At the International School of Tanganyika we prioritize grade-level blogs. However, my fourth grade class were very enthusiastic about the prospect of building and maintaining our own class blog as a vehicle for reflection and communication with our community at large. It’s been a great process of students taking ownership of their communications and it’s been remarkable to see comments from their far flung families who use the blog as a way to keep in touch with my students.

 At Yokohama International School we had a big push for each class to launch and maintain their own blog. This was been supported by extensive professional development. Take a look at a copy of the class blog that we built over my final two years in Japan.

An amazing initiative of our Elementary School Activities at Yokohama International School has been the YIS Camping Club. We approach camping club as a true inquiry-based opportunity for students to learn more about camping practices, the natural world and themselves. Through exploratory processes, students figure out how to use campstoves, build tents, cook and of course climb trees, hunt insects and explore their world. Have a look at this archive of the Camping Club blog.

The tradition of the inquiry-based camping club has continued at IST and it’s been fascinating to see the differences in outdoor experience students growing up in Tanzania have compared to those in Japan. Have a look at the IST Camping Club Blog for more.