C4K Summary Post 3

C4K #7
8th grader covers a Weezer song

For this week's C4K's assignment we had the privilege of viewing Mr. McClung's blog page and commenting on his student's work. Mr. McClung is an 8th grade teacher at Woodland Jr. High in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Mr. McClung uses this blog for his social studies and computer applications class. The post that I commented on was a video done at a talent show in which one 8th grade student covered a Wheezer song. Here is what I had to say about the video.

Hey, my name is Jenna Baxter and I am a student at the University of South Alabama. As I am sure you have guessed, I am in Dr. Strange’s EDM310 class and am commenting on this blog for part of my assignment. I will post my response to this blog post in my blog. You can also follow me on Twitter @jennabaxter1988.

First of all, let me say that I am thoroughly impressed with this whole blog page. While I don’t have much experience with blogs, I do believe this is the most organized and informational blog page I have seen. I like how you have the different links for more information about you, your class rules, student work, and class syllabus. Now on to my comment on the talent show video. I watched the video of the 8th grader who covered the Wheezer song. I think this really showed courage because the student was not afraid to get up there and sing a song by himself. I think he did a great job and this song seemed to be something he really enjoyed singing. I also thought his guitar playing was quite good. I have a brother who loves to play guitar so I know how difficult it can be to learn. I hope to continue following your blog and good luck to all of your students! Thank you for letting us view and comment on your students wonderful work!

C4K #8

Week in Review

For this week's C4K, I commented on a blog of 6 year students in Egypt. All of the students are ten and eleven year olds, and they use this blog for their class. The blog that I commented on was a review of what they did the week of March 31. The first thing the student talked about was Trade Day. Trade Day is where two students are given a country and they have to trade with other "countries." They are only given a certain amount of money to trade with. The student that wrote this blog was paired up with KH, and they were Libya. They said they had a hard time keeping all of their money because they had to trade with Mexico and they wanted to buy a lot of things. The next thing that was talked about was the PE class. In the class they are doing what is called a PE Sport Module. They will be learning about football this week and will have a tournament in five weeks. They are going to play against another school and all of the students are very excited! Here is what I had to say in response:

Hey, my name is Jenna and I am an Elementary Education major at the University of South Alabama. I am taking a class called EDM310 in which we get to comment on student's blogs from around the world. This week I was given your blog post to comment on. I will post a summary of your blog along with my comments on my blog by April 24.

I really enjoyed reading this blog post. I like that you have a Trade Day to learn about other countries. Knowing about the world around you is very important. What are some of the things that you got to learn? Also, how are you liking football? Being in the United States, football is very important to us. I am a fan of college football more than professional, but watching any game is exciting. Good luck on your game and I hope you have fun! Thank you for letting me read your blog!

C4K #9

Mrs. Yollis' Class Blog

Mrs. Yollis' blog is quite like Mr. McClung's blog in that it is very educational. I think Mrs. Yollis is doing a great job teaching her students how to use the internet effectively and how to blog effectively. There were several parts of the blog that I enjoyed the best. They were the "Meet Mrs. Yollis" tab, the "Learn HTML code" tab, and the blog posts.

I really enjoyed getting to know Mrs. Yollis. I think it is important for teachers to let their students (and parents) learn a little bit about them. This kind of sharing really builds a strong relationship. It is neat how much Mrs. Yollis gets to travel. She has been all over the world, and has even taught in Spain! I also liked how Mrs. Yollis added links to different web sites in her blog. This really allows anyone who visits her site to learn more about these fascinating topics.

The next thing that I thought was good about Mrs. Yollis' blog was the "HTML" tab and the video about how to comment. Both of these tools are indispensable in the world of blogging. As someone who is new to blogging, Mrs. Yollis' suggestions really helped. By teaching these students these techniques at such early ages, Mrs. Yollis is truly preparing her students for the technological world.

I also liked reading several of the blog posts left by Mrs. Yollis and her class. I thought all of the content was great for the third grade level. The students did really good with their grammar, and really left knowledgeable posts. I especially liked the post talking about Drop Everything And Read Day. I love to read and I think it is great to allow students to pick out any book they like and read it during class for that one day. Opening students to the world of books really allows them to expand their knowledge. I also think it is great that parents and grandparents can comment on the student's blogs. To get a conversation going between the students and their parents is wonderful and really makes the students feel like their voices are being heard.

The post that we were assigned to comment on this week is titled April is Family Blogging Month. This post talked about Mrs. Yollis' efforts to get family members to comment on the student's blogs. Each student had to make a list of family members and then assigned them blogs that fit their interests. Mrs. Yollis encouraged everyone to participate. Here is what I had to say in response to the blog:

Dear Mrs. Yollis and class,

My name is Jenna and I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I am taking Dr. Strange's EDM310 class and have been assigned to comment on this blog post. First of all, let me say what an honor it is to be able to comment on such a wonderful blog page. I will be leaving a summary of what I thought about this blog, which can be found on my blog.

I think Family Blogging Month is a great idea! It is wonderful to be able to get parents and other family members so involved in their children's learning. I hope to include blogging in my classroom when I become a teacher and would love to do something similar. What made you decide to start Family Blogging Month?

I also wanted to let you know that your blog is truly educational. The video on how to comment and the HTML codes were especially helpful. Good luck in the rest of the school year and keep up the great blogging!

Thanks again,
Jenna

C4K #10

For this week's C4Ks, I was assigned to Victoria's (a.k.a Miriam) blog post. Miriam is a third grader in Mrs. Yollis' class. She is one of a few students who get to have their own blog page. Her blog page is titled Miriam's Magical Moments. The post that I commented on was titled "Hawaiian Volcanoes."

In her blog, Miriam talked about a trip she took to visit a volcano in Hawaii. She visited a volcano called Kīlauea (kiːlɑːuːˈeɪə). It is one of the most active volcanoes. The first place they went when they arrived at the volcano was the museum. After leaving the museum, they had to hike through the rain forest to get to the volcano. Miriam included a lot of pictures from her trip and also had several links to important websites. Here is what I had to say in response to her blog post.

Dear Miriam,

I am a student in Dr. Strange's EDM310 class at the University of South Alabama. Congratulations on being one of the students who gets to have their own blog page! Your blog is really interesting and I loved getting to read some of your posts for my EDM310 assignment.

I thought you did a great job telling about your trip to Hawaii. Was this your first time visiting there? Your talk got me interested in finding out a little more about the volcanoes in Hawaii and a went to gohawaii.com to find out more. Did you know that Kīlauea has been continuously erupting since 1983?! Anyway, I liked how you included pictures and links to go along with your post. This really shows that you care about your work.

To answer your questions from the bottom of the post: I have never been to a volcano, but would love to go! I love to explore new places, but I do not get to explore as much as I would like. The only places that I have really been are New York (which was amazing) and Tennessee (which I love!). Thanks for letting me read and comment on your post! A summary of your post, along with my comments, will be available on my blog. Good luck in the rest of your schooling!

Thanks again,
Jenna