Steppin' Out

This first week of school has been very exciting--and VERY busy! I've barely had enough time to breeze through some of my favorite blogs (via my Google Reader), much less create a blog post of my own (how does CoolCatTeacher do it?).

I decided before school started this year that I wanted to incorporate blogs and wikis into my curriculum. And...well...all of my students now have a blog. They will be utilizing their blogs during the course of the year to reflect on what they are learning in class, to research and blog on specific topics related to business/marketing, and to comment on their own topics of interest (and each other's blogs).

I was really unsure of just how things would go, but aside from a few forgotten passwords and typos that prevented login, things went pretty smooth. In fact, most of the students have already made two entries into their blogs! I will be spending the next couple of days entering a blogroll into our class wiki (I'm not ready for 100+ students to try and get into the wiki just yet). Until then, I wanted to share a couple of posts that I thought were really good.

Each year I spend some time having my students introduce themselves to the class. It's a great way for students to get to know each other and an opportunity for me to learn their names. This year, I gave the students a specific assignment regarding their introduction (a lesson from Campus Chaos--can't find a website for them). They were to choose a color, a car, and a destination that describes their personality, then blog about it. Using their blog post as a reference, I had them introduce themselves to the class. There were a number of really good posts, but two really captured my attention.

From Desiree R's "One Step at a Time" Blog:

My name is Desiree Robinson aka (also known as) Dezzy by family members. I choose the color PURPLE. I would love a black Infinity going to the beach in Florida because I am very outgoing, and I love to have fun. And just like the beach I am open minded. The characteristics of the beach when some days its full of big waves, like me I can be full of energy. But the beach water can also be calm with small waves, and like me I can be calm and full of thought.

From Catie W's "Catie's Blogg!":

My name is Catie and I choose an isotope green bug headed to Hershey Park, Pennsylvania because I'm sweet and cheerful, love the outdoors and love to have fun!

Awesome, huh? I can hardly wait for next week--and the next--and the next...