Although we at LACOE’s Multimedia Services are just barely out of the gate with our own blog (and obviously, we obviously haven’t yet found our blog groove), what we can admit is that we know a good educational blog when we see one! (See “Notable Blogs” on the right menu.)

At any given time, you can “drop in” to see what her class is doing by looking “Mrs. Yollis’ Classroom Blog” (http://yollisclassblog.blogspot.com). She posts student work to allow an authentic audience for her students and to break down the classroom walls to share the instruction going on with her community–which happens to be international. Yup, you have to love the web.

Having collaborated with her for a presentation, Linda Yollis, third grade teacher from Chaparral Elementary in Las Virgenes Unified School District in Los Angeles County, personally exhibits a cascade of exemplary qualities as an educator. But her blog—it is perfection on so many levels—REALLY!

With each click, there are student videos and amazing thoughtfully blogged comments. (She teaches students how to do this, folks. She monitors all posts, too.) The depth of resources, which are organized by curricular subjects, is impressive indeed. Mrs. Yollis’ attention to digital literacy and assessment is a great model. It is no wonder that her site has thousands of visitors from nearly a hundred countries. She also has lots of cool tools to track this stuff.

That is why I am nominating Linda Yollis’ Classroom Blog for a 2009 Edublog Award in the category of “Best Class Blog” category. (http://edublogawards.com) Voting ends Wednesday, December 16–I hope you will take a moment to vote for this deserving classroom-based project.

Oh, for a bit of perspective for those we hear complaining that they can’t do cool tech things because they don’t have much in the way of technology: you might think Linda has an edgy array of technology at her disposal. Guess what? She does all this with one personal laptop and a handful of Alpha Smarts she won with a mini-grant several years ago from CTAP 11 (http://ctap/lacoe.edu). See what I mean about her? She takes my breath away.

Now set a timer to vote for her blog before December 16 (I’m thinking voting opens after the nomination closing which is December 8)—this teacher deserves a high five!