Blogical Minds

Kudos to these three bloggers!

Speaking of Harley

Speaking of Harley, you must read his post, A Home of their Own. He shares information about older dogs and also acknowledges how some of your persuasive writing pieces really helped him write his persuasive writing essay. It is a must read. Be sure to comment.

Teamwork works!

   by  WB - CMH 

Lani's Snow Adventure

Recently Lani presented at a conference in Ohio. I think you would like hearing the story of her trip back home. Here is an excerpt from her email to me:

You would have laughed last night I think.  I did after it was over.  We arrived home safely.  My Cleveland  friends decided to remain in Columbus an addional night but we decided to get back home. The downtown Columbus streets were a mess, not a good omean and I figured we were in for a long haul. Then we got on the highway and it was clear and just wet and very little traffic so we did just fine. A bit of snow coming down in a couple of places but for 120 miles, wet or dry road. Then 20 miles on the next highway were a bit touchy with snowy roads and about 5 different cars which had slid off or spun out into the berms. We traveled a two lane road east about 15 miles off the highway toward home. It was clear and wet and it looked like lots of snow.

We stopped to pick up Harley on the way home. He was absolutely thrilled. All the way we were wondering if we would be able to get in the driveway. I watched for drives where folks had just barreled out and didn't see any; usually you do. We got near our driveway and decided to try it so I put the car in second gear and gunned it; luckily we got in far enough to be barely off the road before we came to a complete stop with snow up on the hood even. I couldn't even open the door without pushing against the snow. You couldn't see the tires of the car at all and only the tops of the headlights. So I pushed the garage opener, trudged down the driveway (it was awfully deep!) and started the snowthrower. I did a path out to the car and around the car and then dug out around the doors so Harley could get down to the house. Then I did another time to widen the path so I could help Gus down the path. I have never seen it this deep. Once they were both in the house, I cleared enough for the car to get down the driveway and then I had to dig out the front end of the car. Finally I got the car out and into the garage and finished clearing the rest of the driveway and the turnaround so we could get back out. Came in the house (of course, I did most of this in the dark and it was snowing again) and just sat down and laughed! I couldn't believe how much snow there was on the deck (most we've ever had) and had to make a path for Harley.

What an adventure! Can you imagine? Have you ever experienced anything like that? Did you get a clear picture in your head when you were reading this post? Lani gave lots of details and made it interesting. Be thinking about some interesting adventures you have had that you might want to post.  Make it come alive for your readers!

Hop on over to Harley's blog and see his take on all the snow here. He's asking for your help to plead his case. Hmmmm, my take is that Harley is the "top dog" in his home! I think we would all agree and we certainly all agree that his blog is a favorite around here!

Educating our legislators!

Emmy and Johnny have completed all their podcasts, transcripts, and posts from the legislative appreciation session in January. Their blogs are good reads on each interview. Last Friday I emailed each of the legislators and pointed them to the student blogs. Here is an email I sent to Representative Roger Bruce whom Johnny interviewed. I sent a similar letter to each one that Emmy and Johnny interviewed. Here's a copy of one of my emails:

Your interview with Johnny at the GSU Legislative Appreciation Night

Dear Representative Bruce,

My name is xxxxxx. I was the teacher who was with the group of fifth grade students at the Georgia Legislative Appreciation night this past January at the Georgia Freight Depot . My name tag read Mrs. C as that is my research name for the

Georgia

State

research project we are studying with this elementary school.. That night you were kind enough to let one of the students interview you.  His name was Johnny.

These students have been using blogging to learn new literacies and share what they are learning with others. Interviewing legislators was the hit of their night. I told the children that I would email each of you who were interviewed and send a link to the post, podcast, and transcript that they included in their blog where they shared the evening’s experience.

If you would like to respond to their post you can do so by clicking on the comment right under their blog post about the interview with you. Then all you have to do is type in your name, email, and url of your web site. The url is optional. Then you type in your response in the comment box and then click ‘Post’.

Thank you for caring about and making a difference in the lives of

Georgia

students.

Here is the link to Johnny’s post:

http://itc.blogs.com/mind3/2007/01/interview_with__1.html

Here is the link to Johnny’s blog:

http://itc.blogs.com/mind3/

If you have any questions you can email me at xxxxxx.

Sincerely,

xxxxxxx

I received this reply to my  email from Representative Bruce.

This is a wonderful project that you have the kids working on. I enjoyed listening to the interview on Johnny's blog site. I was trying to figure a way to make it available on my web site. Maybe Johnny can help me!

 

Rep Bruce

This is  wonderful! Representative Bruce is being educated on the good use you are all putting to blogging about what you are learning. He likes what you are doing and has even mentioned getting Johnny's help.  We'll email him in class and invite him to our school! I hope he will come!  Congratulations blogicians! Johnny was your representative that night but all of you are doing great work!  Let the blogging soar!!

Hats off to these two bloggers!

Talking Tomato by Laura

Class Created Cat Purrs about Blogging

Let's celebrate!

You have been working hard and learning so much. Today is a day to celebrate! I know you will be off all of next week for a wonderful week's vacation. Enjoy every minute!

Today you will finish your persuasive pieces. You will do your new post that you have  created and everyone  will answer as many comments as possible. We are also going to try to visit some student blogs and comment on their learning.

And we are going to mix in a little fun with all this by learning some new tools- get ready to meet a talking squirrel, a cool cat, an amazing flower, a dazzling tomato, and an awesome owl! It's going to be a great day. Can't wait to meet up with you!

Blogician Express

Talking Blogging Squirrel