In my social studies class we have been using individual blogs to guide use in our research of influential people. Students were asked to pick one leader/influential person and record their findings in a blog post. This assignment was originally intended to be a 2-3 page research paper….but instead we used blog posting as means to make this assignment more relevant. Students were given basic guidelines to follow and asked to prepare a blog post….and the results were outstanding.

Blog posting is a skill that we have been practicing for a couple of months now and this was their first graded blog post. I have copied a post from one of my students (Logan) and attached it below to show what type of work my students have been producing in my class. Please feel free to give it a quick read and leave some positive feedback for our students.

Mr. McClung

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Nelson Mandela was born on July 18, 1918 in the small village of Mveso in Transkei, South Africa. Nelson’s father was the chief of the small village and his grandfather had been the king of the Transkei area, leading was in his blood. Nelson was just one of 13 children! All of which were from one of his fathers 4 wives.When Nelson was just 9 years old, his father died, from there he was taken in by another high ranking chief who gave him an education in civil service.

Mandela was the President in South Africa from 1994-1999, he was the first to be elected into a fully representative democratic election. Before his election, he was an anti-apartheid (sergregation) activist and the leader of the African National Congress. Mandela was a strong believer in the teachings of Mahatma Ghandi, especially in nonviolent resistance. Unfortunatly, on December 5, 1956 Mandela was arrested and charged with treason, he stayed in prison for 27 years! His greatest contribution to the society was promoting peace and non-segregation among his people.

“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”-Nelson Mandela

When he was the President, Nelson introduced a Reconstruction and Development plan which strenthened South Africa. Also, because of him many new schools in South Africa which helped to improve education. Before being inprisoned, he started the ANC– African National Congress which helped to protest apartheid laws and promote racial integration. In the 1950’s Mandela( who was a lawyer as well as a politician) and his fellow lawyer started Mandela and Tambo, which gave low cost representation to the blacks in South Africa.

Many of the choices Nelson Mandela made I think were influenced by his childhood and by his upbringing. I think that because he was segregrated from others, this made him more passionate about protesting apartheid laws. Also I think his choices were influenced by the fact that he came from a family of leaders. So he felt compelled to help his community in some great way.

The public, for the most part, was torn by either being on Mandela’s side or being all the way for apartheid laws. There were more people against his beliefs (obviously) and that was why he was thrown in jail. His wisdom and political passion have made a great impact, today there are many organizations around the world that are devoted to helping with social justice and global peace, just like Nelson was. Here is the link to the Mandela Day Foundation that is dedicated to making Mandela Day a global holiday celebrating peace.