In 2015, I created a new blog for my students, McDowell Media.  For four years, my Advanced Language Arts students contributed to the content of that blog.  Although the intention and the focus of the blog varied over those few years, it provided a platform for my students to showcase their writing, collaborate and make connections with others. During that time,  I let Mrs. Caudill’s Classroom Connection go idle while I focused my attention on the new blog.

A few days ago I was exploring Mrs. Caudill’s Classroom Connection, reading old posts and reminiscing. As I was doing this, I realized how much I missed it. Mrs. Caudill’s Classroom Connection was created when I knew absolutely nothing about blogging and computers were just becoming commonplace in my classroom.  I literally had to teach myself how to manage a blog.  Needless to say, the blog received a great deal of my time and attention and the results were well worth it.  It provided a way to connect my classroom with the outside world.

My goal as a teacher is still the same-to showcase my students and to make connections with the world beyond our classroom walls.  There are new platforms, of course, (you can follow me on Twitter @LErdcaudill and also on Instagram @le.rdcaudill) but I have decided that this blog is the blogging platform I need to be using again.

Fun fact:  When I created the URL, I realized that “mrscaudillsclassroomconnection” would be too long so I shortened it to “mrsccc”.   I can remember being so proud of myself for being clever…my husband’s initials are CCC, so it represented a double meaning!  Yes, little things like that amuse me. 🙂

Feel free to check out McDowell Media, to see what former #McDowellstudentsarethebest were up to during those 4 years.