C4T summary

The teacher that I was assigned to was Ms. Julie Reuter. I chose to read her blog post on PLNs. She talks about how important it is to have people in your PLN that are encouraging, that will push you, that are honest, that will help be better, and that will critique you. She taught her 5th grades about PLNs and let them create their own on google drawing. Then she decided that kids need to learn about this at a younger age. She had her 5th graders come in and teach the 1st graders about it and help them make their own. Then they were all able to show theirs.

In response, I told her that we learned about this in the EDM class I am taking right now. I said that I had never really heard about it before now. I think that kids should definitely be taught about PLNs at a younger age. By letting the 5th graders teach the 1st grades, it not only helps the 5th graders learn even more but helps create a bond and even expand their PLN.

The second blog post that I read about was called "Passion for Padlet". Julie tells us all about this tool she uses in her classroom. She says that it is very simple and easy to use. There are just a few steps you have to make and then you will be able to use it. She tells us that she uses it work her students to ask questions and for any comments. She would ask questions and then the students would reply on the Padlet.

I told her that I have never heard of Padlet before. It sounded like a very good way to involve and interact with your kids. I would definitely like to try using it one day.

C4K summary

The first student I was assigned to was Russell. Russell is a 8 year old from Pt England School in Auckland, NZ. In his blog post he talked about taking swim lessons at the aquatic center. He said that he has to pace himself when swimming or else he will get tired fast. He wants to get better at back stroke.

I told Russell that when I was his age I was on a swim. I loved to swim, and my favorite stroke was freestyle. I told him that he was right about keeping a steady pace. It really helps, especially when you are racing.

The next student I was assigned was Rave. He was also from Pt England School in Auckland, NZ. His blog post was all about his cousins 21st birthday party. He tells us that the theme was Monte Carlo and everyone wore black and gold clothes. His cousin was the oldest of the grandkids and so the celebration was very special. Family and friends all gave speeches and talked about fun memories.

In response, I told Rave that the party sounded like a blast! I told him that a lot of people celebrate not only the 21st but also the 16th birthday. I liked the theme of the party. I also thought that it was really cool that the relatives gave speeches.

Talia'uli was the next student I had. He created a google presentation on Kowhai trees. He told about the environment, adaptation, and types of the Kowhai tree. The presentation was very good. I told him that he did a great job. I have never heard of the Kowhai tree before. So I learned alot.

The final student I had was Nyree. Her blog post was on sentence variety. Her assignment was to make the sentences she was given more interesting for the reader. Nyree did a great job! In my comment, I told her that she definitely made the sentences more interesting and enjoyable to read. She was very creative. The only thing to work on was her punctuation. But that she did a great job.

Blog Post #13

The assignment for Blog Post #13 was to create an assignment for a Blog Post in my area of speciality. My area of speciality is Elementary Education but my topic covers all classrooms.

Topic: What role does Emotional Intelligence play in creating a healthy classroom?

I feel it is important to create an environment that is conducive to learning. When you have children in a classroom that have frequent outbursts, disrespectful attitudes towards the teacher and other students, it can make leaning difficult for those students wanting to learn.

Emotional Intelligence is defined as "The capacity to be aware of, control, and express one’s emotions, and to handle interpersonal relationships judiciously and empathetically"

To develop Emotional Intelligence competencies you first have to be aware of your emotions and behavior (Self Awareness), to manage your negative and destructive emotions (Self Management), and share your positive experiences with others (Relationship Management).

Marc A. Brackett wrote: "Research indicates that social and emotional skills associated with success in many areas of life, including effective teaching, student learning, quality relationships, and academic performance"

There are many classroom activities to address emotional literacy. One activity would be to list and define various emotions: what triggers these emotions, what a child can do to deal with the emotion, and how their emotion affects the people that are around them. Not only is it important for the children to have emotional intelligence but also the teacher when dealing with difficult children.

"All learning has an emotional base." -- Plato

Blog Post #12

What assistive technologies are available to you as a teacher? Select a few and discuss how they may be useful to you

Hearing Assistance Technology or (HAT), is technology that was designed to help the hearing impaired. Oftentimes, a hearing aid or cochlear implant is not enough to help children with hearing problems. The Assistive Listening Device also known as ALD helps to separate the sound of background noise so that the hearing impaired can hear more clearly. The way this is achieved is the speaker talks into a microphone and the words are sent straight into the ear thus eliminating any background noise or issues with the user being able to hear the speaker due to distance.

Another device that helps the hearing impaired is bluetooth device that allows for digital audio streaming from the bluetooth device to the hearing aid or cochlear inplant. Either of these devices will be helpful in the classroom, I could certainly see where the microphone would be good for group discussions and the bluetooth device for individual lessons.

It is wonderful when volunteers come to the school to read to the children, but some children need additional one-on-one help with reading. The Assistive Technology Tool that is designed to help children with reading is Audiobooks. The books allow the child to listen to the text and follow along. The books are on various format such as CD's, MP3 players, audio cassettes. The benefits of this technology is that the children can move at their own pace with playback options and they will learn to pronounce the words correctly. There is a huge electronics library available and in the event that the book you are seeking is not in the audiobook library. They have developed a scanner where you can scan printed material into a computer or handheld device. The text is then read aloud via a speech reading system. This technology is called Optical Character Recognition.

Smart Board Project 12 Part B

Teacher Interview

C4T teacher #3

I was assigned the teacher arvind s. grover. The first blog post of hers i read was called "Showing all kinds of Loving families". In this blog she writes how important it is to teach about the different kinds of families. She posted a video of two gay men that get married after being together for a very long time. They adopt a child and have a wonderful life. In response, I wrote that i think it is also very important to teach about the different kinds of families. I never was really taught about it. Now when I see other kinds than my own family, it kinda shocks me. Especially today with our society, their are so many people different than ourselves.

The next post I read was titled "Hi friends and strangers, please interact with me, not your mobile device". In this post, she talks about how all everyone is addicted to their phones. How they don't even interact with each other because they are too busy on their phones. She posted a video about people that are missing out on the things in front of them because they are doing things on their phones. I responded by saying how I see this going on all the time. I will be trying to have a conversation with someone and they just ignore me because they are distracted by something on their phone. My boyfriend even does this. It is very aggravating! It is good that our society is so technologically advanced, but it is bad if we can interact with the people around us.

Blog Post 11