Project #13 - Using Collaborative Tools

For Projects 15 and 16, my group, Dream Team, used a variety of tools to help accomplish our goals. We first outlined our projects with the use of Google Docs. With the help of certain aspects, such as Skype, Face Time, Gmail, iPads, and iPhones, our group was able to communicate with each other and share our ideas for each assignment. The usage of iPads and iPhones has been extremely helpful with creating, sending, and editing our videos, along with being able to Face Time each other. The Google + hangout app was a great tool to be introduced to, although we did not use it for the majority of our communication time. Me, Hannah Dickerson, and Alice Wise were able to work very well together with these tools and other aspects of technology and help our projects reach their fullest potentials.

Blog Post #14

Teacher Knows if You Have Done the E-Reading

This article presents an idea that, after reading about it, is something that is a surprisingly new concept to the educational system in America. At the University of Texas A&M in San Antonio, Texas, professors have now incorporated a new device called CourseSmart. This type of technology, which is published through Pearson and McGraw-Hill, is a way for instructors to keep track of the reading their students are accomplishing through digital textbooks. Teachers, along with the distributors, are able to see when students even open their textbooks. This allows instructors to see which students are following along in their reading throughout the course of the class and which ones are cramming their studying the night before an exam. It has been used at the university in San Antonio so far, along with Clemson, Central Carolina Technical College, and Stony Brook University. One professor at Texas A&M, Adrian Guardia, has been able to see many of the pros and cons of this system this semester with his class. Mr. Guardia has been able to take notice of the students who were struggling and which ones needed to develop better studying habits with the assistance of CourseSmart. Although it is still a work in progress, and there are many concerns from students and instructors at the moment, CourseSmart is reevaluating how instructors can keep up with the progress of each student, and intervene when necessary.

I Although I am not yet an educator, I think that this concept would be very beneficial to classrooms everywhere. I think that too many students today are simply doing enough work in school to pass. Students think that opening a book the night before a test and barely passing it is equivalent to getting a full learning experience. This is a huge problem to me because students are going through the motions of school while missing out on the most valuable aspect of it - learning. Even though this type of technology is somewhat of an experiment because it is still so new, I think that this is the perfect way to let instructors know who needs to devote more time to reading and who is ahead of the game. Another thing this will help eliminate is cheating on tests and exams. If a student has not opened his or her book at all and he or she made a perfect score on an exam, this could be a great indication of some cheating activity going on. With a regular text book, things of this nature may never be caught.

While this could be an excellent enhancement to a classroom and a great way to blend learning with technology usage, I can also see this as a negative aspect from the perspective of a student. I understand that this device is supposed to help educators be better focused on the growth track of each individual student, and to encourage them to dig deeper into what they are learning and not just simply "get by". However, I currently have a college student's schedule that is filled with studying, doing projects, reading, and working many days in between. I know how difficult it can be to take time out to fully read every single chapter of every book, especially when it is a subject that a student is familiar with and does not have to spend as much time with. I know that it is meant to benefit us in the long run, but I do not think students who are not reading their books as much should be punished simply because they did not do all of their reading if it is a subject that they are already advanced in. I don't think that students should skim through reading assignments, because it does cause them to miss out on parts of subjects that they need to grow intellectually. However, as a person with a completely full schedule most days of the week, I do know how difficult it can be at times. It is hard for me to really say where I stand on this matter from a student's point of view.

There are several things I would want to investigate about this type of technology in schools. If I could speak with Mr. Guardia, I would want full insight on this idea. I would first ask him what it was like for him to track his students each week. Is it difficult to monitor all of their activity, or do you find it very simple to keep track of their reading? Next, I would ask him how his students have reacted to CourseSmart. Were they very open to this idea at first, or did they act as if the college was "looking over their shoulders" as the article said? Finally, I would ask Mr. Guardia how he personally felt about CourseSmart. I would want to know if he has seen a tremendous increase in the improvement of his students' grades by being able to track their reading. I would also ask if he thought this idea would work for any classroom, particularly grade school classrooms, or is it something that would only be helpful for college students.

If I had the opportunity to ask the students in Mr. Guardia's class questions, I would mainly want to find out if this system has personally helped them. I would want to know if each student, no matter how intelligent he or she was or how much he or she struggled academically, has seen any improvement in grades or studying habits through the application of this system. I would ask them if they felt like they had been more challenged to learn and try on their own rather than just "winging it" before each quiz or test. The ultimate objective of this interview would be to investigate how much of an impact (and in what way) this system was making on the lives of the students.

After reading some of the comments that were left under this article, I was a little shocked at just how condescending some of the critics of CourseSmart truly were. I guess I am just not that cynical in my way of thinking. If I were to leave a comment, I would speak positively about this idea. Although I do see how some students could cheat this system, I see why it would be given a chance. It is just an attempt to help instructors better keep up with how each student is responding to the class and assignments, and it can help teachers reach out more to the ones who need extra attention. I know that educators should be closely watching the progress of each student regardless; however, if an instructor has a classroom with one hundred students enrolled into it, this system would better help them stay focused on each one. Because technology is growing so rapidly in our country and all over the world, the best thing to do is be more open-minded and embrace its assistance in our schools instead of rejecting it and the benefits that are included.

Final Project 16 - Dream Team

SMARTBoard Project #15 - Part 2

C4T #4

Post #1

This week's C4T Assignment was posted by Mrs. Denise Krebs, and it is entitled "Vlogging". In this post, Mrs. Krebs discusses how she has recently been introduced to the idea of "vlogging", which is sharing ideas, questions, thoughts, and experiences with other educators through videos on YouTube. Although Mrs. Krebs was not yet claiming to be a vlogger, she is very open to the concept and has joined the Fellowship of Open Spokes. This is a group that meets in a connected YouTube channel each week, and they discuss ideas and reflections in video form. In the video she posted, Mrs. Krebs talks about how she has been an educator for many years, and while she was a blogger, this idea of vlogging was very new and intimidating to her. At first she was unsure of it, but she says that she is always challenging herself. She bases her teaching profession off the idea that the teacher should be the biggest learner in the classroom. She also provides links to additional videos about vlogging and the Fellowship of Open Spokes.

I commented on Mrs. Krebs's blog post by first introducing myself to her, and then I thanked her for sharing these ideas. I let her know that as a future educator, I am always open to new ideas. I also said that because YouTube has so many uses these days, why not use it for something constructive? I wrote that I loved how she based her teaching career off of the idea of being the biggest learner in her classroom herself. I told her that if we as teachers did not have a passion for learning, how could we expect our students to do the same thing? I then thanked her for her post on vlogging, and I let her know that I was looking forward to reading more of her posts soon.



Post #2

The post that I was assigned to read this week was once again written by Mrs. Denise Krebs. The title is "Vincent Van Gogh Pesevering" and contains words in a letter from the artist Vincent Van Gogh to his brother. In the text, Van Gogh writes that his works are not yet what he desires when he is still in the process of creating them. He goes on to basically say that making progress doesn't happen as quickly as one would like for it to happen, but the basic necessities when trying to reach a goal are patience and faithfulness. Van Gogh writes that when he is working on something, he doesn't think much about the difficulties because if he thinks about them too much he would be "stunned and disturbed". Mrs. Krebs describes the words of Van Gogh as having a sense of perseverance. She writes that she hopes she hopes and believes her students learn in the long run.

I commented on Mrs. Krebs's blog post by first letting her know that I loved the quote. I said that I felt like many people wanted to see positive results of whatever they are striving to achieve without dedicating their time or putting forth one hundred percent of their effort. I agreed with the way that she felt about this quote. I wrote that nothing in life worth having is easily obtained, and as a future educator, I hoped to drill this same type of work ethic into the minds and spirits of my students. Hopefully, this will be a fire that I can light inside of my students, one that can never be put out. I told her that, like Van Gogh, I hoped to leave behind a legacy in my classroom that my students can benefit from. I wrote that I not only hoped to help them grown intellectually, but to also challenge them to develop better human qualities. I once again told her how much I enjoyed her post, and that I hoped to hear more from her soon.

Final Report on PLN

PLN

My PLN is something that I have become very fond of! At first, the idea of having a Personal Learning Network was a bit of a foreign concept to me. Now, however, I have a better of something that organizes every website, work space, network, and resource I wish to use without having to physically keep up with it on my own. I have added a good amount of tiles to my PLN and have completely filled all of the spaces now. I kept a few of the ones that were already there but have added many more that I felt would be of great use to me in the future. As an English major in secondary education, I searched for sites and networks that would not only help me in the fields of technology, writing, literature, and grammar. I also kept various social networks, such as Twitter, Pinterest, Edmodo, and YouTube that I believe will widely open doors to interactive learning through the world of technology. I added many tiles that deal with essay writing, grammar skills and rules, and access to many pieces of literature. I have not yet found games that I absolutely loved for use in my classroom, but I will continue to search and explore the tiles that I have added and many more as I begin teaching. I have found that Symbaloo is the perfect way to create, use, and edit my Personal Learning Network. It is perfect for me because it is very user friendly, and it allows me to go straight to my PLN with no trouble at all. I am very glad that I was introduced to this concept, and can't wait to see how it unfolds with my students!

C4K Summary for April

C4K #9

This week's post was written by a boy in Nebraska named Jonathan H. in Mrs. Geldes's class, and the post was entitled "Nebraska is Wickid". In this blog post, Jonathan describes his home state with a sense of pride almost as easily detectable as someone from the south. He is from Bellevue, Nebraska, and he first explains that he loves football. He names some of the teams there, such as Cornhuskers and the Omaha Storm Chasers. He lists some of the tourist attractions there, which include the Henry Doorly Zoo, Mahoney State Park, and Carhengeare. Jonathan was also very knowledgeable about the aspects that his state is represented by. He tells readers that the Western meadowlark is the state bird, the Mammoth is the state fossil, the cottonwood tree is the state tree, and the golden rod is the state flower. He ends this piece of writing with the state motto, which is "Equality before the law".

I first introduced myself to Jonathan H. and told him that I was from Alabama. He wrote at the end of the post that he wanted to know about where his readers were from, so I told him a little about myself. I wrote in my comment that I also loved football, and that one of the best teams down here was the Alabama Crimson Tide (and I threw in a "Roll Tide!" after that!). I told him that one of our biggest attractions here was the beach, and although our weather changed often, it was mostly warm and rainy. I also wrote that because we were southern, most people here were very hospitable and are willing to lend a helping hand to someone in need at any moment. I told him that he seemed like he had much love and pride for his home state, and that he was great at persuading others to want to visit Nebraska. I thanked him for sharing his blog post, and I told him that I was looking forward to reading more from him in the future.

C4K #10

The C4K that I was assigned to read this week was posted by a girl named Sophie from Miss Jordan's 4KJ class in Australia. This post was simply about Sophie introducing herself to the blogging world, and she listed five facts about herself. She wrote that her favorite sport is netball, her favorite animal is a horse, her favorite activity is roller skating with her sister, she loves to eat chocolate (but only sometimes), and she has a dog and a bird. She then wrote then asked her readers what they liked.

I wrote back to Sophie by first introducing myself. I told her that I did not know what netball was but that it sounded like fun. I told her that I used to have a horse and that I loved to ride him, and that I loved roller skating when I was younger. I wrote that chocolate was probably one of my favorite snacks of all time. I also told her that I did not have a bird as a pet but that I did have a dog whose name is Sophie! I told her that I had never been to Australia but that I planned on going there one day. I ended my comment by telling her that I enjoyed learning about new people and what their likes and dislikes are, and I wrote that I was looking forward to reading more of her posts.

Blog Post #13

Blended Learning Cycle

This week's blog assignment was about the teaching strategies of Mr. Paul Anderson, who is an AP Biology teacher from Bozeman, Montana. He is also a technology-driven instructor who understands the value of letting students use interactive learning to help them grow. He calls the foundation of his teaching methods the "Blended Learning Cycle" which combines the components of online, mobile, and classroom learning that a child needs to help him/her be well rounded and gain an education that will benefit him/her much more in the long run. Mr. Anderson explains that in the basic learning cycle for science, there are five E's: engage, explore, explain, expand, and evaluate. To help keep order to the blended learning cycle, Mr. Anderson has created an acronym that he refers to as Qu.I.V.E.R.S. to show the process of learning and solving problems by using this teaching strategy. In the same way that there are six arrows in a quiver (or, six arrows in the picture of the quiver on the video), Mr. Anderson provides six steps used to demonstrate the process of the blended learning cycle. Qu. stands for Question. Students are to first identify the problem or question that needs to be answered. I. stands for Investigation/Inquiry; this is where students dig deeper and find out more information about the problem and the issue surrounding it. V. stands for Video, which is where the students would invite technology into this method and use video methods to help them. E. is for Elaboration, where an explanation or analysis of the problem is given. R. is for Review, and this is where students will reflect back on what they have learned and how they came to their conclusion. Finally, S. stands for Summary Quiz, which Mr. Anderson saves for the end when students now have a better understanding of the cycle and how they used it to answer a question. If any students do not understanding a part of the cycle, they will then go back and work on it until they fully comprehend how the cycle works.

I really enjoyed learning about this method of teaching. Although I am not majoring in science or have the desire to teach it, I think this is an excellent strategy to follow for that subject. As Mr. Anderson implied in the video, science is about asking questions and using hands-on methods to solve problems. I do also like that he still quizzes students at the end of each cycle to see that they fully understand how it works. I love that this form of teaching gives students the chance to not only use technology in the classroom, but to learn how to be hands-on learners and thinkers for themselves. As a future English/language arts teacher, I'm not sure that this exact method would be perfect for my class, but I definitely want my students to have the importance of "learning how to learn" on their own, and this video has given me a great example to follow.

Back to the Future

For this blog post assignment, I really neglected to read the fine print in the Instruction Manual. I thought at first that the only part of this assignment we needed to respond to was just the Blended Learning Cycle video. However, I was highly mistaken, so here I am now. In the video entitled "Back to the Future", Mr. Brian Crosby, who is a teacher at Agnes Risley Elementary School in Sparks, Nevada, shows just how much of an impact technology has made in the lives of his students. He begins the video by giving a list of shocking statistics about how underprivileged the students in his classroom are. Most of them are second language students, and although they are in the fourth grade, most of them live in poverty and have not been able to positively experience the world around them; some did not even know simple information about themselves, such as what city they lived in. Mr. Crosby, however, does not let these conditions be setbacks for the future of his students. He allows them to be opened up to the idea of interactive learning by the use of technology in his classroom through blogging, Wiki, Flickr, Skype, and various aspects of Google. He allows his students the chance to become excited about learning through experiments in his class, too, such as crushing soda cans by intense pressure. One of his biggest projects, the High Hopes balloon, is an idea that I hope more teachers steal for their students in the near future. In this project, the students are to write in their blogs about the things that they are most hopeful for. They are then able to send up their ideas in a "homemade" hot air balloon, which incorporates the use of scientific experimentation. The balloon will burst high in the air, and the students are still able to track the pieces of it through Google earth and the cameras that they have set up with them. Each student gets a notification when a piece lands, how fast it was going, etc. The biggest objective to be grasped in this project is getting the students excited about learning and giving them something to look forward to and be inspired by.

I thought this video was a nearly perfect summary of project-based learning truly is. If you're like me, and you strive to be a teacher who pushes students to reach their fullest potential and light a fire inside their souls with a passion for becoming learners, then this is what it's all about. My absolute favorite part of this video is when the sweet little girl named Celeste is reached out to. When Mr. Crosby was informed that she was joining his classroom but that she would never be at school due to her leukemia diagnosis, Mr. Crosby refused to let her slip through the cracks. Thanks to technology, Celeste is able to engage in the same activities as her classmates in the comfort of her own home, and is just as involved in her work and growth track as the other students. When the video showed her laughing and enjoying everything she was learning with the class, I was almost reduced to tears. If this doesn't show how rewarding a hands-on learning experience is, then I don't know what does. Mr. Crosby concludes his video by pointing out a major flaw in most educational systems today. He says that most schools promote learning basics in classrooms and later adding enrichment. This, unfortunately, is a route filled with rushing students through school without giving them the opportunity to enjoy what they are learning or develop the desire to want to continue to learn. The same students who could not tell you their addresses in the beginning of the school year are now getting an education through the most advanced tools in technology while building relationships with people all around the world. This video is a great example of how this type of teaching strategy not only helps students "learn how to learn" but teaches them a sense of character and promises them better days ahead.

Progress Report on Final Project

My group's Final Project is still a work in progress, but I feel that it really has potential to turn out fantastic. As of right now, we are currently working on a script to film our movie for Option B. We have not filmed anything just yet, but we are in the process of planning and brainstorming for our script. This way, we will have great material to work with next week for filming. We have each shared our ideas and are working very hard to make this final project a complete success.

Blog Post #12

Tweeting About Literature

In this week's blog post assignment, I was thrilled to find out that I was supposed to create an assignment that dealt with my particular field of teaching. While we are all learning the fundamentals of technology use in modern classrooms, I do feel that it is important to be getting ideas together NOW that will benefit us in our specialized fields when we are actual educators. After all, we'll be there before we know it, right?

Although this idea may seem small and simple, I thought that it would be great for class discussions. My major is secondary education in English/language arts, and the idea that I'm going to share is about using Twitter to create class discussions and debates on whatever book, poem, short story, or play that we are reading at the moment. This idea came from a YouTube video that I found on Pinterest entitled "Social Media and Technology in the Classroom". In this video, Mr. Cassidy's literature class stay actively engaged in class debates each week thanks to the use of Twitter and the usage of cell phones. Mr. Cassidy not only gives assignments through tweeting and incorporates the usage of hash tags, but he tweets questions regarding each literature assignment via Twitter. In class, he projects the tweets on a SMARTBoard and, by using their cell phones, allows the students to respond to questions and express their interpretations of each piece of writing. This way, all the students are involved in the class discussions and are enjoying themselves while learning about literature.

I do realize that this may appear to be a very elementary idea to some of you, but I thought that it was a great way to incorporate technology, even if it is in a small way, into the classroom and engage the minds of students who would probably otherwise be sleeping in class. Even though we have used Twitter in EDM 310, we never used it in the way that Mr. Cassidy's class did, so here we are with a brand new lesson for this class!

To use this lesson in the future of EDM 310, there are a few steps that Dr. Strange should follow. First of all, after everyone has created their Twitter account, I would pick a familiar piece of literature (Hamlet, The Odyssey, Emily Dickinson poems; it doesn't matter) and have everyone read it by a certain date. I would then go to the EDM 310 Class Blog page and make a post telling everyone that I would be tweeting a list of discussion questions pertaining to whatever we were assigned to read. I would tell them to tweet their responses to the questions using the hash tags #edm 310 and a hashtag of the name of the reading assignment. Afterwards, I would schedule another in-class meeting, and by using the SMARTBoard, I would show the questions along with the replied tweets of each student. I would also allow them to tweet whatever questions or comments they had while in class and we would discuss everything then. This would not only get students interested in the assignments, but it would also help them to become thinkers on their own. I would even have them make a reflection tweet or blog post about the reading assignment when they are finished so that I would know that they participated and fully understood their assignment.

Once again, I know that this is not the most creative idea when it comes to technology in the classroom. However, it does deal with my field of expertise, and it would be fun to see how other EDM 310 students would respond to it. This is an idea that I could see myself doing with my English classes one day, and I hope that Dr. Strange decides to give it a chance one day in his class, as well.

Blog Post #11

First Graders in Ms. Cassidy's Class

After watching this video, as well as Skype Interview With Ms. Cassidy, I have to admit that I was truly fascinated. All semester long we have been opened up to the idea of integrating technology in schools, and I have slowly developed into a huge fan of it. However, actually being able to see elementary school students in action and the positive effects that interactive learning has created, my love for this type of learning has gone to a whole new level. Although I hope to one day teach English/language arts at a high school and eventually college level, I love how blogging in Ms. Cassidy's classroom has brought so much life to her students. Anyone can see how the encouragement of blog post comments and interacting with students and teachers worldwide has given birth to a deeper love of learning to each student. Sadly, these students are more keen on technology at seven years old than I am at age twenty-three! I want my students to one day experience this same type of excitement while in school. I also love that she introduced them to wonderful devices such as Wiki, and are better able to grow and obtain knowledge simply because their horizons have been expanded. Ms. Cassidy mentioned in her Skype interview that the parents of her children have been very supportive, something that she is very lucky to be able to say. Unfortunately, I plan to teach in Alabama, and lack of parental support of this type of technologically-based learning will possibly be one of my biggest obstacles to overcome. I do feel, however, that by exposing parents to the ability to track the progress of their children and see the results throughout the year will help win over their approval. Hopefully, it will make my relationship with them less stressful (maybe). I'm very glad to have had the privilege of seeing project-based learning in action, and I now have a more clear vision of how I wish to set up my own classroom one day. Like Ms. Cassidy said, technology is most likely here to stay. On that note, why not students find a love for the one aspect that could make or break their success?

C4T #3

Post #1

This post was an exceptionally wonderful video of Jennifer Siebel Newsom, who is an actress, filmmaker, spokesperson, and advocate, giving a lecture on how the media is spreading a downright evil mentality to males and females alike. This video was posted by Dr. William Deyamport, III, who integrates technology with education through his blog. Mrs. Newsom discusses how the media has brainwashed our world into creating girls who are consumed with beauty and outward appearance, and boys who consume everything in their paths with no emotions. She brings up very interesting facts; for example, the U.S. population is made up of 51% of women, while men completely dominate the corporate world, religion, business, entertainment, and every other area. She gives a further explanation to her theory with the example of her children. When her daughter was born, she was given pink clothing and simple toys. When her daughter was born, however, not only was he showered with more gifts and praise for being a future achiever, but he was also thought of as one day being the president of our country. The point that she is trying to make here is that although her daughter was praised, too, she was not expected to have the same ambition or hold power the way that her son was supposed to. She later compares the media to relationships, stating, "you only get what you put into it." She claims that if we encourage the media to get rid of negative views on women, we will seek positive results not only in the lives of women, but in men, as well.

I commented on this video by letting Dr. Deyamport know how impressed I was with this lecture. Not only was Mrs. Newsom spot on some of the arguments that she made, but had practical solutions for these issues, too. I agree with much of what she is saying here. We now live in a world where wearing five pounds of makeup, throwing modesty out the window, and yelling filthy language at someone on national television gets a woman more recognition and praise than feeding orphaned children in an African village, or completing graduate school. However, I love that she gave examples of men and women doing everything in their power to put an end to the negativity around them, and helping children keep a pure mind in a culture that is so shallow. I thanked Dr. Deyamport for posting this excellent presentation, and told him that I hoped to be able to read more like this one soon.



Post #2

This week's C4T Assignment was once again posted by Dr. William Deyamport, III, and was actually written by Tanya Smith, an online business strategist. In this post, Mrs. Smith writes about using social media for coaching. She explains that although she does not claim to be a social media expert, she has used social media to get the word out about her business over the last few years. In this blog she demonstrates three ways that people can use social media to effectively promote business. The first point that she makes is to use social media, such as Twitter, but don't let the media BECOME the advertisement; there is a difference. It is important to use social media as a vehicle to advertisement, but not to restrict yourself to one advertising method and exclude all others. Another way that Mrs. Smith suggests using social media advertisement is by creating and using service groups with clients. By creating Facebook pages and accounts, you act as the moderator of these groups and allow many clients to have their questions answered. You can also engage in online video group discussions with interested buyers, which serve as a more satisfactory way of gaining more information and connecting with each other. Mrs. Smith concludes her post by encouraging readers to find helpful resources that they can use to help maintain their businesses. She explains that she uses Twitter, LinkedIn, and Referral Key to find resources from people that she trust. She writes that when using social media to help your business expand, you must be smart. Think about how much you currently use online sources, how this usage will fit into the larger plan of your company, and how much time and money you are willing to invest in this. She even shares a link on how to create a social media strategy that fits an individual's schedule.

I introduced myself to Mr. Deyamport and thanked him for sharing Mrs. Smith's social media strategies. I let him know that I enjoyed the advice that she gave in her post, and although I did not plan on becoming a business owner in the future, I still find great importance in the methods that she presents. I told him that in my opinion, running a classroom is much like running a business; whatever effort I put into helping my students is the same type of results that I can expect back. I wrote that I really enjoyed this post, and I will definitely refer back to these ideas in the future.

C4K Summary for March

C4K #5

The student whose blog I was assigned to read this week is named Dakota H.from Mr. Boylen's 2012-2013 LA class. In this blog, Dakota is answering whether or not he thinks that students gain anything from blogging with other people. He writes in his post that he does believe students have a lot to gain from blogging with others. He explains that by blogging, a person is able to learn about people whose culture, backgrounds, and lifestyles are different than ours. He feels that only personality types and the amount of work a person puts into blogging can affect how an individual feels about it. He admits that the only thing that makes it difficult for him is the way that the website is set up.
I began my comment on his post by first explaining who I was, of course. I strongly agreed with his perspective on the subject. I told him that before this semester, I was not very familiar with different aspects of technology or cultures that differed greatly from my own. I wrote that now I am quickly gaining much knowledge from blogging. I ended by telling him that he was a great writer and seemed to have a very open mind. I explained that this was a good quality in students because they are able to become fast learners this way.

C4K #6
This week, I had the privelege of reading a blog entitled "If We Share" by Jack from Mr. Huebl's classroom in Australia. I enjoyed this blog post the most out of all the ones that I have read so far because it was so simple, yet said so much. In his post, Jack talks about how most people think they can only share their personal items (in his example, toys and books). What they don't realize, however, is that they can also share personal qualities, such as time, knowledge, and skills. He tells readers that while some enjoy sharing, others think that it is boring. He concludes his post by writing that if we all worked together and all shared, we can be happy and make a change.

I commented on Jack's blog and let him know how much I enjoyed this post. I told him that the qualities about ourselves that we can share with others are some of the most valuable things that we can share in the long run. As for people not enjoying sharing, I stated that people do not realize that by reaching out to others and putting their needs before our own, there is more joy to be found. Although we live in a world full of promotion of selfishness, people really will make changes if they shift their focuses to others instead of themselves. I praised him for such a great post, and told him that I am looking forward to reading more from him.

C4K #7

This week's C4K Assignment was from a student named Sarah in Mrs. Lentine's K Harbor 7 class. Sarah's post was entitled "Wretches and Jabbers" and it was a response to a video she watched which taught education on autism. She wrote in her post that before she watched the video, she did not really know about autism. She thanked the creators of the video and asked if they would continue going anywhere else? She said that she hoped that they continue to educate people on autism because it is something people really need to know.

In my comment, I first introduced myself to Sarah. I basically told her that I really enjoyed her post and completely agreed with what she felt about autism. I stated that until recently, I was not very well educated on autism; throughout this semester, however, I am much more understanding of it and have a deeper appreciation for it than I did before. I wrote that I don't think you can truly appreciate something or understand its whole value until you have been educated on it and know about it well. I thanked her for her post, and let her know that I hoped to be able to read more of her posts in the future.

C4K #8

The post that I was able to read this week was written by Aspen H. of Mr. Boylen's Language Arts class. He told about playing basketball and gave a very vivid description of each game and how he felt various emotions in each moment. He also described the fun that he had in between games, and talked about how much he enjoyed being around his friends and family through it all.

I first introduced myself to Aspen H., and let him know that I thoroughly enjoyed reading his post. I told him that I had never played basketball, but I did compete in various school competitions when I was younger, and understood the value of every moment that passed by. I also told him that he seemed to be very passionate and enthusiastic about what he does, which is a key ingredient in all writings. I once again let him know how much I liked his post, and said that I hoped that I could read more from him soon.