Blogging a Hit on the Third Floor

By Nadja Anderson-Oberman

One post! Two posts! Many posts - each week! This year Jane Laties is taking on the 2nd and 3rd grade group, and has decided to create a blog for her class,Team Polar. They decided to name themselves Team Polar, because in past years Jane has taught kindergarten and first grade. Her group didn't want to be thought of as Jane’s group, and the youngest group in the school. Also they’re studying Antarctica, so the group name choices had to tie into that.

A post from Team Polar's Blog by Maggie.

   Team Polar are avid bloggers. With Jane by their side, in case they need help. On the blog, the children post pictures instead of  long entries. Usually they post short comments about the pictures. Jane’s goal is for everyone to be able to post their own comment by the end of the school year. The blog is on a Google Doc that Jane has shared with all the Team Polar parents. Parents can comment but can’t edit.

    On their blog, the kids can post anything school appropriate. With two new bloggers each week they’ve been blogging for about two months, and so far they've posted everything from pictures of the class’s pet guinea pigs, Oreo and Reeses, to pictures of kids presenting their summer focus projects. Sydney J, one of Jane’s fantastic bloggers said, “My favorite pictures to post are landscapes. I haven’t posted any yet but next time it’s my turn to blog I’ll post lots of landscapes.”

   Blogging is a job on Team Polar’s job chart, which they do in pairs. The blog helps the Team Polar parents get to know some of the children in that group. It also helps them see what their kids are doing in class, like the group living agreement, cooking, and writer’s workshop. The parents love seeing their kids posts, and learning about their classes and classmates. One parent, Elmeka Henderson,  is especially excited about the blog. “I love that the kids are the ones who get to blog. Seeing what the kids are doing in class is really cool,” Elmeka commented.