C4K - November Comments

11-6 Comment

For my first November comment, I had to comment on Mr. Mclung's class blog. I was assigned to the post "The Scramble for Africa." In this post, Mr. Mclung explained that his class had just discussed the Rise of Kingdoms in Africa. He said that one way he was teaching his class about it was through the use of political cartoons. He put a slide show of some of the cartoons he used in the post.

I replied and told him that I thought the political cartoons he chose were great representations of the issue. I also told him that I remembered my teachers in middle school using political cartoons, and that we always loved them.

11-13 Comment

For my second November comment, I had to comment on Mrs. Yollis' Project 365 Blog. I was assigned to post 276 called "Rhodie!". This post was wrote by Mrs. Yollis, and she told her students about a dog named "Rhodie" that she and her husband were dog-sitting. She told about how much work it was taking care of him, and defined the word "tend" for her students. Then, she asked them if they have any animals that need tending to.

I responded and told her that I like how she uses a class blog to help teach her students on. I also told her a little about my dog "Hershey", and what all I have to do to take care of her.

Part two of 11-20 Comment

For my third November comment, I was assigned to a student named "Silas", who is a student at Pt England School in New Zealand. I commented on his blog "The Planet Vars". In this post, he made up a planet called "Vars", and he told about a boy named Brian who lived on it. He also told about how huge it was, and showed a picture of it.

I commented back and told him that I thought his planet was cool, and that I would love to visit it some day. I also told him that he needed to make sure to place commas and periods as needed.

Blog Post #13

For this assignment, I decided to do the media fast. I'll admit, i have actually attempted this once before, but I failed. At church, our youth leaders always tried to get us to do this fast. I usually ended up texting someone when I got bored, and always messed it up. This time I was successful. It is definitely very hard and requires a lot of will power! I kept forgetting that I couldn't watch television and I had to keep starting over, but eventually I remembered. As for the cell phone, my husband and I are currently sharing a phone, so I just sent the phone with him to work to avoid tempting myself. He did not have a problem with this, whatsoever, might I add. He did keep trying to watch television, and I had to keep reminding him. We have recently moved, and we have not got internet yet, so staying away from the computer was pretty easy for me. My husband took it and played "Sims 3" on it, which helped me to stay away.

I feel like this assignment should be required, because everyone needs to realize that they CAN survive without media. Of course, it complicates things a lot, and it takes getting out of tradition to do it...but I think that it is a great idea. After doing this, I learned that I really am not as media-dependent as I thought. When you first start out, you think "I can't do this. I'm not going to make it..." and then when you finish it, you have a sense of accomplishment that brings pride in yourself. Media has really became a huge part of our every day lives. We depend on it a lot. It makes you stop and think about what life was like back in the day when computers were too expensive to own! I think that if I gave this assignment to my students, most of them would not make it. There may be a select few that do, and it would probably be the ones that don't have internet or cable. This assignment will definitely make you think!

Project #15b

Progress Report on Final Project

For our final project, Greta, Frances and I have been thinking that we should do a video that helps students to learn how to manage their time more efficiently. We were inspired by the EDM310 for Dummies videos! They were very helpful to us. We all agreed that the time management portion is the hardest part of EDM310, so that is why we decided on it.

Blog Post #12

An assignment that I think we should have to do in EDM310 is to compare teachers that we've had growing up by their technological literacy. List one or more teachers that have been creative with the technology their school provided (whether the new or old technology) and talk about how the use of technology helped you to do better in the class, or if you feel it didn't help at all. Then, talk about a teacher you had that was not technologically literate at all and your learning experience, and talk about whether or not you learned better with them, or with the teacher who used technology.


I never really had teachers who efficiently used technology until high school. It may be because in Elementary school, we didn't have all the cool technology that we have now. For middle school, it probably was just a basic fact of not having enough money in the budget to buy the newest stuff. For this assignment, I am going to compare two history teachers that I had in high school.

My 11th grade history teacher (I can't remember her name!) used a smart board to teach with. Whenever we took tests, she had these nifty things called "clickers", and we would each be assigned to our own. She would give each student a test, and then as you read each question, you click the letter on the clicker to answer with. If it received it, on the smart board it would blink green and show the next number. If you had to go back and change an answer, there were buttons on the clicker that would allow you to do that. It was a very "green" way of taking tests, and also it eliminated cheating. If someone were to try, it would be very difficult! In that class, I actually learned a lot! I always had trouble paying attention in school, and I could never focus enough to read the chapters in textbooks. Whenever I had this class, I found that her use of technology really helped me to focus, and overall I did great in the class.

In 12th grade, I had a history teacher that was very monotone, and he taught using a chalkboard. He gave us a ton of worksheets that never seemed to make sense to me. They never fully related to the notes that he gave us, and I had a hard time paying attention. Obviously, I did horrible in this class. I know that this example is not very good considering he was monotone, so I will use one more! My 10th grade history teacher was the same way. He wasn't really monotone, he just gave us a lot of bookwork. He had a whiteboard that he wrote notes on, but it was just very hard to pay attention. Both of these classes were just extremely boring to me! There was nothing interesting, whatsoever about them.

I think that I learned more in 11th grade than I did the entire time I was in high school! My theory is that it was because my teacher was not afraid to use technology. She was always experimenting with the smart board, and it was really entertaining to watch. It caught your attention and didn't let go! The other two teachers were the opposite. My theory about them is that they were afraid of technology. If they just had of tried to incorporate it the least little bit I really think it would've helped! There are some teachers that are just so good at teaching that they don't have to use technology to get their students' attention, but if they threw in just a tad of technology, I think that they would be that much better!

C4K #10

Mrs. Yollis' class blog is extremely impressive and professional. She has an "about me" page, telling the students and the parents about her, and she also has a page that tells a little bit about her 3rd grade class. She even has a video tutorial that shows how to comment, and also a link that explains how to use html codes. I also saw a link that says "Mrs. Yollis' Class Blog", and when you go to it, she has a whole bunch really cool things. One, for example, says "Blogging tips for teachers". When you click on it, she tells about ways that blogging has helped her students, and there are even some tips for teachers. I really think that It is really a great blog site for students and parents, and I think that it is a great resource for teachers. I think that every teacher needs to visit her site and see just how much all of her students have learned from having a class blog.

C4K - October Comments

C4K #1
For my first comment, I commented on the kids view's post "Have a Great Holiday Prep S and K". In this post, the students made a video of themselves inviting visitors to their class' blogs ( We Love Learning and Learning Together) while they went on a holiday break. I went to both sites and left the kids comments telling them how good they were doing and that I loved their Australian accents.

C4K #2
For my 2nd comment, I was assigned to Anthony. I commented on Anthony's post, "science week." In his post, he told about his science class, and about an experiment he wanted to try. I commented and told him that I was glad that he enjoyed science, and that I hoped his experiment went well, and that he would post a blog about how it went.


C4K#3
For my second comment, I "randomly" was assigned to Cesar. I commented on his post "My Poem." It was a poem that he wrote about winter. I commented and told him that he did a great job, but that I thought his poem deserved a better title than just "My poem."

C4K #4
For my fourth comment, I posted on Jake's blog. I commented on his blog "How you get Brain Freeze's". In his post, he told the scientific reasoning for how you get brain freezes, and also how to cure them. I commented and told him that I get them occasionally, and that I will remember the cures for next time!

C4K #5
For my 5th comment, I had to post on the post "Taimana's Australian Animation". In this post, Taimana had made a video of what he thought the Australian Outback looked like. I commented and told him that I thought he did a great job, and that the kangaroo's were my favorite.

Blog Post #9

"What I've Learned this Year (2008-2009)"

In this post, Dr. Mclung talks about what he learned hist first year of being a teacher. He tells about how he learned that it really isn't about the teacher, it is about the students being able to learn what you are teaching. He also talks about a solution he found to fix a problem in the work environment; communicate with your co-workers. He said that it is one of the hardest things to do, but it works! He then talks about how sometimes teachers build up their expectations too high for students, and he says that teachers should make sure they are being reasonable. He cracked me up when he began to talk about teachers being afraid of technology. He stated "Grown adults everywhere are afraid of computers like it's a bad horror film and computers are trying to take over the world. " Might I add, he is right! There are many teachers who won't touch anything except their computers, and that is either to get on the web, or to take role. Dr. Mclung also says that he learned to listen to his students, and that it was important to keep a good teacher-student relationship with them. Lastly, he says that educators should never stop learning. Can I just say, Amen to that!

There were several things that he said that really stood out to me. One thing was "A common theme that I have seen in a lot of teachers is the fact that they do not make their lessons student centered. They become so concerned with the delivery of the content that they are missing the most important aspect of teaching, and that is checking for student comprehension." I think he is so right! This is very true, and after reading this it made me think about whenever I give lessons. I am always worried about how to give it, instead of how the students take it. This is almost considered selfish, to an extent. From now on, whenever I go to teach anything I will always consider the students view first. Another thing I really liked that he said was to listen to your students. So many times, we ignore them because we are in a bad mood or just don't feel like hearing their input. We need to stop being selfish and try to listen to them more. A third thing that I liked was when he said we should never stop learning. I really liked that because if we stop learning, then we will stop "updating" our curriculum and lessons to go along with the current technology trends and learning styles.

What I've Learned this Year (2010-2011)

In this post, Dr. Mclung tells about his third year teaching. He says that it is his first year to be a head coach, a cross-country coach, to teach a second year at the same school, and a computer app. teacher. He says that he learned that it is far more important to focus on your students than to focus on what others think of you. I agree with him. It is more important for us to teach our students in ways that best work for them, than to worry about what other coworkers think about our method of doing so. As long as your methods are legal and they are teaching the students correctly, I don't see where it would matter. Second, he says "Don't expect other to be as excited about change as you are." He then tells about how he is an optimist, and there are others who are not so optimistic about new things. His opinion is that you should ignore them and go on with your excitement. Yet again, I agree! I am an optimist as well, and I think that if your school were to make "changes" and you were to go about it dead set that it was not going to work, then more than most likely it won't work for you. It might, however, work for others who go about it positively.


The next thing he mentions kind of goes along with the previous topic, and that's "Don't be afraid to be an outsider." He explains his point, that if you are going to be yourself, you cannot be afraid to be different. After that, he talks about not doing the students' work for them when they have questions. He mentions that if we do the work for them, then they will never master the skills. I understand what he is saying, and I believe he is right. It is easy for us to get annoyed sometimes with students who ask question after question and do not ever do the work right, and so sometimes we get "fed up" with them and just feel the urge show them how to do the work. It is ok to help them, but if we just give them the answers they might not ever learn how to fend for themselves. Lastly, he says "Don't get comfortable." He talks about how it is important that we not get "comfortable" doing the same thing every day, because then we will just be boring old teachers that don't try anything new. I know that growing up, I liked it when I had teachers that were willing to try something new, so I definitely agree with him here. I really enjoyed reading his posts! They have actually taught me a few pointers for whenever I become an "official" teacher.