C4Ta

Steven Anderson blogs about edchats on Twitter, The Web 2.0 connected classroom. He outlines 5 reasons why Twitter is important: meeting new people, hearing new ideas, opposing viewpoints, finding new resources, and creating action. He participates in edchats weekly where educators all over the world can share ideas about lesson plans and many other teaching techniques. My response to this blog was, "I just recently got introduced to the idea of educators getting ideas and sharing ideas with each other on Twitter. I love how technology has improved so many aspects of education. As much as I'm on my phone, I know I will have no problem participating in the edchats. I look forward to joining you." Silvia Tolisano's blog post "And You Thought It Could Not Be Done: Blogging in Math" talks about how math teachers can use blogging as a way to teach and give students other resources for learning. This was one of my favorite blog post that I have read so far. My response was, "I'm so glad you posted this blog. Math is my subject of interest and I have been trying to figure out how to incorporate blogging with math! Math is one of the hardest subjects to make fun because so many people hate it! But I think if people would relate math to the real world more often, then more people would learn it. Most people are so close-minded about math because they feel like most of it can never be related to the real world. Also, having other people give other resources for learning is very beneficial when it comes to math. There are so many ways of learning and teaching math and what works for some will not work for all. Love this post! Thank you for this." Sharon Davison's blog post "Reflections Inside and Outside of Kindergarten" reflects on her teaching experience and her students' and parents' learning experience this year in her kindergarten class. She talks about how her students learned toe successfully use iPads and learned how to use technology to answer questions so that they could become self learners. She also mentioned how parents' began to use technology more as well. Some of her parents used Google Hangouts to share their perspectives about how social networks and other synchronous tools have made learning meaningful and fun. My response to her post was, "It was really interesting hearing about how technologically literate your students are! It’s amazing to me how 5-year-olds can understand more about technology than I did at 15! Seeing children now navigating through tablets and cell phones is amazing to me and let’s me know that there is no way to engage our students without incorporating technology in our curriculum. I cannot wait to begin my journey as an elementary school teacher and I hope to share experiences similar to yours. You seem to really enjoy what you do."

J.F Hadley writes about the "Almost Boring" mode that the classroom transforms to at the end of the school year. The teacher has successfully taught their students what they need to know for the year and the students are ready for the summer, so at that point the teacher goes to the back and the students lead. Mr. Hadley did such a good job instructing his students during the year that they were able to successfully lead the class without his help. My response to Mr. Hadley was "I am also in EDU 310 at The University of South Alabama and your post was so refreshing to me. This is one of the reasons why I hope to teach 4th, 5th, or 6th grade because the feeling you get at the end of the year when you have basically taught them and guided them all year and then they are ready to be out on their own is so rewarding. This “boredom” is almost impossible to enjoy with younger students. The fact that they are able to successfully research and finish projects and assignments with little help from you is proof that you have done your job. I wish more educators would follow suit with this end of the year relaxation. Students enjoy it more than teachers do!I am also in EDU 310 at The University of South Alabama and your post was so refreshing to me. This is one of the reasons why I hope to teach 4th, 5th, or 6th grade because the feeling you get at the end of the year when you have basically taught them and guided them all year and then they are ready to be out on their own is so rewarding. This “boredom” is almost impossible to enjoy with younger students. The fact that they are able to successfully research and finish projects and assignments with little help from you is proof that you have done your job. I wish more educators would follow suit with this end of the year relaxation. Students enjoy it more than teachers do!"