I am relatively new to the blogging world, although not a newbie to journaling. I have volumes and volumes of diaries, that I have been writing since I am 11 years old. Blogging seems just a natural extension for me.

I believe that in order to get your students interested in anything you need to make it relavant to them and to their lives.This is especially true for elementary school students who mostly still lack the “bigger picture” (whatever that might mean). I can make something relevant for my students (4-12 year olds)when I can personalize it for them. That could be including a favorite character from TV or books they are familiar with, tell them a story about people in our school community, or simply tell them experiences that I had when I was their age and comparing differences and similarities to their lives in the United States with lives in countries of the target language. I have talked and talked to my students about my trips to Argentina, brought them back pictures, video clips and treats to share in the classroom.

This year wanted to keep in touch with them during summer break with a blog, so they could follow along. I think travel blogs can serve a great purpose for foreign language teachers and aid in cultural studies in the classroom. Of course any teacher can use travel blogs, created by someone else, but I believe the effect will be different for the students if they see their teacher standing in front of a landmark, such as Machu Picchu or the Louvre, or, or, or…, rather than looking at a picture in a book.

Travel blogs can serve as many different tools.
They can be an electronic scrapbook, a diary and timeline of the trip, photo and video album and even a messaging system to stay in touch with your students.

I have searched the web for other teachers who have used travel blogs as an instructional tool, but was not able to come up with many sources.

How can a teacher involve his/her students on a different level to bring culture and experiences closer to home when he/she is traveling?

Technorati Tags:
langwitches, travelblogs, travel, classroom, culture, foreign language

Filed in: langwitches travel_blogs blogging education foreign_language

Posted: 9. July, 2006 at 9:25 pm. Filed under: Uncategorized.
Comment | Trackback