STUDENTprofile
Who Knew That Writing Could Be This Much Fun?
Most third graders are expect- ed to spend a fair amount of time practicing their
writing, whether it’s keeping a class
journal, composing book reports,
or drafting research projects. Yet for
many students, writing is met with
boredom, or worse, dread. Not for
Meridan Boyd, an 8-year-old who
pens Meridan’s Little Voice blog
( meridanslittlevoice.blogspot.com).
Meridan, a student at Van Meter
Community School in Iowa, USA,
learned about blogging from her
school librarian, Shannon McClintock
Miller, who is a prolific blogger herself. Meridan had seen her blog and
wanted to know more about it.
“It looked interesting and fun to do,”
Meridan said. “I like to learn. It’s neat
to know things that others don’t or
join in with people who do.”
Meridan embraced blogging and
joined a group of students, include
McClintock Miller’s son, Hagan, in a
weekly after-school blogging group.
Meridan loves to share her passion
for technology and connect with others around the world, including a class
of students in the United Kingdom.
She updates her readers about life in
Iowa—including weather and animals—happenings at her school, and
tech tools she’s exploring.
“It’s a creative way to express myself
and share information,” Meridan says.
She also writes about her triumphs—
like teaching her mom to use technology. In a post titled “Everyone Can
Learn New Technology—Even My
Mom,” she writes, “My mom isn’t
very technically savvy, but she’s getting better and at least she tries.”
Meridan’s mom, Lisa Boyd, says
she uses mainstream tools but isn’t as
adept as her daughter with apps and
other software. But Meridan is changing that, and Boyd credit’s McClintock
Miller.
“As a parent you have a perception
that a teacher may think that they are
only teaching their students, but when
it comes to technology, their reach is
so wide and vast,” she says.
Aside from allowing Meridan to
explore technology and reach out to
others, her blogging has also helped
Meridan hone the craft of writing.
A story she wrote about a cat who
solves mysteries earned her a Dallas
County Reading Council Creative
Writing Award and the chance to
present her story at the Young Author’s Reception in April.
She was also a finalist in a national
writing contest sponsored by Mrs.
P ( www.mrsp.com), a website that
exposes children to great books and
stories through celebrity storytellers.
Meridan says the best part about en-
tering that contest was that Mrs. P left
a comment on her blog:
