Best of 2007

The other weekly assignment was to visit the best-of-Fischbowl and review one of his blog posts. I chose the April entry-180 Days? He talks about the 180 days in a school year and how that time is or isn't used to give instruction. Some of the students said there isn't enough time to add more curriculum like the material in the video "Shift Happens". So he takes the students opinion into account and asks the question "Do we really not have enough time to do more?". I think some teachers get lazy on some days and just show a movie or something that don't lead to good instruction like he said. In this case, the class would have gotten behind in the curriculum. I think the students and the teachers for that matter need a break every once in a while. I don't think it's necessary to add more instruction and put that much stress and headache on the students. 180 days is more than enough time in my opinion.

Last Semester Student's Podcasts

This week's assignment was to listen to two podcasts from the students last semester of EDM 310 and decide if anything could be done to improve them. The 1st podcast I listened to was whether or not Facebook could be used as a educational tool. The 2nd podcast I listened to was whether or not Youtube could be used for educational purposes. I was impressed with both of the podcasts.


I wouldn't change much about the podcasts. They were pretty good. Dr.Strange and the students introduced themselves effectively and the facts and information they gave was really thorough. I might make them shorter if possible without excluding any major details because some listeners tend to lose interest the longer the podcasts goes on. Most people don't want to have to sit there and just listen to someone talk for an extended period of time. Another idea would be to make it more interesting by adding pictures or statistics. But overall, the students did really well.

My Presentation

International Blogs

The 1st International class blog I found was a class in China. It is the Singapore American School in China and the website is http://teachers.saschina.org/ahossack/. The teacher is Mrs. Hossack. This school teaches the students in China American things from writing and reading to math and science. In this particular class she's doing right now, she just met these students 100 days ago and they have already studied 3 authors, completed 3 science units, and 3 social science units. She has taught them to add, subtract, count, tell time, measure, etc. She will spend another 80 days with these students.

The next classroom blog I found is located New Zealand. It consists of year 5 and 6 students. The website is http://m3rbs.21classes.com/. It lists the students assignments and homework, interests, and learning log. Also, each student creates his or her own blog. It lists all the students blogs. The teacher is Mrs. Freeman.

Grade School Blogs

The 1st classroom blog I found was Mr. C's fifth grade class of Noel Elementary School. The website to this blog is http://mrcsclassblog.blogspot.com/. This blog was created to show his students how to use a blog and it allows them to keep up with their homework and grades. It shows everyone what his class is like. There is a live streaming video that allows you to sit through one of his lessons. His blog also compares his class to others around the world. There are plenty of videos and pictures that shows his class interacting.
The second classroom blog I came across is Mr. Miller's 11th grade English class at Branford High School. The school is located in Branford, CT. The website is http://millersenglish10.blogspot.com/. You will find regular information, assignments, and homework prompts related to his class on the blog. There are also links and other resources that may be useful for his class. Students can see their assignments and see when they are due much like the way it is in our class.