What I enjoyed most about the blogging was that we could read each other's thoughts relatively instantly. Granted, we would have to wait a week in between each post, but our thoughts were readily available to each other. This immediacy struck me as I was finalizing my portfolio a couple weeks ago. When digging through my old school papers, I came across a pen-pal communication I had with a fourth grade classroom in New York. In my fourth grade class, we were required to research a state. I chose New York and wanted to understand how life differed for a fourth grader in Manhattan. In attempt to reach this goal, I sent a letter addressed "To Any Fourth Grade Classroom/In Any Elementary School/Manhattan, NYC." Amazingly, it worked. Some postman delivered my little letter and a couple of weeks later, I received a class set of notes, postcards, and information from students living in Manhattan. A few years later, I wondered just how much the lives of my pen-pals changed.
I'm not sure my approach to my New York research assignment would work today, but it was an indescribable feeling to receive feedback from these kids and build a network of communication. While it took weeks of patiently waiting for my letters, our blogs provided us such a rich way to connect to each other instantly. Hopefully, I'll update my blog periodically, and maybe some of you will as well. In the meantime, it's been a real pleasure to read everybody's posts. Thank you all for your thoughts and comments on my posts. Hearing feedback and discussing such important issues related to teaching was not only worthwhile, but also enjoyable. If only educators could collaborate in such a fashion regularly! :)
Have a great break, everybody! Stay warm!
Mackenzie
