If Only The Best Birds Sang…

…How Silent The Woods Would Be!

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Hello and Welcome to our blog

‘If Only The Best Birds Sang’.

Let us tell you a little about it:

We hope our blog can:

 

1. enable family and friends to see

the work that the children do,

reflecting the variety of their interests,

and that which is important to

a group of primary school students,

using a variety of media and blogging tools.

 

2. give opportunities for the children to

access educational websites

and activities, relevant to their learning,

many of which they have already used in school.

 

3. help the children learn about

digital language and literacy,

their digital footprint and online safety,

copyright and etiquette.

 

3. provide information about aspects

of the primary school curriculum

and the work we are doing in class

for parents and other interested visitors.

 

4. communicate beyond our classroom and school,

to include family members abroad

and a wider school blogging community.

Click here to meet some  

of our ‘Blogging Buddies’.

 

Since September 2012

a short blogging and online literacy session

has been timetabled daily.

From September 2016

we have also been working on a history blog:

The History of The Grey Stones

so ‘If Only the Best Birds Sang’

has been a little quieter.

 

As work in various areas is completed

it is added to the blog.

In this way blogging is

an integrated part of our school day.

We have been very fortunate to

have Transition Year students

and others on work experience

work with individual children on the blog.

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Online safety presents interesting challenges.

Because no photos or video footage where a child

could be identified are included,

we try to get the originality,

character and personality of the class

across in other innovative ways.

(You can read about some of the ways

we do that here.)

 

Teacher moderates all comments

and encourages students to write

good quality, grammatically correct comments.

 

Our Twitter feed is a very important part of our

blog. We use it to keep in contact with the

‘Blogging Buddies’ we make. Teacher retweets

news and views and pictures that we can then

talk about in class.

 

The blog title comes from the longer quotation,

‘If only the best birds sang,

how silent the woods would be.’

(variously attributed to Henry D Thoreau

or Henry Van Dyke)

 

This reflects a wish that

all students would have

the self belief to join in,

in the areas of music, art, drama, sports

and school work

with confidence.

 

Certainly Teacher has observed

that seeing their work online

enhances the children’s self esteem,

 

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Thank you for visiting our blog.

Why not stay and look around.

We would LOVE if you left a comment

on one of our posts.

42 thoughts on “If Only The Best Birds Sang…

  1. Hi Merry Beau!

    I’m sorry I haven’t replied to you in a while. Anyway, This is very cool because it seem as if you and your class are very inspirational because you guys inspire me sometimes. though, I wish that you would post stories or something. And I wonder, If only the best birds sang, how silent would the woods be? I couldn’t picture that..
    Please leave a comment on my blog becuse it would be much appreciated.
    Sincerely,
    Milani
    http://blog.elanco.org/ly361/

  2. Hello again Milani,

    Thank you for visiting our class blog. If you would like to see the stories students write here is a link http://merrybeau.edublogs.org/tag/childrens-writing/ We really enjoy finding good pictures to go with our stories.
    Story writing is a very popular activity in school. What are your favourite subjects in school?

    With every good wish,
    Merry Beau

  3. Hi this is Emilee
    than you for the tips I will use them coming up thank you. I love getting more comments on my blog. I am glad that you like my work I have been working hard to catch up on my stories. Thank you. 🙂

  4. Hi Emilee,
    Thanks for you comment.
    Well done on all your blogging work.
    With every good wish
    Merry Beau

  5. Hello Merry Beau, are school has finally finished the PSSA, and now I will be on my blog a lot more. Thank you for commenting on my blog almost everyday! Sorry if I missed a challenge, but I was doing the PSSA. Well, bye for now.

  6. Hi Ashton, thank you for visiting our blog.
    I bet you are glad to be finished the PSSA.
    Our standardized tests only start on the 15th May.
    I hope you are not worn out after all that testing.
    With every good wish
    Merry Beau

  7. Hi, Merrybeau!
    Do you have an Anna in your class?
    May Wohlafka
    Mentor
    Student Blogging Challenge

  8. Hello Mrs Wohlafka,
    My class are not doing the Student Blogging Challenge this year.
    I mentored a super student called Anna this time last year.
    At that time her engagement was admirable. She always replied to comments with lively and interesting responses.
    I see you are her mentor this year.
    Perhaps this is the student you mean?
    I have been mentoring again this year. I find that with school assignments, Spring break and standardized tests it is challenging for the students to complete the tasks.
    I have felt in the past it is worth it if even one of the students being mentored ‘takes off’ and ‘starts to fly’ 😉
    With every good wish
    Merry Beau

  9. Yes, I mean the Anna I am mentoring. She hasn’t responded to my comments since March, so I was wondering if you had some other way to get in touch with her. But she only posted through Week 4, so maybe she has something else going on in her life right now.
    You’re right, it is worth it even if only one student being mentored “starts to fly”.
    Best wishes,
    May

  10. This has happened to me too. The students start off with the best will in the world, but other commitments can get in the way.
    With every good wish
    Merry Beau

  11. Hello Again,
    I had an interesting evening. I was at a meeting in the school. I hope you had a diverting evening too.

  12. Hi Teacher,
    It’s me Saorla.
    I hope you’re having a lovely evening.
    I’m looking forward to seeing you tomorrow for another fun day at school.
    Hope to see you soon
    Bye.

  13. Hi There,

    Lovely to hear from you.
    Yes I am looking forward to tomorrow in school too
    with the BEST class in the school.

    See you then,
    Teacher

  14. Hi Teacher,

    I have shown my Mummy and Daddy the blog and class website. They love all the songs and photos of the class.

    Have a good weekend, see you on Monday.
    Brianna

  15. What a lovely comment Brianna. Great to hear from you. I hope you have a very enjoyable weekend too. Teacher

  16. Hi Merry Beau,
    I like to say Thank You for commenting on my blog, I found it really fascinating that you come all the way from Ireland, I come all the way from Ohio; Anyways I found your blog very interesting and I’d like to thank you for those kind words about my father and I wish you and your Students the best of luck.

    Hope to Hear back,
    Mariel

  17. Hi Mariel,

    Thank you very much for leaving a reply on our blog. The children are very excited to receive a comment all the way from Ohio. We looked it up on the map.

    Blogging makes the world a smaller place,

    With every good wish,

    Merry Beau and Class

  18. Hi Merry Beau,
    Thank you for commenting on my blog.
    I’m bloging from all the way up in Canada, and think it’s fasinating that your in Ireland. Love your blog

    — Luca

  19. Hello Merry. Thank you for your comment earlier. I gathered a lot of advice from it. Where are you located in Ireland. My family originated in Cork. Your blog is amazing. Keep it. Feel free to contact me again.

    -Ben

  20. Ah yes Ben, O’ Sullivan is the third most popular surname in Ireland and there are lots of O’Sullivans in the South of the country in Cork and Kerry. Coincidentally, my family are from Cork too.

    Wishing you a great weekend from Ireland, Merry Beau

  21. Yes blogging makes the world a smaller place … and a better place. Have a great weekend, Merry Beau

  22. Hi, Merrybeau I enjoyed reading your comment on my blog and love your blog page. I love the font it is really cool. I love the Blogging Challenge and will continue to do it in the future.

    Sincerely,
    Cody

  23. You commented on my blog, and enjoyed reading and was entertained so I took an insight into your blog and was fascinated.

  24. Thank you for visiting our blog
    and for being complimentary
    and encouraging.
    With every good wish
    Merry’s Class

  25. Thank you for your reply Cody.
    Our font is usually Comic Sans.
    People either love it
    or don’t like it.
    We like it 🙂
    It is clear and easy to read.
    We are glad you are enjoying the Blogging Challenge.
    With every good wish
    Merry Beau

  26. Hi Merry Beau, I think this blog post can also contribute and help other bloggers as well. I also want to thank you for the comment on my blog. 😁

    Sincerely,
    Sam

  27. WOW your school sounds like fun. I wished I went there. It sounds like you have a great class and the children there sound like great at co-operating.

  28. Thank you Alejandra, for your positive and encouraging comment. Yes school is fun. The children certainly are great 🙂

  29. Hello Ms Beau’s Class,

    Thank you for commenting on my blog. I really like the poetry you’ve been writing, it’s quite powerful. I hope I can see your work again during the next SBC Challenge.

    Keep up the great work,

    Emily J

  30. Hello,
    My name is Dan Gillgannon and I am a teacher researching “Global Communication” as part of a Digital Learning certification in Cheyenne, Wyoming, USA. Your blog was listed as a choice, and is very interesting, in particular the part that talks about “differentiation and interventions.” We use the exact terminology in our school district here, and our principal in our school, focus a lot of attention at targeting learning at the level each student is performing(differentiation) and we provide learning opportunities (interventions) as the student demonstrates need. From the Emerald Isle to the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming, it is heartening to see that differentiating and interventions learning is a global task. Kind Regards-Dan
    P.S. Thanks for sharing your students’ poetry. Well Done, Indeed!

  31. Hi Dan, Thank you for your message. It is interesting that the same terminology is used in Wyoming as here in Ireland. We had a visitor from Australia and another from Tasmania. They took a look at the reference books on the staffroom wall and said they had the same books the other side of the world. Glad that you enjoyed the poetry. Best wishes and keep well, Merry Beau

  32. Hi Ms.

    Dont know if you still use this anymore or remember me? I’m Lewis Williams (orignally from Liverpool) a past student of yours from around 2011/12. I had you in 2nd class where you gave me my inventions book which I still have. I was listening to a song and one of the lines where if only the best birds sang and our old blog came to mind. Just thought i’d see how you are doing.

    Lewis,

  33. Hi Lewis, Lovely to hear from you. I remember you well – as an able and hardworking student with lots of ability and an excellent sense of humour. You brought a lot to the classroom, particularly in terms of your contributions to class discussions. I remember you were particularly interested in History and Science. Do tell your Mum I said hello. Wishing you all the best in your future – I’m sure it will be a bright one. With every good wish, Mary Beausang

  34. Thank you, means a lot. Still facinatated with them to this day, Just recently finished secondary school in Liverpool with qualifaftions in 8 different subjetcs also work experience with Jaguar Land Rover. I am currently in college studying Business and Finance and am now starting to decide my university to go and study Business Managment and hopefully gain my goal of running my own business. Mum is delighted you replied. Are you still teaching in the same school?

    Leave a Reply

  35. Fair play Lewis, that is great to hear. That is a wide range of subjects and with the work experience you are combining your academic achievements with practical experience. ‘The world is your oyster’ as they say. You are realising your potential. Your Mum must be very proud. Well done – and the best of luck in all your endeavours. Yes still in Greystones working. I enjoy the company of children – more than that of adults 😉 so I am in the right place. Best wishes, Mary

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