C4K Summaries for February

C4K#1 Conan Grade 3
In his post, Conan talks about his gymnastics class the previous week. He describes how they practiced on spring board jumping ,cart wheels and the balance beam. He states that his group started with the balance beam and how easy it was to walk on it both frontwards and backwards. He goes on to state that cartwheels were easier than he thought they would be. Then this was his sentence about the spring board... "Last but not least the spring board jumping you had to get a run up and jump on the top of the board and swing your arms in the air and then you had to land."

This was my response:
I love gymnastics! I used to take it when I was younger. My favorite part of it were the cartwheels and the trampoline, but you make the springboard sound like so much fun! Nice post!

C4K#2 Daqualyn Grade 6
In his post, Daqualn is reporting on his reading so far for The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. This is what he posted: I think a good title for chapter two would be “settling in” because the whole chapter is about lennie and george meeting everybody and getting their stuff together. I also think the title of the book should be “The hard times of George and Lennie” because this book is about their struggle.George has told Lennie to avoid Curley because Curley took an immediate dislike towards Lennie and the two of them don’t want any trouble. Curley could get Lennie and George fired if they don’t watch out,I don’t think I could get along with Curley because he’s rude, and overly aggressive. I think I’d get along better with Lennie because George looks to have a bit of a short fuse too but Lennie is a nice guy.

This was my responce:
Hi, I am Jenny Hinton, an EDM student in Mobile, Alabama. I remember reading Of Mice and Men when I was in high school and I really liked it. I very much enjoyed reading you post about this book and I think you make some very good points. I think you are right in saying that you think the title should be changed to “The Hard Times of George and Lennie.” These two men never seem to get a break in life. I also agree with you about Curley. He is very rude and overly aggressive. I don’t know if the chapter should be called “settling in” though, because as you pointed out, Curley is clearly not making them feel very welcome. I also believe that you should reconsider wanting George as a friend. He proves to be an honest and hardworking man throughout the book. Also, his love and loyalty to Lennie is not something just any man would sacrifice themselves for. I believe George just gets frustrated at times because Lennie tends to get into trouble and does not always understand what problems he causes for both himself and George. So, I hope you can give George a break as you continue reading and enjoy the book as much as I did!

C4K#3 Amber Grade 10
In her post, Amber first describes that she is a sophomore in high school and she was assigned to make a blog for her Language and Arts class. She states that she is making a blog for posting "funny quotes, inspirational quotes, and overall great quotes." She says that she hopes to help people have better days by reading these quotes. She ends her first post with the quote, "Don’t be dismayed by good-byes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends."

This was my responce:
This sounds like a great idea for a blog page! It is very nice to hear that you are using your blog in such a positive way to help people have a better day. Also, I love the name you chose for the blog and the cool Macaws at the top of your page! I hope you enjoy making your blog and putting smiles on peoples faces. Good Luck!

Blog Post #6

For this post, I took Dr. Strange's advice and used Symbaloo to set up my PLN. I first went through the walk-through instructions that explain about the site and then I created my own account. When I looked through to set up my own webmixes, I was fortunate enough to find a set up that is designed specifically for educators.

This will be a good point to jump off my PLN. Now I intend to explore the links provided to me and decide on what others I will want add to it both for this class and for my future as a teacher. Hopefully this will lead to making connections with other students and future colleagues so that we may help one another in our ongoing pursuit to be better teachers!

Project #8 Book Trailer

The True Story of the Three Little Pigs! by Jon Scieszka

Post #5

The most significant fact about Project Based Learning from the videos presented by Dr. Strange is that PBL students can become immensely more involved in their work given the freedoms they are given to complete them. First, as I have learned as an English student, it is always important to give thought to what audience you are presenting to. By requiring the students to share their work with more than just the teacher, they become more concerned about what they are creating. Also, through Project Based Learning, the children are given more freedom on what they work on. When the students are able to make their own choices on how to approach their tasks or are able to support a personal opinion of their own they become much more invested in the project because it is more personal for them. Last, I really found it interesting and believe it is incredibly beneficial for the students to work together and have in class critiques where every student is involved in meaningful discussion.

I also learned from these videos about how well third grade students are doing in Project Based Learning versus college level students, and I would like to make some points to defend college level EDM310 students after my viewing. One factor that needs to be taken into account is that most of these students learned the "old fasioned way," using text books and pen and paper. Some, like myself, have not been seeking out new technology and ways to use it for years whereas these children have grown up in this much more advanced technological age and are quite fluent in it already. Also, adult students at this stage have much more on their plates at this point in their lives. These include commitments such as other classes, work, family, money, and many other responsibilities that come with adult life. This is especially true for older, returning students! The students in this class and teachers do need to learn and expand and work hard to do this or not be in this class or profession. However, as reported in the video, Project Based Learning Part 1: Experiences of a 3rd Grade Teacher, we are at least managing to achieve the same as the nine year old children, some just as good, some just as bad, and not 100% completion on either side. So, please give us some thought and quit picking on us Dr. Strange!

My Sentence Videos

My Sentence Is...


"I like to look at the world through rose-colored glasses."

My Passion Is...



"Animals!"

Project #3

C4T #1

I was assigned to comment on Becky Georend's blog Live the Conversation

The fist post of hers that I commented on was about how many of her students she encounters one day from a morning pancake breakfast until two in the afternoon. She is approached by two students at the pancake breakfast and is then obliged to have conversations with their parents. She also makes the point that she is in her not very clean mommy clothes and has her hair pulled back in a pony-tail. Then later she sees a former student at the grocery store and stops to say hi while "lugging" around her baby. She then waves to two more of her students on the way home and then meets the mother of one of her students slightly after that at a swap meet. She describes that even if she is not teaching at her school she is still "on the clock." Last, she poses the questions "Do you choose to live in the community in which you teach? If so, why? If not, why not?"

This is the first comment I posted on her page:

I really enjoyed reading this post. Although it may seem a bit intruding into your own life at times, I believe that your students constantly wanting to be a part of your life is very flattering. It shows that you are a huge part of their lives and they want to extend that into other factions of their own lives. As teachers we should work to be good examples for our students, and from reading a little bit about you on your bog I think it is great that they have someone like you to look up to. I am not teaching yet and have not quite settled on the community I will be teaching in, but when that happens I hope to be as a welcome member of that community as you are!

The second time I went to her blog, she had posted what appeared to be a filler post because it was a sort of chain post where you list eleven things about yourself that people may not know. However, this one was different because her brother added more specific questions involving her life in education. These are those questions and her answers:
1. What book written prior to 1990 has influenced your professional growth as an educator the most?
Not sure I've ready one prior to 1990 that I can recall right now. I thoughtTeaching with Love and Logic was old, but that's just 1995.
2. Why did you decide to start blogging?
I wanted to share my thoughts, and I enjoy writing.
3. Which educational author do you disagree with the most?
Any that back up letter grades.

This is my second comment on her page for that post:

First I would like to say thank you for commenting on my class blog, hintonjennyedm310.blogspot.com. I very much appreciate your encouragement and would be thrilled to see a video project with your cat in it when visiting your blog in the future! I have seen chain posts like this one on Facebook, though not on a blog before. I never can think of people to send them to either, but I have always thought about filling one out. However, I am happy that you did this one because it is a fantastic way to learn about my first assigned teacher to comment to. By reading it and exploring your blog, I can see that you are a loving wife and mother as well as an accomplished educator and community member. These are all such things that I aspire to be. From reading this post, I can only imagine how much fun you and your brother had hosting "Townsley Times" in college, and I believe that I can actually say Garden of Eat'n is one of the most unique restaurant names I have come across ( keeping in mind that I hail from Mobile, Alabama), plus Adam and Eve on the boxes really ties the idea together. I love that you do not support letter grades. It is especially at the elementary level that children can easily begin to be labeled and compartmentalized. I am especially happy that I caught you on this post because your response to the question about why you blog will inspire me to use my EDM class and blog to help share my own opinions with what I write as well. Thank you!

Post #4

"If we look at the dynamics of any classroom, it doesn't take more than a week for students to figure out who is smart, who is not, and who doesn't care. What is worse, studies show that after fourth grade, students know how they are perceived and play their roles accordingly" (Ben Johnson, The Right Way to Ask Questions in a Classroom, http://www.edutopia.org). This is the most noticeable and problematic dynamic that takes place in the classroom. Being a college student myself, I more than notice this occurrence in my day to day classes. The teachers will either try in vain to ask questions to an responding and silent class room, or they will end up being forced to take the answers of the one or two whom actually want to be involved. Here in my post I have evaluated some techniques for how to ask questions and what questions should be asked, and I have included some ideas of my own that encourage better learning experiences for students.

"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" (Wilbert McKeachie, Asking Questions to Improve Learning, http://teachingcenter.wustl.edu). This piece of advice put forth by Wilbert Mckeachie is not one that I can truly agree with. From what I have both seen and experienced, some students tend to answer a question with an idea of what the answer may be and expect the teacher to be able to help complete this thought or just to help find a more specific answer. Often when the student is left trying to explain further with nothing but a silent classroom in the background and the full attention of the teacher on them, the student will simply panic and lose faith in their idea which could have led to a correct answer. However, I do not believe that the teacher should approach this kind of answer by posing more questions because this may make the student feel pressured and their mind may wander even further away from their initial train of thought. I believe that instead, when a student is not quite able to get out their answer, the teacher should interject if they feel they know where the student is heading, or to use what the student has presented to lead them to what they are trying to say. For example, when a teacher asks the question, "What kind of symbolism do we see in this story?," and the student replies with, "Well, this one guy always has this five pointed star on all his stuff." In this situation, the student may just vaguely have an idea of this significance or they may just not be confident in their answer. So, I would propose that instead of asking the student directly what that means, the teacher should respond by trying to discuss with the student about who "that guy" is and his significance in the story. Then, the teacher can ask what elements about this character would lead him to where such a symbol and what it means to him. Hopefully this would leave the student more confident to respond and possibly work to spark thoughts in other members of the class so that they might have something to add as well.

"Students might be encouraged to write the question in their notes. They might be given a bit of time to write some ideas or discuss potential responses with another student (Maryellen Weimer, Three Ways to Ask Better Questions in the Classroom, http://www.facultyfocus.com). I very much agree with this suggestion put forth by Dr. Weimer. Assigning students to write down questions that they have while doing their actual homework to be discussed in class the next class would make it much easier for them to remember what they had problems with given that time has passed since they worked on that assignment. Also, although at times it may seem uncomfortable for both students and teachers to put students in groups, I have found that for small in class assignments they are quite productive. I would encourage a random system for grouping because this allows the possibility of more engaged students helping lesser engaged students. Then when you reconvene as a whole class, all members of the groups should be able to answer questions about their individual activities because the consensus of the group is backing them.

In respect to what questions I would want to ask and how I would go about asking them, I look to what kind of teacher I am training to be. I aim to teach high school English which largely involves reading material that will be needed to be analyzed and interpreted. For this type of class, I believe that first reviewing the text and pointing out some concepts about what we are currently reading to refresh the students minds and get them back in the frame of mind they were in while reading it themselves. After the review, I would begin asking questions on the concepts mentioned earlier.If the students refuse to respond, I would then begin calling on one or more students to answer specific questions to create some dialog. I may briefly suggest some further ideas about the information and ask specific questions while doing so and having the students reflect on what has just presented. So, this could lead to a broader discussion on the topic that can be expanded by introducing more of the students' ideas along the way and then asking them to reflect on the new idea to keep the conversation continuing. Ideally, if enough of the students contribute to the discussion, the entire class will benefit.

Blog Post #3

Do not be a Mean Margaret! Out of the three rules to peer reviews, I believe that the first rule of being complementary is in indeed the most important idea to have in mind. Making specific suggestions and grammatical corrections are very important and helpful as far as proof reading is concerned, but complimenting the peer you are reviewing is a good way to acknowledge that you are on the same level. Since the review is peer to peer and not teacher to student, there is no warrant for a student to "shoot down" another student's ideas. The other obvious reasons to give compliments while reviewing a peer is that it is not only just plain polite, but that it is also good to be encouraging for the student.

Of course the two other rules of peer revues, making specific suggestions and corrections, are very important as well. For instance, as it was displayed in the humorous classroom examples of peer reviews, it is of little help to your peers be vague in your suggestions. Simply stating to the peer that their work was off or needs improvement does not have much benefit for the person being reviewed. The person conducting the review should thoroughly consider what was presented in their peer's work and make genuine and positive suggestions that can be discussed between the two. As far as correcting grammar mistakes, I like how it was addressed in the first video, What is Peer Editing? This is because, as an English Major, I like that the proper symbols used to correct errors in a work of writing was included in the presentation. These symbols are used in correcting papers because they are simple and do not take up much room on a paper that does not have much space already, and it also allows much more room in margins for making suggestions and comments.