.In War Zone, Soldier Uses Blog to Teach
LA CENTER, Ky. (AP) — Sixth-grade social studies students at Ballard County Middle School know what time it is in Afghanistan and what the weather is like there on a given day.
The students have become acquainted with the country though Aaron Connor, a Ballard Memorial High School graduate now serving near Ghazni City, Afghanistan, with the Illinois National Guard. Mr. Connor answers the students’ questions through a blog.
Ashley Bodell, a teacher at the middle school who graduated with Mr. Connor in 2001, arranged the correspondence between him and Cathey Seaton’s social studies classes. Ms. Seaton set up a blog so all the students could contribute.
“Initially, I was going to have them write a hard letter,” she said. “This way each kid can do it here or if they have computer access at home. They ask questions and he responds. We’re putting in pictures of class activities so he can see different faces.”
A student, Logan Pickett, helped design the blog. He included a photograph of an ice storm in January and a local weather map.
Mr. Connor called Ms. Seaton’s classroom on April 30 and spoke to the students on speaker phone.
“We asked him what he does over there,” said Haley Bond, a student. “He goes on missions or trains people to be police officers.”
Breanna Jones, another student, wrote a report about the class project and mentioned the risks Mr. Connor faced every day.
On the blog, Mr. Connor wrote: “I make mention about our little shootouts not to scare folks, but because I want people to know that this is a dangerous country. People hear about ‘safe’ parts of this country. There is no such thing. There are only places with more or less a degree of danger.”
Mr. Connor, 26, will most likely be overseas until fall. His mother, Beverly Connor, a preschool teacher, said he had joined the 33rd Infantry Battalion because it was the same unit that his grandfather and uncle served with.
Ms. Connor said her son loved educating the students. “He feels it’s a very worthwhile cause,” she said.
NYT
The students have become acquainted with the country though Aaron Connor, a Ballard Memorial High School graduate now serving near Ghazni City, Afghanistan, with the Illinois National Guard. Mr. Connor answers the students’ questions through a blog.
Ashley Bodell, a teacher at the middle school who graduated with Mr. Connor in 2001, arranged the correspondence between him and Cathey Seaton’s social studies classes. Ms. Seaton set up a blog so all the students could contribute.
“Initially, I was going to have them write a hard letter,” she said. “This way each kid can do it here or if they have computer access at home. They ask questions and he responds. We’re putting in pictures of class activities so he can see different faces.”
A student, Logan Pickett, helped design the blog. He included a photograph of an ice storm in January and a local weather map.
Mr. Connor called Ms. Seaton’s classroom on April 30 and spoke to the students on speaker phone.
“We asked him what he does over there,” said Haley Bond, a student. “He goes on missions or trains people to be police officers.”
Breanna Jones, another student, wrote a report about the class project and mentioned the risks Mr. Connor faced every day.
On the blog, Mr. Connor wrote: “I make mention about our little shootouts not to scare folks, but because I want people to know that this is a dangerous country. People hear about ‘safe’ parts of this country. There is no such thing. There are only places with more or less a degree of danger.”
Mr. Connor, 26, will most likely be overseas until fall. His mother, Beverly Connor, a preschool teacher, said he had joined the 33rd Infantry Battalion because it was the same unit that his grandfather and uncle served with.
Ms. Connor said her son loved educating the students. “He feels it’s a very worthwhile cause,” she said.
NYT
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