• Mrs. Gilberts Class Blog
• Describe how each blog was used in concert with the classroom? Mrs. Gilbert’s blog showed assignments for the students and it showed pictures that went on in the classroom. Students could post comments on the assignments.
• Who is the audience for the blog is (students, parents, etc)? It is for both students and parents. Students can come on and see assignments and interact with the teacher and the parents can stay in tune with the class and what the teacher is teaching in the classroom.
• What was the purpose of the blog? Mrs. Gilberts blog is to bring together her class and parents. She lists everything that is happening and everything that is being taught in her class.
• Does it appear that this blog is still being used, or was it a sort of "passing fancy" for its creator that is no longer in use? This blog was in use for a long time, actually over a year but now it seems as though the usage has stop.
• What do you think about this tool? Does this tool (the blog) have potential in or even out of the classroom? Why or why not? At first I did not think blogging would help in the classroom, but after looking at how teachers are actually using them I can now see myself actually using them in my future classroom.

• Mrs. Carlene Gauley Class Blog
• Who is the audience for the blog is (students, parents, etc)? This is for both parents and students and to the rest of the world. The teacher welcomes everyone to her blog and is extremely excited about what her class has done.
• What was the purpose of the blog? To show everyone what has being going on in her class. It shows detail to what the students have done through video and student entries.
• Does it appear that this blog is still being used, or was it a sort of "passing fancy" for its creator that is no longer in use? Yes, this blog is currently being used and up to date on everything that is happening in the classroom. The teacher has even posted what took place today in the class.
• What do you think about this tool? Does this tool (the blog) have potential in or even out of the classroom? Why or why not? Again yes, blogging has potential in and out of the classroom. Parents are able to play an active role in the students’ education and the students are becoming well technology integrated by adding posts and comments on the blog.

7th grade -- Earth Science

My second blog that I chose from the list of K-12 blogs was:
7th Grade Earth Science http://bsds7thscience.blogspot.com/. This blog is used in concert with the classroom because it has trivia questions and videos about topics that were discussed in class. Students can use this blog to assist them in finding reference and generally useful websites. The audience for this blog is for seventh grade students. The purpose of the blog is assist students in learning about earth science. This blog is still is use because there are postings from August to October 20, 2008. These postings archive topics pertaining to earth science. I think that this tool is beneficial, but I think that this blog could be a little more organized in its setup. This tool has potential in the classroom because students can research information, classroom notes, and trivia questions that can assist students as a whole class or individuals in understanding earth science topics.

Kindergarten Blog

My first blog that I chose from the list of K-12 blogs was:
Kindergarten http://kdgroom102.blogspot.com/. I chose this blog because I was interested in what a kindergarten blog would look like and what kind of information it would contain. This blog exhibited various types of information about what they were learning within the classroom. I liked how this blog was setup; to me it was like a time capsule, because it started from the first day of school to various outings as a class such as McDonald’s Night, rock climbing; to what they were learning such as: how to write their numbers, learning letters and sounds, to how to keep safe while at home, and about buttons – how to sort them, count them, reading a book “Corduroy” by Don Freeman, and comparing the book to a video that they had watched. I think that this blog’s purpose was to be informational in general but was intended to inform the classes’ parents about what their child was learning within the classroom. I thought of this blog as an interactive classroom newsletter, because it has information about what they are learning and it also has videos of various activities that were taking place. This blog is constantly being used, because there are postings since the beginning of the school year to the current week to show activities that are taking place during that particular week. I think that this tool has potential both in and out of the classroom; because this is a great way that allows further instruction within the home. This blog is also a great tool for outside of the classroom because it allows "field trips" to be videotaped so that it could be a visual memory of what has happened throughout the school year, and to also show how students have evolved over time.