Week 7:
I commented on Mr. Schrange's blog about an event he attended with his son in kindergarten which involved high school students displaying their time and knowledge. He posted a video of his son at the event, and I commented as follows:
I am required to read a few of your posts for my college course EDM310 at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, AL. This event that you attended with your son was both rewarding and educating. It was rewarding for the high school students who donated their time to give information to these younger students. I am sure it was also rewarding for you to see these high school students because most of them were your former students. It was educating of course for the little ones but also for parents who attended.
I also agree that it is important for students to get involved in their community. I think it is awesome that the high school has a community service requirement to ensure that students take advantage of these experiences. Thank you for sharing the video of your son at the event; he seemed really intrigued.
Week 8:
This blog post was on Educon 2.2, a conference held for educators.
My comment:
I am not yet an educator, but I do believe it is important to attend conferences and events to discuss progress being made in schools. I am glad you had a great time at Educon 2.2, and I hope when I have to attend conferences, they are nearly as interesting as this one was for you. I think it is awesome that it was streamed virtually as well so that people who could not make it to the event could still have a part in what was being discussed. I liked that you said it made you feel as a part of a community rather than a stranger. It is hard to attend events where you do not know one another, and it is great to hear that this event helped to make everyone comfortable outside their own skin.
Week 9:
This post by Mr. Schrange was about the first week of school and what he did to break up the monotonous first day schedule.
My comment:
I know you posted this a while back, but I have been helping a friend with ideas for her classroom and thought it was relevant. I am really glad to see that you have taken the initiative to be different, especially on the first day of school. Throughout my secondary education, I always dreaded the first day of school simply because it was always the same procedure in every classroom. We were forced to read a quarter of the handbook in every block so that by the end of the day, we were finished and had no excuse not to know the rules of the school. You did not stick to this monotonous schedule, and I applaud you for that. I have often thought of what I will try to make my students break apart from their comfort zones with students they have not met, and I believe I might have to use this "Group Juggle" game. Thank you for the great tips!
Week 10:
I am now reading the blog for Teacher Voices by Teacher Leaders Network.
This post was about a the book Metaphors and Analogies by Rick Wormeli the teacher read that has helped her in her classroom.
My comment:
I am a student at the University of South Alabama in the course EDM310, http://edm310.blogspot.com/, and I am required to read posts made on this blog. My blog is http://greeneangelaedm310.blogspot.com/.
Thank you for sharing this book and letting us know how inspired you were by it. I completely agree that teachers want their students to think analytically and at the next level. Students should learn to "think outside the box" and not be afraid of this way of thinking being the wrong way.
I agree with chapter 8 saying that it is important for students to mold and defend their own ideas. This creates an entire new way of thinking, and it is important for students to explore this type of thinking.
Week 11:
This post also came from the Teacher Leader Network. It is about caring teachers and confident students. My comment:
It is extremely important for students to be confident. It is just as important for educators to be confident in their students and push their students to do their very best. Students need someone to show them that he/she cares; if they do not have this someone, they will not strive to accomplish everything they are capable of accomplishing. Teachers should be active not passive; they should be involved in their students' lives and show their students that they can achieve anything they put their mind to. A little bit of encouragement goes a long way.
Week 12:
This blog was on voice recognition software, Dragon Naturally Speaking.
My comment:
I have never heard of this software program, but it sounds very interesting. I am a math major, and I know it would definitely come in handy writing English papers simply because I am a "talker." I am very quick at typing, so I do not know exactly how much I would use it for writing papers. My absolute favorite use of this program that you have made is recording what you say for projects so that it is typed word for word. This is awesome so that there is no discrepancy about what you did or did not say. Hopefully one day you will get one of those wireless mics! :) Good luck with this program.
COMMENT4KIDS:
This week I was not assigned a new child. I had the same as week 8. So I commented on another child's post that was assigned to someone else in my class. This student's post was about organization in writing. My comment:
I am also a student at the University of South Alabama in EDM310. Staying organized will take you far in life. No one likes reading any material that is unorganized. I am a math major, and I try to keep everything extremely organized so that my professors can easily understand what I am trying to say. You have a great idea on how you like to organize things, and I am sure you will continue to do great in life!