Summary C4T#3

The Comment 4 Teacher # 3 I was assigned to was Becky Goerend. She is a sixth grade teacher from Iowa. The first blog post I commented on of hers was called, "The Little Things." She talked about how she had been in a slump for a few weeks. She said is all comes down to choice. She wrote about how in their study hall time it can get really loud and it frustrates her. She CHOSE to make a playlist to play during their study hall time. She said it lightened the mood. The second thing she had become frustrated with is an assignment she had her students do. They share about their independent reading in a notebook once a year and turn their letters in. Some of her students had been last. She CHOSE to give her students three different choices of doing this assignment: turn in their letter, record their response on a Flip Camera, or blog their response in their classroom blog. She was excited because two students who used the Flip Camera to record their response were usually late with their work, but this time they were on time. I think it is great to she CHOSE to change things that ended up benefiting both her and her students. I responding saying that I really enjoyed her blog post. You can either do what you have always done or try to solve problems in a creative way. I said that I hope I will be able to solve problems creatively in my classroom. I also found it great that the two students who were usually late with their schoolwork got their work in on time when they could use technology. I said that kids are motivated in many different ways.

The second blog post I commented on was called, "If You Give Kids a Meaningful Project...". She talked about how someone had dropped off some technology stuff from AVerMedia to her classroom. She asked her students to learn about it, research about it, and teach her about it. Her students were so excited. They had to teach themselves a lot about the equipment they were using. They all helped one another and collaborated ideas. I responded by saying that we learn a lot about technology in our EDM 310 class. Sometimes I had to teach myself to do things or do research to figure things out. I explained that I like teaching myself sometimes, but it is also great to have a teacher their for some guidance, just like she had been there to her students and Dr. Strange has been to us. I said that technology is a great teaching tool and that I have learned a lot about it in my EDM 310 class. I also said I thought it was wonderful that her students were so motivated and that I liked how her students chose their own groups based on their strengths and weaknesses. That is true collaboration. I really enjoyed Becky's blog posts.