Miss W. and her Smartboard

Wow about time for a total day of rest, feet up in front of the fire (cold here in Tasmania today) and let’s have a Kit Kat.  But no you say, you haven’t written about the challenges yet since day 19. Well I suppose I had better earn my Kit Kat (in fact it is a Cadbury’s Old Gold Peppermint chocolate I am eating)  Better for me than a Kit Kat.

Day 19 Respond to a commenter on your own blog This is easy.  I do it all the time especially if I have asked a question and they have come back with some great suggestions.  Being a newbie to blogging, every comment is useful in some way or another.

Day 20 Three links out  This was interesting; thought I would start with a link on my blogroll that I rarely go to, Mister Park, a soldier in Afghanistan who as a teacher of English is keeping in touch with schools in a blog. 

 I then jumped to his blogroll Are we doing anything today? and read about the disdain in which teachers are held in USA but how the reverse happens in France where parents are often looked down upon by teachers. 

Another jump in the blogroll and I saw Ms Frizzle.  I have always loved the books about her and her bus and the fantastic trips she takes with her class – no money involved there – so decided I would stop my link journey here.

But found Ms Frizzle had also finished her blog journey in 2006 and was moving to India as an exchange teacher so she ended with some great reflections from her and her science students. 

Day 21 Make a recommendation I often do this but kept having to ask Sue Waters how to make hyperlinks within a comment.  She sent me off to visit Vicki Davis and her post about hyperlinking and using HTML within a comment.

Day 22 Highlight a favourite comment  I have lots of favourite comments mainly because they are so useful to me as a newbie blogger.  But I really like this one from Anne Mirtschin because it has virtually nothing to do with technology, just a bit of personal chit chat, which I rarely indulge in in my blog. It also includes commentary on some of my student bloggers.

I just laughed and laughed when I read your first paragraph as I can just see it all happening!!! I agree that Lisa has been a great little activist and she will go a long way in life. One of your boys has been good too. I had enrolled for the challenge but as cocomment kept crashing my internet I gave up. So, now I just enjoy reading what everyone else is doing. HOpe we can catch up next week. Hope you dont have to buy another pair of shoes before it is all over. My kids do their own moderation as I could not keep up with them at all.

Day 23 What makes a great comment?  I think I might do a survey with the students in my class on Monday to see what they think makes a great comment.  At this stage of my blogging, a great comment includes something useful I can use in class or something to make me think more carefully about what I am doing using Web 2.0 in class.

Day 24 Comment on a blog written in a foreign language  One of my very first comments was from Spain, written in Spanish asking for me to participate in a survey with the commenter.  I had to use a translater to find out what the questions were all about and then write back.  Must admit, I could get the general idea of the questions without translating, having learnt French, German, Japanese and some other basic phrases in other European languages while travelling.  Also knowing the roots of English words can help with working out a basic meaning of a phrase.  But I still think I will find a French or Japanese blog to write a comment on.

Now can I take a break and eat my chocolate?