As I have previously blogged about, the global connections that my class has made through our 2KM Blog have been extremely rewarding.
This is the second year of the 2KM Blog and in that time we have had many global visitors, some of who have become “blogging buddies.”
One relationship my class formed throughout last year was with Mrs Yollis and her third grade class in California, USA. 2KM and Mrs Yollis’ class regularly visited and commented on each other’s blog and have even skyped together.
This year, Linda Yollis and I decided to create a more formal structure for our classes to collaborate and learn together. We created a blog called Collaboration Corner where we will work on projects together.
Our first project is the “Lunch Project“. Both classes will blog about what they are having for lunch each day and what they’re learning about healthy eating etc (we got this idea from The Smarties in Western Australia).
The Collaboration Corner blog has got off to a flying start! The students from each grade have been so excited to learn about what their blogging buddies eat, where they eat, where they get their food etc.
We have been posting and commenting regularly and there have been many rich discussions about similarities and difference of the two classes.
This project is proving to be fantastic in so many ways! The students are…
- opening their eyes to a world outside of their own neighbourhoods,
- learning terms such as hemispheres, time zones, continents etc in a very authentic way,
- developing a tolerance of others through understanding how different people live,
- learning about our Term One “Food” theme in such a rich and genuine way,
- improving their writing skills every day with so much authentic practice,
- using technology in a purposeful way,
- so excited to make new friends!
Click here to check out what is happening at Collaboration Corner and leave us a comment!
If you want to make your own connections, Sue Waters has compiled an excellent list of various class blogs that you can get in touch with. Give it a go!
Now this is what blogging is all about, connecting kids around the world. I love the lunch project idea. Simple to implement but I bet the kids learned a lot! Thank you for including us on this blogging journey!
Thank you, thank you, thank you. My class did some blogging with another class last year, in a fairly informal way. I wanted something more structured this year and your blog is a great model for me. Love this blog, great ideas!
@ Kelly – the kids are learning a lot and so am I! It is so interesting to see how people on the other side of the world live!
@ Cathy – so glad you’re finding the blog helpful! I enjoy structure too and it is working well! Let us know how you go with blogging.
Kathleen, I’ve poached your idea about lunches. Have you used VoiceThread before? It’s working really well for this blog – have a look: http://yorkfl.edublogs.org/2010/03/10/what-do-you-like-to-eat/
Thanks again for sharing your wonderful blogging ideas.
Cathy
Hi Cathy, glad you liked the lunch idea! Your blog is looking great! We’ve used Voicethread a number of times and it is a fantastic tool. We just thought we’d use Fotobabble for something different this time. Good luck with your project!
Hi Miss McGeady!
You have wonderful blogs with excellent resources! I really appreciate all of the hard work that you have put into these sites. Thank you so much for sharing all of this information! I’m very new to blogging so I’m just soaking up all I can learn from you! I’m sure you get requests all the time, but I’d love to collaborate on a project with you. I teach Technology to Young 5’s (pre-kindergarten) through 5th grade. My 2nd graders could work with you or you could use an older class as big buddies or a younger class so your students could be the big buddies. Even if a project will not work for you this year, any advice you could offer on our blog would be fabulous! Please visit us at http://edublogs.misd.net/techiekids/
I look forward to hearing from you!
Kelly Moore
Michigan, USA
Hi Kelly,
Thanks for your lovely comment! I’m so glad you’re finding the resources useful.
I would love to work on a collaboration project with you however I already have a few classes who I collaborate with so I probably couldn’t commit to another project. However, the Grade Two teacher next door to me would be keen to collaborate so feel free to stop by the 2KJ blog and drop them a line! The teacher is Kellly Jordan and the address is http://2kjblog.globalstudent.org.au/
Well done for beginning blogging – it is so rewarding! I will stop by your class blog now and leave you a comment,
Kathleen McGeady