Additional Assignment # 4

Tom Johnson's adventures in Pencil Integration

Just Teach Them to Solve for X

This post was about solving for X in a math problem. John Spencer got his students to draw a picture for X instead of just telling them what X is. Not everything in life is easy, just like solving for X is not always easy. I think the students understood the math lesson more using this brilliant idea then the same ole' lesson. 

 Sketchy Portraits: 8th Grade Identity and Pencil

John Spencer uses a pencil as a metaphor to describe middle school students. Middle school students are constantly changing and trying to figure out who they are. A pencil changes as well. You can draw different types of lines. A pencil is temporary and can be erased. As middle school students change their moods, attitudes, desires, they are ,too, like pencils. I really enjoyed this post. This is the post I decided to comment on. John Spencer is a great teacher who treats his students with the respect that they deserve and he understands the trials these students go through while trying to figure out who they are. 

He Just Likes the Class for the Pencils

This post is about a student-teacher relationship. John Spencer is an amazing teacher. He does not talk at his students, he talks to his students. This post is about a "problem" student and a teacher who does not respect this student. She demeans him, etc. John Spencer respects this student, as he does with all of his students. He talks about how he does not try to be the "fun" teacher who is everyone's pal, but students tend to really like him because of the respect he gives his students. I hope to be as a great of a teacher he is!

The Medium Shapes the Learning

I think that this post was about technology and the negative and positive effects of it. I am not completely sure, but I believe that John Spencer was saying when teachers try to add all this different things to a lesson to try to make it more "fun" or intriguing, it can actually change the whole lesson completely, but teachers do not recognize it sometimes.