How others use blogs!

My first blog that I found online was Mr. Cosands 5th grade class at Kennedy Elementary School in Medford, Oregon. This website was set up for the students and their parents to keep up with what is going on in their classroom. On their blog they have it set up where you can view their calendar for upcoming events and see the projects they are working on. They call themselves the DreamExtreme Class. This year on their blog they have contacted a school in Arkansas where they will keep in touch with those students and share ideas about the presidential election. This is a great idea for parents who are always curious at what their kids are going at school. Mr. Cosands also posted this classroom syllabus and what he expects of each child. You can check out this website at:
http://www.dreamextreme.us/Welcome.html

As I was searching for another blog I really wanted to find a blog from a high school, but when I came across this one I had to tell you about it. This blog is from a first grade teacher, Mrs. Phillips. She has designed her blog to be so interesting and just by the look of it you want to explore. On the side of her blog she posts a picture of herself and shares a little bit of history about herself to her students and parents. In Mrs. Phillips class she posts a blog everyday for her parents to read about what their children did that day in class and she also posts all of her students art work. On her blog she explains to her parents and other teachers that she will post a newsletter every other day so if they can not check it everyday they should at least try to check it once a week. Being a first grade teacher her page is set up so great. The students first week of school she did a couple of experiments to help the students get to know each other; such as, how many girls and how many boys, how many have brothers and sisters, when is their birthday, and so forth.
The excitement of their first day of school is all on her website, from developing reading groups to losing teeth. This gives me a great idea on how to set up my classroom and think about helping my students get to know a little bit more of each other. I would recommend everyone to check out this site. The website is:
http://mrsphillipsatmarktwain.blogspot.com