be just the one for you. His knowledge of the gaming world is exceptional and his understanding of the technology required to get seriously involved is fully explored on his blog. If you want to know more then check it out and be ready to be genuinely impressed.
Interschool Sports
This week we competed at interschool sports with several other schools in our area (read Monika’s explanation here). The sports we competed in were: soccer (boys and girls) AFL, modcrosse and netball. To read about the events and the varying successes of the teams check out these links:
Girls’ Soccer here
Modcrosse here
Blog of the Week
A new feature that I want to introduce is “Blog of the Week”. The purpose of this is to highlight a student who is demonstrating an enthusiastic and positive attitude to their blogging. This award doesn’t mean that the blog being featured is the best one, it is more an award for effort, enthusiasm, dedication and talent in any particular area of blogging.
The first blog of the week is Monika’s blog. Despite being in hospital to have her tonsils out, Monika still managed to post 40 minutes before her operation. She also posted afterwards whilst still in hospital. This is great dedication, Monika. Pay this blog a visit and treat yourself to an informative, interesting read.
Podcasts
This is our second attempt at creating a podcast. This is just a practice, like the first one, but the students did so well winging it that I thought I’d still post it. It’s also to remind me how this process is done.
Top Bloggers
We are coming up to half way through the year and, as I usually do, I need to do a quick check regarding the success of the blogs. Well, on visits alone, using the Clustrmaps, this year is already a huge success. The most visited blog last year only made it to 460 for the whole year, whilst this year two of the blogs are already over 500. The two superstar bloggers are Monika and Georgia. We also have Tiana, Pharyn, and Holly fast approaching 400 visits. This means that I really need to raise my expectations and put a challenge out to see who can be the first to 1000 visits!
The standard of the blogs and the expertise of all the students have exceeded my expectations. The students are totally aware of what it means to maintain their privacy and remain safe online. It is very rare indeed when I have to correct a post because it has given away too much information. Also, the images, headers and backgrounds have all come from the students themselves or from sources which allow re-use.
In all, I am very proud of the efforts of the amazing students of LA19. They have exceeded my expectations of them in so many ways and have become a real credit to themselves, the school and their parents. Well done!
Blogging Task #7
This week you need to find the time to finish and upload your podcasts. This is quite a long task as you have to make sure it’s completed on the iPads, then upload it to Soundcloud and convert it to an mp3 on Zamzar before you can post it. I also want you to write an introduction to explain a little about your podcast first. Friday is the deadline, so use whatever time you can to complete this task. I look forward to listening to your great productions.
More Meccano
This term we started making Meccano models in class. If you want to know the rationale behind the decision to do this then check out my previous post, Meccano. The students have worked hard to move their models along and have had to overcome a lot of problems. Following the instructions has proven to be a fantastically worthwhile task in itself. The students have had to overcome so many problems, frequently referring back to their instructions, finding where they went wrong and dismantling the model to correct it. The teamwork, problem solving skills and oral language that has come out of this programme has proven what a worthwhile activity it is. I recommend it to all teachers!
Can you tell what it is yet?
Budding Engineers