Friday, November 9, 2012

C4K Summary for October

A screenshot of Katie's blog.

At the beginning of October, I was assigned to Katie in Ms. Dunlop's Class 2012-2013. In Katie's post, she wrote a short poem titled, "Happy Fall"! It goes:

I like Fall because Halloween is in Fall.
I taste cupcakes.
I see people playing in leave piles.
I feel leaves crunching under my feet.
I hear leaves crunch when I walk.


In my comment, I asked her who she is going to be dressed up as for Halloween and what is her favorite type of cupcakes! She replied, "For Halloween I’m gonna tape smarties to my pants and be smartie pants. I like chocolate cupcakes with frosting and rainbow sprinkles." For those that don't know, "Smarties" is a type of candy! That's a lot of candies that she's going to tape!!!

A screenshot of OSG's Global Issues Blog.

For my second C4K, I was assigned to a post in a class blog named "OSG's Global Issues Blog", which is kept by student-authors and their teacher Mr. Mike Gwaltney. The post I had to comment on is titled "Globalization:Friend or Foe?" It was surprising to me that students are blogging about globalization. They wrote about the positive and negatives affects globalization has. Most people will see globalization in a positive standpoint because they are generally the consumers. Consumers take it things for granted and are spoiled by the availability of the products. It is true that the negatives are unseen by the consumers. What are the negatives? They said that no one sees the poor working conditions and environments that the workers in factories have to stay in. Another negativity is the low wages these workers get for the amount that they do in harsh working conditions. These are very true. The media doesn't cover all of that to us. They also said that developing countries are hurting more because of the consumers in the United States or western countries. I had to disagree with that statement in my comment.

A screenshot of Angela's blog.

For my third C4K, I was assigned to Angela, a student in Mr. Capp's third grade class. I commented on her post titled, "The Living Branch." It is a short story of the life and experiences of a living branch through the four seasons. She uses her own life experience and imagination to depict what a branch's life would be like. In the Spring, the branch experiences very wet and rainy days. In the Summer, it's so hot that the leaves would crinkle up to hold onto the branch. She wrote that its favorite season is the Fall because it's not too cold, too wet, or too hot. During the Winter, the cold and rough wind spanks the leaves and bark. It's so cold that the living branch wishes it to be over already. She also added a moral at the end of her story. The moral is "never wish for better or you might get worse." It is a well-written and creative piece of work, especially for a third grader!! In my comment, I asked her what her favorite season was. She replied, "I guess my favorite season is Fall."

A screenshot of Carson's blog called Epic Alberta.

For my fourth C4K of the month, I was assigned to Carson, a student in Mrs. Spencer's class at Lochearn School. His blog is called "Epic Alberta". I commented on his post that has an attached video. He used Animoto to create a short video of Alberta, Canada. Alberta is located on the Rocky Mountains! In the video, he used photographs of the class, pictures of animals, maps, photographs of the landscape, and etc. to show what you would expect in Alberta! He also showed us the Canadian shield in Alberta!! I asked him what it was like to live on the Rocky Mountains but there's no reply.


A screenshot of the header of Dr. Vitulli and Santoli's blog called Vitulli and Santoli: Eyes on Ireland.

For my last C4K of the month, I was assigned to Dr. Vitulli and Dr. Santoli's Ireland blog called "Vitulli & Santoli: Eyes on Ireland." I had to comment on a post titled, "Wednesday's Keynote Speaker." It is about the final keynote speaker, Dr. Patricia Mannix-McNamara, during the international conference. Dr. Patricia Mannix-McNamara is the co-director of the Research Centre for Education and Professional Practice at the University of Limerick. She talks about the changes in the educational system that does not focus on the students anymore. Schools push for higher grades, test scores, meeting standards, and etc. instead of focusing on the student's learning process, development, and well-being. With the corruption and dishonesty in society, the teachers are not equipped, trained or given the class time to focus on the students' mental health, needs, and values. The classroom only focuses on what the student needs to know in order to past tests and state-exams. Dr. Santoli said that, "Dr. Patricia Mannix-McNamara feels that schools are failing young people in the area of human development," and it is true! She also says that Finnish schools, which are talked about being the world's best, moved from the exam system to a "holistic" one. References in the speech were made and Sir Ken Robinson's video, "Do Schools Kill Creativity?" was one of them!

1 comment:

  1. "...or given the class time to focus on the students' mental health, needs, and values. " I wonder whether schools should be responsible for these things. Shouldn't our focus be on learning?

    Thoughtful. Interesting. Well done.

    ReplyDelete