C4T #4

Comment 1

This week I am assigned to the blog At the Teacher's Desk. If you are in EDM 310 you might remember this as being the blog for our blog assignment #9 where we read Joe McClung's blogs about his first 3 years of teaching. I am commenting on the post Exemplar of Students Work with Video. This was posted by Myles Webb, a teacher at Melville Intermediate School in Hamilton, Waikato, New Zealand.

This blog post is about a student made video in Mr. Webb's class. The students' assignment was to make a video of what they had been assigned to help out with around the school. These two students' job was to feed MIS worms with discarded/leftover food. They are the "MIS worm agents". One of the students in the video is legally blind, but they still allowed him to participate in this activity. I really enjoyed his presence. His energy and liveliness made the video so amazing.
My comment:
"Hello Mr. Webb! My name is Carly Willoughby, and I'm a student in EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama. I will be posting a summary of your blog post onto my blog. This video is priceless! This is one of the reasons I want to become an elementary teacher. I want to be able to help students learn what is important like taking care of the earth by doing their "environmental jobs". I also love that you gave Carlton an opportunity to be in a video even though he has a handicap. I will be incorporating everyone in my classes as much as I can so everyone gets the same chance to participate in the fun activities. Carlton was the talker in this video, and without him I don't think it would seem as alive as it was. His presence was needed. I am so glad that you shared this video with me! I really enjoyed it. I hope you and your students have a great rest of the school year! Sincerely, Carly Willoughby"

Comment #2

There was no new post on my assigned blog this week. So I commented on the blog post before the one I commented on last time. This post is Reflections on #EdCampStL 2012 by William Chamberlain. He lives in Noel, Missouri and works in the McDonald County R-1 school district. His blog post was about his experience at EdCamp. I didn't know what this was, so of course I went to handy, dandy, GOOGLE! I found the website Introduction to Edcamp: A New Conference Model Built on Collaboration and it informed me that it is a conference where educators come together and share their new ideas. In Mr. Chamberlain's post he stated that it is a place to form professional relationships and learn from one another. He says, "The more people you meet, the better your experience will be."

My comment:

"Hello Mr. Chamberlain! My name is Carly Willoughby and I'm a student at the University of South Alabama. I will be publishing a summary of your blog post on my blog tonight.
I understand why you say going to something with people you know might be a barrier. When you go to an event with friends, you tend to stay secluded with them and attend the same events as them even if you are interested in different things. I believe that is why it is a good thing to go somewhere and meet new people who are at the same sessions as you because then you will make a new friend in that area. This will contribute to what you say about meeting people and making new relationships where you can share and learn from each other.
This was a very informative post. Thank you for sharing it with me. I will keep these tips in mind when I attend conferences.
Sincerely,
Carly Willoughby"