Mardis Gras MADNESS

In the life of Kirsten, Mardis Gras begins the friday before Fat Tuesday. The day usually begins early, not in the classroom, but at my boyfriend Timmy's house. There is generally mass chaos as his aunts, uncles, and cousins, all of whom are in town as members of the Crewe of Columbus, scramble to get ball gowns, costumes, high heals and masks together in time to make it to check-in at the Malaga Inn. Once the check-in chaos has ensued and all the bags have been dropped of, the day takes a smoother coarse. In a massive clump, we generally mosey around downtown until we find a place to get some good late lunch grub. After we are all thoroughly stuffed, the guys head to the civic center to get in costume, and the gals, and those of us who are still underage *sigh*, head back to the Malaga to bundle up for the parade.
This year, I had the pleasure of watching the parade with Tim's little cousin Chandler on my hip. I found that having a baby around during a parade is good luck. We caught more throws than anyone else that night,and all with one hand! After the parade, Chandler went to Grandma, and all the wives rushed to the hotel to get ready for the ball. As for me and Tim...well, we went to a little Mardis Gras Party of our own.
The rest of the weekend was spent recovering from the often notorious "Crewe Friday," and consisted of lots of sleeping.

International Blogs

This was quite a difficult search, but finally, I have found some international school blogs!
The first I came across was a student weblog for the The Architectural Association School of Architecture (weird name noted) in London, England. I thought this blog sight was interesting because most of the "blogging" is done with pictures instead of words. These college students use pictures to display what's going on in the classroom. To find this blog, CLICK HERE.

Class Blogs

The first blog site I found was run by third, fourth, and fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Sanborn. Her blog page consisted of a main page that featured five student blogs. The blogs were focused on classroom activities, and written with precise detail and description. Each student did not have their own page, so it appears that the students take turns having their blogs posted. To find this blog, CLICK HERE.



The second blog I found was run by a first and second grade teacher, Mrs. Cassidy. This blog had a main page with liks to each student's individual blog. Each student had fifteen + blogs to their name ranging from subkect matter having to do with school, to family and extracurriculer activities. The main page, as well as the student's blogs, had many pictures and graphics. It also had a number of interactive features that would be great for parents to use to see what rhier kids have been up to. I was very impressed with these first and second graders! To find this blog, CLICK HERE.

A Blog About Blogging

While getting into the swing of blogging, I was most surprised by the enjoyment I got out of reading everyone Else's blog. I am intrigued by the ability to not only see what my classmates have to say, but also people from other classes. It is inspiring to me as a blogger to see the blogs of other people, and inspires me do do more of my own blogging. Some of the most interesting blogs I have seen have been political. In a world that is so saturated with the ideals and opinions of the mainstream media, it is refreshing to hear the views of local people who are my age. It is also nice because we have the ability to directly respond to other bloggers posts or comments, and then they can talk back to us. I really like the idea of open communication between students.

I think that blogging is a great tool for the k-12 classroom. It gives students, most of whom are technologically savvy and social, the opportunity to encounter the classroom outside of school. It also provides a forum that can be guided with class-related prompts. Not only does this give students an opportunity to state their own opinion about class topics, but also to read and respond to the ideas of their peers. Also, because many students spend much of their free time on the computer, this may be a good way to peek their interest in writing.

While I believe that blogging can be a wonderful tool in the classroom, there are also some possible downfalls. Firstly, if the blog system is not structured in some way to coincide with the classroom, the children may very well get side-tracked. If the blog does not focus (at least for the most part) on classroom related material, it will not work effectively as a learning tool. Also, you have to make sure that the children's identities are safe on a blog program, to ensure that no online pr editors can find information on them through the blog account.