Our commenting team is a very important part of the Student Blogging Challenge. They provide an authentic audience for our participants and offer the students support and encouragement.
We know how much students love getting comments on their blog posts!
We are currently building a strong team of commenters to visit the hundreds of students who will be taking part in the next challenge.
Are you interested in volunteering as a commenter? Check out this post.
Who Are The Commenters?
Before we begin the challenge, we thought it would be nice to introduce our commenters who will be working behind the scenes for the 8 weeks.
Commenters are involved in education either as teacher (active, preservice, or retired), student (past challenge participant), or administrator, coach, leader, writer etc.
Our commenting team leader is retired teacher, Sue Wyatt (@tasteach). Sue started the Student Blogging Challenge in 2008 and now works behind the scenes.
Commenters, Please Introduce Yourself
We’re now inviting our commenters to leave a comment on this post and introduce themselves.
Please scroll down to find the comment box.
You might like to tell us:
- Your name: Choose the name you’d like students to address you with — either your first name or Mr/Mrs/Ms etc.
- Your location: You might like to be specific about where you live or just tell us the country you’re from.
- Your role this year: Are you a teacher? Student? Administrator? Please share your role in education.
- Why you’re volunteering as a commenter: Or perhaps your interest in blogging or global collaboration.
- Anything else interesting about yourself: Perhaps tell us something about your hobbies, family, pets, or background etc.
- You URL: Do you have an educational blog? Feel free to leave the URL.
Feel free to end your comment with a question for our readers.
We’d love to see any readers (commenters or participants) go ahead and reply to any of the comments!
Example comment
Here is an example of a comment from Sue Wyatt. As you can see, she has used a greeting and paragraphs which is a sign of a quality comment!
If you’re wishing to reply to a comment, look underneath the comment for a respond button.
Replying is just a matter of entering your comment in the box, entering the anti-spam word, and writing your name (students should not write their surname).
Entering your email address is optional but it can be a good idea to enter your email address if you have one and then tick the box to get a notification of follow-up comments.
Over to you!
Time for you to leave your comment. We’re looking forward to meeting our commenters below!
Hello everyone,
My name is Daniel Adeboye from Nigeria 🙂 and I’m an Education Technologist. I’m very passionate about education and how teachers can effectively integrate technology into Education. I presently work with Educators and schools at all levels helping them teach effectively with technology.
I have been blogging (both personal and professional) for the past 6 years and I have enjoyed it a lot. This is my first time being a commenter in this student blogging challenge, however, I have participated once in the teacher blogging challenge. I became interested in this student challenge because I love to encourage new bloggers and writers, especially students.
I’m a Christian and a professional and I absolutely love teaching, writing and singing. I definitely picked up my writing skills from my Dad who is also a writer.
You can check up my blog page here at http://www.trystingedunetwork.com/blog/
@Danno4krist
Daniel,
Thanks so much for registering as a commenter. I hope you enjoy the experience and make new connections for the students and teachers you are involved with.
Hello everyone!
My name is Julie Calcagno. The students can call me Mrs. Calcagno. I am an elementary teacher in a suburb west of Chicago, IL. I currently teach gifted students in 5th and 6th grade, who come to me once a week from all over our district (11 elementary schools!). I have four classes, two at each grade level. Our classroom is different from the general education class, as my students don’t learn by subject, but through in-depth units on topics such as survival, CSI/Forensics, 7 Wonders, and Business/Inventions. It is so much fun!
My students are doing the challenge for the first time this year. I decided to have them participate because this opportunity to connect with others around the world is a great authentic learning experience! I wanted to be a commenter so that I could give back to the challenge and also learn about students from around the world.
We are looking forward to all the challenges. We definitely need these connections now more than ever!
Hi Julie,
Thanks for getting your students and some of your other teachers involved in the challenge. Make sure your students visit the weekly link for participants work and leave lots of great comments on other blogs – they will need to leave a URL too in their comment if they want other students to visit them back. Would be best if the class URL eg https://blog.seesaw.me/thurs6th/#!/
Hello All —
My name is Teri Young, and I live in Hamilton, Ohio — USA. You can call me Teri or Miss Teri.
I am a rookie volunteer commenter. I’m a parent volunteer for the makerspace at Queen of Peace School (pre-K through 8th grade). Blogging falls into the technology category, and we are looking to expand opportunities for students beyond 3d printing and coding. I know ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about blogging, so I’m very excited to learn from everyone.
My paying job is as a hospital pharmacist. I work 3rd shift — 7 nights on and 7 nights off. I’m married and have a son in high school. We have a dog, 5 cats, and a box turtle for pets.
I also volunteer as a catechist for our parish religious education program on Sundays. This year I have 6th grade, but our classes have been suspended through Easter due to the coronavirus.
I like reading, playing golf, following sports, and spending time with friends.
Hi Teri,
Thanks so much for volunteering at something else in your busy life. I hope you enjoy the challenge and perhaps next time it is run, we will have students in your MakerSpace taking part.
Small world! I am from Circleville, Ohio, but am currently a pre-service teacher at Miami University in Oxford! I’m a senior so I’m near the finish line! This is my second time commenting for the blogging challenge, and I enjoyed it the first time around! I think you’ll find some great options for how to use blogging in the classroom!
Hannah Caudill
Hi, Teri!
I just saw your posting, and I had to respond, because my brother-in-law and sister-in-law live in Hamilton, Ohio! I have been there to visit, and it is a nice town.
I am also a commenter. I live in East Northport, New York. I am a teacher assistant in a school library, looking for a school librarian job. A lot of the interviewers at interviews I go on ask me about makerspaces. Is your makerspace in the school library, or somewhere else in the school? I’m guessing your son went to Queen of Peace School?
Kia ora, my name is Chris Meehan and I am a teacher at a smallish (167 students) school near Christchurch in New Zealand.
Today I am at home, as are almost all school children and teachers in New Zealand, after our Prime Minister and the government announced that as of tomorrow, the country will be in lockdown mode. This will be the norm in our country for at least the next month, so here’s hoping that what we are trying to do, will work.
Meantime, this wonderful blogging challenge goes on, so I am hopeful that at least some of the children from our class will continue to participate. We have really enjoyed the first week, and I am looking forward to seeing some cool stuff in my role as a commenter.
All the best to everyone = as we say in New Zealand: ‘Kia kaha!’ Be strong.
Chris Meehan https://rakau19.edublogs.org/
G’day Chris,
Thanks for encouraging your students to still take part even though they are in lock down. I am wondering when this might happen in Australia, but it seems like most of our state premiers are making decisions rather than the Federal government. At least living on the small island of Tasmania, we have a moat around us where we can stop travel from the other states.
Hello,
I am Purviben K. Trivedi-Ziemba, Mom, educator and learner.
I started Master of Marriage and Family Therapy program at Northcentral University recently. In 2023 we will have multiple graduation from high school, college and graduate school. Getting an A for my first class was exciting. Sitting on other side of desk gives me a different perspective.
I am looking forward to becoming Student Blogging Challenge commentator once again. It allows me to learn while mini-mentoring.
Best wishes to all of us.
Mrs. Trivedi-Ziemba, USA
http://trivediziemba.edublogs.org/
@TrivediZiemba
Purviben,
Thanks so much for being a commenter again in the challenge. Being a student is very different to being the teacher or lecturer – I found that too when doing a Diploma of Family History online at our local university.
Hi, my name is Danielle Bryce and I am the Year 3 Teacher at a school called Norbridge Academy that is located in Worksop. Worksop is the largest town in the Bassetlaw district of Nottinghamshire, England. Worksop lies on the River Ryton, and is located at the northern edge of Sherwood Forest. My class are so excited to take part in the Blogging Challenge. They love communicating with children around the world. Our current topic is Ancient Greece. We will be writing a lot of engaging stories, which you are also welcome to read.
G’day Danielle,
Would you mind filling in the form on this post as I don’t have you on my official list of commenters at the moment. https://studentchallenge.edublogs.org/2020/02/21/commenter-march/
Hi everyone. (Saying hello from Australia.)
I have worked as a Teacher Librarian in secondary schools for many years now, and promoted blogging with classes/students over that time. I have several older blogs, but only one currently regularly maintained, now that I have retired to continue promoting reading and great books. My main blog is http://crewsreviews.edublogs.org
This is the second time I’ve commented on the Challenge, and it may encourage me to get back to more blogging about other interests. I also find blogging great for an aviation group I set up with my hubby and other enthusiasts. I use links with social media (Facebook groups and Twitter) to cross-promote information on my blogs too.
I love living in the Blue Mountains for its beautiful environment (when not under fire threat), have travelled widely in Australia (mostly in light aircraft) but have been lucky to travel overseas as well.
I look forward to finding out more about others taking part in the Challenge this year, and hope everyone’s staying calm, careful and clever in looking after your health. Blogging is such a great way to stay in touch!
G’day Linda,
Thanks for registering as a commenter again for this challenge. I find it also helps me get back into the swing of blogging but commenting in particular, on family history blogs that I read.
Hello everyone. This is my second year on the blogging challenge. I was pleasantly surprised by the writing abilities demonstrated last year, and the various and colorful backgrounds of students.
I’ve taught ESL for 15 years and I’m now volunteering in a special needs high school, here in Australia.
Hoping to connect with teachers who may be interested in collaboration in the fields of political science, philosophy, academic English and research into self-regulated learning. Please visit my blog if you’re interested in sharing ideas : https://kayley2017.edublogs.org/
G’day Kayley,
Thanks for being a commenter again. It is fantastic to see that difference in writing skills from the beginning of the challenge through to the end. When some students do their audit in the last week, they often are surprised themselves with their improvement.
Hello from Leesburg, Virginia! I am a middle school English and Communications teacher who’s been blogging on and off with my students for eight years. For this challenge, as for the fall challenge, I’ll be blogging only with my Communications class, which consists of 10 talented 7th and 8th grade students. Like most other school systems, ours shut down this past Thursday. We’re going virtual this coming week, after we meet (either in person or over our devices) to figure out how to best deliver instruction.
This time around, my Communications class is especially interested in connecting with other classes from across the country–and around the globe. We’d like to meet up virtually with students our ages (12-15) or younger. If you’d like a flash of comments to land on your students’ blogs–and would be willing to do the same, let’s connect. Here’s my current class blog: https://blogs.lcps.org/rombachravenrockstars/. Leave me a comment!
I do love to write…and hope to use some of this downtime to reignite some personal writing and blogging. I’m a career switcher who was a writer/promotions manager in the publishing field before staying at home 13 years to raise five kiddos, now ages 17-26. My 22-year-old is currently in Iceland, and we’re hoping his scheduled flight takes off tomorrow, and he’s back stateside soon.
Stay safe, practice social distancing, and be a relentless hand washer. Here’s to blogging and commenting together in the weeks ahead!
We’re all together in this,
Martha Rombach
G’day again Martha,
Thanks for being a commenter again this challenge. Also thanks for mentioning a new avatar creator that I have now just added to the Symbaloo.
Hello, all. Greetings from Egypt. I am the middle and high school librarian at Cairo American College. We are a prek-grade 12 American international school – and as of about 5 minutes ago, we are officially closed to students and kicking off our online learning plans. We’re hoping to open back up in April.
A little about me. I’ve been an expat teacher for about 25 years. During that time, I’ve taught grades 2 to 4, been a PYP coordinator, the school’s blogging coordinator, an elementary librarian and now the secondary and head librarian.
I kept a personal blog for about 10 years that was very satisfying, and a professional one for about 7. I have to say that with the advent of microblogging, my regular blogging has tapered off, but perhaps being a commenter on this challenge will jumpstart my blogging powers again. This is my second time around as a commenter.
Hope everyone is staying safe and healthy. Wash those hands!
Cheers,
Josianne
G’day Josianne,
Thanks for being a commenter again on the challenge. Did your school prepare a lot for going online or did you already teach some classes that way?
Hi. We started thinking about distance learning when we heard of school closures spreading outside of China. We’re a Google school, so we had all the tools really. We were able to have a test run one day when a bad storm that was forecast had the Egyptian government closing all schools. It never rains here and when it does, the sewers can’t handle it.
So, we were ready for distance learning when we closed, one week ahead of the Egyptian’s government closure of all schools and universities. We are now on our scheduled spring break and will start up again next week. That will be the second week of the Egyptian closure and it looks like the closure will be extended another 2 weeks.
Hello Everyone!
My name is Mrs. Ruffing and I have been a blogging challenge commenter several times. I love reading posts of students around the world and finding out what their learning experiences and daily lives are like. Although I don’t really have my own class to blog with this year, I have opened my class blog to some current sixth graders so they could try out blogging. Some of them were in my class as fifth graders and already had some experience. The class blog is cougarcraft.edublogs.org.
I have been a teacher for 45 years (eek!) and I have taught almost every subject. For the last 20 years I have been in instructional technology in eastern Pennsylvania, USA. I really enjoy helping teachers with technology integration and also sometimes co-teaching with them. I have 3 grown up kids and my 5th grandchild will be born at the end of May.
I can’t wait to read all the wonderful posts that will be submitted!
G’day Pat,
Thanks for your help as a mentor and commenter over the last few years. What is your role at your school this year?
Hello Sue,
My official title is “technology integration specialist” and when this school year began I never expected to end up helping teachers learn techniques for remote learning that, sadly, so many of us are dealing with these days. But we are resilient and will do whatever we need to do for our kids and for each other. Stay well!
Hi, readers!
My name is Mrs. Wohlafka. I live in East Northport, New York, U.S.A. I am a teacher assistant in a school library. I’ve been volunteering as a commenter for several years, and I really enjoy it! My hobbies are reading and playing the piano. My blog is mwohlafka.wordpress.com
G’day May,
Thanks for all your help with mentoring and commenting in previous challenges. Sorry the email had an incorrect link in it today. Have sent an up to date email just now.
Hello!
My name is Mrs. Christi Henry, and I am a 5th grade English Language Arts teacher from Lancaster, Pennsylvania in the United States. I share my life with my two daughters, my husband, and my two Labrador Retrievers. We enjoy theater, live music, and spending time on the Chesapeake Bay as a family. I enjoy getting lost in a good book and feeling sunshine on my face.
Last year, my students loved participating in the Student Blogging Challenge. They felt tremendous excitement and joy over receiving comments about their work from all over the world. It made me want to become a commenter this year. My students will be participating again this year, and I look forward to being an active member of their blogging community.
G’day Christi,
So glad you and your students had a great experience last year and that it lead to you volunteering as a commenter this year. With all these lockdowns and physical distancing happening around the world, lots of great books should be being read.
Hello everyone,
I am Mrs Barrett (@mrskirstbarrett on Twitter). I am an EAL Teacher living in Scotland. I have been a teacher for 10 years and just love my current role working with bilingual learners and helping them progress.
This is just my second time volunteering to be a commenter – I was introduced to this blogging challenge by another teacher that I have never met. We have used an online platform called eTwinning to complete projects with our students. I love eTwinning and the doors that open by learning online with others from around the world.
Looking forward to another blogging challenge!
G’day Kirsten,
It is amazing what connections in education can do – I have heard of eTwinning with some other European teachers. Glad it got you involved in the blogging challenge.
You might be able to give us some ideas of activities for a post about languages around the world – I would love to put together a post for that in the next set of challenges – hint hint Kathleen
Good idea! Let’s remember that for October! 🙂
I’ll try to remember too!
Greetings!
My name is Daira Ruta Morusa. I teach grades 2-11 at Ropaži Secondary School in Ropaži, Latvia. Before living in Latvia, I was an adjunct associate professor in Michgan for 8.5 years. I am signing on to be a commentator because I enjoy reading and writing and I think young people have so many amazing ideas to share. For this reason, I established the TED-Ed Club at our school, which is in its third year!
I was born and raised in Lansing, Michigan, USA, but my grandparents and parents were all World War II refugees from Latvia. I have dual citizenship (Latvian and American) and in my family, we only spoke Latvian and maintained the Latvian culture as much as possible.
My own family and I have been living in Latvia now for three years, but my aging parents, who are still in America, are doing quite poorly. They need help and so that will probably be my next job. I love living in Latvia. I feel whole here. It is challenging for my teenager, though, who was born and raised in the US. This has been a huge experience for her.
I have three cats (Anybody want one?) whom we rescued here in Latvia. They spend most of their time outdoors and only come in at night to cuddle. I am vegan and I love it!
If you have never been to Latvia, I seriously recommend it. Where else can you live next to a castle or the ruins of one? There is so much beautiful nature here that hasn’t yet been destroyed by industry. I look forward to meeting and reading your blogs!
This is our primary url: https://morussda.edublogs.org I am excited that you will get to read the opinions of my awesome students. Besides being intelligent and cool, they are all really nice people, too! Thanks!
G’day Daira,
Welcome to the challenge! I think this is the first time we have had a class from Latvia take part. How did you find out about the challenge?