September C4K Summary

Ann
This I Believe

         Students had to state what they believed in and give a personal experience that went along with the belief. My student was Ann, and her blogs name was “I believe in trusting”. She talked about trusting her brother more anyone else in the world. She goes on to say how he is always there for her and she can tell him anything without him telling everyone her secrets. Even when a boy hurt her and made her cry, her big brother was there ready to solve the problem. She had two really great quotes in her post. My favorite one was “A relationship without trust is like a car without gas, you can stay in it all you want but it won’t go anywhere,” –Jasmine Guy. She had a few grammatical errors but all in all it was a very sweet and truthful blog post. I told her that:

         I really enjoyed your post! You are so very lucky to have a big brother you can count on. I am an only child, so the closest thing I have to siblings are cousins. But even being an only child I find trusting people to be very important. Everyone needs someone they can count on and talk to about our life’s problems. There are a few grammatical errors in your post which you can think about before your next post. Example being your closing sentence, “This i believe because you have to have trust in something.!” Make sure you capitalize all your “I”. Also you could maybe word it like this “I believe in this quote because you have to trust in something.” But all in all, great post!




Safiya
What is your favorite TV show?

         Mrs. Lieschkes 5th grade class in Australia, had to make a blog post on what their favorite TV show was. My students name was Safiya, and she has many favorite TV shows. She had a trouble narrowing the top ten down, but her favorite included: With Boys, MI HIGH, Spider Man, and Iron Man. She had few grammatical errors including the spelling of “favorite”. But all in all it was a very good post. I told him that:

         I really enjoyed your blog post! Spider Man happens to be one of my favorite movies as well. My favorite shows though are quite different from yours. This is probably because I live in a town called Mobile, Alabama, USA. See we are very far away from each other, but even being that far away I too have watched Iron Man. Did you know that they are coming out with an Iron Man 3? I’m super excited to go see it in the movie theaters. You had a few grammatical or spelling errors in your post, including the word “favorite”. Make sure you use a spell checker to help you proof read your blogs before posting. I always use Microsoft Word to help me. But really good post this week! I really like how your font is pink. My favorite color!




Lorenzo
Word Search

         Miss Ouano’s class at Pt England School in Auckland, NZ was my third C4K comment assignment. My student was Lorenzo who was in 5th grade, Room 14. This week on his blog post he decided to make a word search and his friend Maroroa would try and solve it. I told him that:

         You have an awesome Blog Post going! I really like this word search. Word searches can be a fun way of learning new words and new vocabulary. Just make sure you remember to make complete sentences, with periods and capitalization. But great job! Keep blogging!




Lauren
The American Dream

          Mike Gwaltney’s class blog is kept by student-authors and their teacher. The posts on this blog are part of an ongoing assignment in their fully online AP U.S. & Comparative Government & Politics course at the Online School for Girls. Students post reflection pieces on a rotating basis, with one author posting each weekday. Students also occasionally post to the blog for project assignments. My student is Lauren and her blog is called The American Dream. Lauren talks about her thoughts of the American Dream. She says that maybe the American dream is to be a leader, a champion, a protector of natural rights. She then goes on to say that in other countries, being a leader is dangerous within certain societies. The people should not live in fear of persecution for rising to positions of leadership. She references that any U.S. history class in constant and nothing changes; that the goals of our government remain the same and constant. She believes the United States pioneered this idea of giving a voice to the people, an idea which countless countries have long since worked to achieve. She also believes that the reason that our democratic society is so functional is because we are not all passionate historians who aspire to be politicians and carry out beloved principles. It is our individual desires that make our democratic society a success because these desires motivate us to challenge ideas and become great artists, scientists, or writers. I told her that:

         I very much enjoyed reading this blog assignment by you! It has been one of the best so far that I have been assigned to. I am not sure if it’s just the material you’re talking about or your personal writing, but this blog is very inspirational in my opinion. I loved the fact that you used a U.S. history class as a reference to our society. Because it is constant and the problems, concerns, and goals of our government remain the same. Keep the Blogs going!

Project #8 Book Trailer

Blog Post #6

What do we need to know about asking questions to be an effective teacher?

As teachers, we need to come to reality with the fact that we really do not know everything, and there is no reason to assume that the students know nothing. Have you ever thought about how silly teachers can be? When teachers get in front of students, they present themselves to be the ones with all the answers, and then after they talk to the students, they start asking questions as if they don't know anything we just talked about. No wonder students get confused!

After doing some reading and researching I have come to some points that I will try to live by as a future teachers:

• When preparing for class compose specific questions that you will ask your students (or that you anticipate they will ask you). Doing so will help you increase student participation and encourage active learning.

• Avoid asking “leading questions.” A leading question is phrased in such a way that it suggests its own answer and therefore discourages students from thinking on their own.

• In class discussions, do not ask more than one question at once. When you ask more than one question, students often do not respond because they are unsure which question you want them to answer.

• Do not interrupt students’ answers. You may find yourself wanting to interrupt because you think you know what the student is going to say, or simply because you are passionate about the material. Resist this temptation. Hearing the students’ full responses will allow you to give them credit for their ideas and to determine when they have not yet understood the material.

• Show that you are interested in students’ answers, whether right or wrong. Encourage students when they are offering answers by nodding, looking at them, and using facial expressions that show you are listening and engaged.

• Do not look down at your notes while they are speaking.

Here is a video that I found to be very helpful!

My Passion Is...

My Sentence Is...

Blog Post #5 Presentation iCurio

Project #3 Presentation

C4T#1

Using Spare Minutes Constructively

By: Frank Buck
August 23, 2013

This post really talks and emphasizes on time management. He really talks about using your spare moments in life for the good, or constructively. Any time Frank Buck is in between tasks or just has spare time during his day he always finds a way to read something. Whether he reads a book, magazine, article, or even writing a new post for his blog, he finds a way to read something. He says “Nothing beats chunks of time. When life breaks those chunks into tiny fragments, choosing the right tasks can turn “dribs and drabs of time” into productive minutes.” What I think he means by that is making every minute in your life count. Making every spare moment you have worth something will only help to strive to do your best. Wasting time is pretty much wasting your life away. Why would you just sit there and waste your life away when you can read and learn. There is always something to learn from everyday in every way.


My comment to his post:

Mr. Frank Buck,
My name is Laura Hamilton, and this fall I’m taking a class called EDM 310, www.edm310.blogspot.com at the University of South Alabama. This class is very important in the field I’m going into, Physical Education, and Sports Management. This class will help me learn how to evolve technology into the classroom today. I have been assigned to your blog for a few assignments for my own personal blog this fall, www.hamiltonlauraedm310.blogspot.com.
After reading your post Using Spare Minutes Constructively, I have come to realize a lot of my minutes in life are wasted. Looking back on my day to day, I can count on two hands when I had time to spare and I did nothing with them constructively. So from here on out I am going to try and take your post as advice, and change my “chunks” of time. Maybe by picking up a book, magazine, or I hope class notes and reading, I will strive to find my “chunks” of time full. Thank you for this post. I really enjoyed it!



Productivity is Not Just for Adults

By: Frank Buck
SEPTEMBER 11, 2013

This second post I read by Frank Buck was about organization not only being helpful for adults but also children. He actually talks a little about early childhood development in organization skills reflecting on adulthood organization skills. He says “Organization is a gift we can give young people that will benefit them long after their school days are behind them”. To me this means organization is not only a helpful tool but it is also a life skill. The first step Mr. Buck talks about is using a tool, an everyday thing we can all learn to do, writing things down. He says by writing things down and having one place to record them, is the single most important step for a person to start getting organized. Not only by using journals, planners and notepads, we can bring technology into the picture. Smartphone’s are a fantastic organization tool used today. As educators we want students to acquire skills in which are relevant for later in life. And organization can be the biggest simplest tool to acquire.

My comment to his post:

Mr. Frank Buck,
My name is Laura Hamilton, and this fall I’m taking a class called EDM 310, www.edm310.blogspot.com at the University of South Alabama. This class is very important in the field I’m going into, Physical Education, and Sports Management. This class will help me learn how to evolve technology into the classroom today. I have been assigned to your blog for a few assignments for my own personal blog this fall, www.hamiltonlauraedm310.blogspot.com.
After reading Productivity is Not Just for Adults, I have realized that I was lucky enough to be taught as young child Organization skills. Little did I know this, but being told to write down my to do list, my homework list, or even what I wanted for Christmas list, helped me evolve into an organized young adult. I truly believe that by teaching children at an early age life skills that we can help them evolve into productive adults. And the most important step and even the first step in getting organized is writing things down, and having reminders. I am very interest in using technology today in the schools to show and teach children how to use technology to help them stay organized. Everyone in today’s society has cell phones, mainly smart phones. So we know students will more than likely been around and have access to some technology device. This technology is in their day to day lives so it will be relevant to them, which will make them more intrigued to learn new things. Great Post this week!

Blog Assignment #4

Why Podcast? How do we do a podcast?

In The benefits of podcasting in the classroom Click Here by Joe Dale, This clip describes the benefits of podcasting in the classroom. Podcasting is an effective way of interacting with students outside the classroom. I feel this will enhance students desire to not only study and learn new things in the classroom environment, but also when they go home at the end of the day and they still want to learn more and use podcasting as a way of communication for education. Many students today are familiar with podcasting and therefore make it relevant to them. Podcasting not only allows for differentiation and project based learning, it promotes creativity and innovation. Think about the students who become sick for a week or two or even students who can’t come to school all the time because of personal reasons. Podcasting can offer distance learning opportunities for these absent students or even teachers. Also parents can see and hear what their children are doing at school. This will only get parents involved in their children education, which is always a top priority in a higher education.

But first things first, what is podcasting? In Judy Scharf Podcast Collection Click Here,she explains Podcasting and tips on how to do your own. The term “podcast” is a cross between “broadcast” and “iPod.” A podcast is a “radio-style” talk show. It may include music as well. It may be listened to on the computer or an MP3 player, and may be downloaded from iTunes or a podcast hosting service. Podcasting enables information to be shared with millions of people via the internet. It is easy to do, and costs very little. All you need is a microphone, a computer, and software, which can be downloaded for free. She refers you to a link to YouTube, which shows how to make a podcast using Audacity, a free download, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hrBbczS9I0. Click Here

In Langwitches - Podcasting With 1st Grade Click Here blog post, it highly recommends and encourages teachers of podcasting with younger elementary school students. After a first grade class listened to the class above them do a podcast and read all of the comments of teachers around the world, they wanted one of their own! They were enthusiastic and eager to record their own voices to get them “into other people’s computers and iPods’” too. The skills these students learn while podcasting are:

• listening
• speaking
• presenting
• comprehension
• storytelling
• performance
• voice acting
• oral fluency
• media
• technology

Blog Assignment #3

When it comes to a Critique!

When it comes to critiquing a pier or even a teacher, there are many ways to go about it. But which way is the best? I truly believe it is a personal thing, not only depending on who the author you are critiquing is but how your personality reflects on your critique. First what is peer editing? The first video recourse you could watch on this subject is What is Peer Editing? click here The definition of peer is someone your own age. The definition of editing is make suggestion, comments, compliments and changes to writing. This video suggested three rules to peer editing: compliments, making suggestions and corrections. Being positive, being specific, and completing all three steps to peer editing rules will help you make a respectful and intellectual critique. Viewing the slideshow Peer Edit with Perfection Tutorial click here really puts the rules and procedures in detail with examples. This slideshow shows how making compliments and being respectful is one of the most important things to peer editing and a well put together critique. No one will want to take advice from someone who is rude and critical to their work. Then there is the video Writing Peer Review Top 10 Mistakes.click here This video shows even kids can pick up on poor critiquing. Whether it be Picky Patty, who doesn’t let anything slide, down to the centimeters. Or Social Sammy, who doesn’t care at all about the critique and only wants to talk.

What were the positives?

Always start your peer editing by mentioning the paper’s particular strengths. Tell the writer what you think he or she did well:

• Your strengths as a writer are ________
• These examples are excellent because…
• Your strongest section is ________
• This was really intriguing because…
• I liked the way you________

Is there clarity? Grammatical or spelling errors?

Making suggestions means giving the author some specific ideas about how to improve their writing. Remember to stay positive and be specific in your comments. Hurt feelings rarely have a positive effect on a person’s desire to change the way they do things they are more likely to react negatively and aggressively to suggestions. The third step in the peer editing process is making corrections. Corrections mean checking your peer’s paper for: • Spelling mistakes • Grammar mistakes • Missing punctuation • Incomplete or run-on sentences

Will you offer suggestions publicly (blog) or privately (e-mail, etc.)?

When it comes to actually making or offering suggestions, I feel that it really depends on the suggestion you are making. The pros of open or public review is that not only can the author see what you suggested but other readers have the chance of learning or catching on to something new. But there is also a con to publicly critiquing someone’s writing. Authors can take your suggestions wrong, especially if their writing is personal or they just took your words a different ways. People do not know you personally, they don’t know when your joking or being sarcastic. This is even more so true when they cannot see your face or read your body signals. The main disadvantage of open review is the likely accumulation of 'enemies' who may later try to torpedo the person trying to make suggestion. I feel that I will use public suggestions or critique more so though, they will just have to be used in the rite form. I feel that the chance of not only the person you are trying to critique can learn from you, but also the peers around you.