Blog Post #6

Asking Questions:
 What questions do we ask? How do we ask?

While doing this assignment I realized that asking questions is a very important part of learning. The type of questions that teachers ask their students are all planned ahead of time and serve a very important role. I found a lot of useful tips on creating questions in "Asking Questions To Improve Learning."   One tip is always wait 5 to 10 seconds after asking a question, this allows the students to think about what they are going to say and how to answer. Another great tip to never interrupt a student when they are trying to answer your questions, this allows the student to fully explain their answer. Bloom's Taxonomy chart also helped me understand the fundamentals of asking questions. The six categories that make up asking questions consist of: evaluation, synthesis, analysis, application, comprehension, and knowledge. The chart below describes each of categories in detail.

What do we need to know about asking questions to be an effective teacher?

The article "Three Ways to Ask Better Questions in the Classroom." by Maryellen Weimer, Phd. has been very helpful to me. While reading Mrs. Weimer's blog she has shown me three simple ways to improve my question asking skills. Most teachers never realize how important the question asking task really is. If you are not careful your questions can do more harm than help to your students. To make sure this never happens, always make sure you follow these three steps: prepare your questions, play with questions, and preserve the good questions.

 

-Prepare your questions:

Many teachers when asking questions never take the time to actually prepare. They usually go straight off impulse. Wiemer teaches us to prepare are questions ahead of time, which prevents asking questions impulsively. Preparing your questions ahead of time allows you to have plenty of time to think them through. You always want your questions to improve your students thinking, not bore them or confuse them. One way to realize if you are asking the wrong type of question is if no one attempts to answer them.

 

-Play with questions:

Questions are more powerful in the space between the question and the answer. A great successful way to play with questions is to leave the question unanswered and then come back to that same question. This gives the students time to fully think of an answer and helps them stay focused. This may also give them time to write down ideas or collaborate with other students to come up with an answer.

 

-Preserve the good questions:  

Whenever a student asks a good question you should always write it down and save it for future use.

By saving your previous students questions, this may help you answer future questions that may resemble. By bringing up previously asked questions this shows the students that their questions are in fact valued and cherished. We should always encourage students to ask questions because the only bad question there is, is the one no one ever asked.

 

 

Project #8 (Book Trailer)

Blog Post #5

How can ICurio and Discovery Ed Be Used Effectively in Your Instruction?

Discover ICurio for yourself, click here.
 (Below is contact information for the ICurio Corp.)
Contact us at 1.855.KNOVATE for more information or to get a customized quote for your school or district.

Discovery Education (Click here for more info.)

Poject #7

Project #3

Project #2

This is my Personal Learning Network that I have created according to my personal interests. I can click any of these icons and they will take me straight to where I need to go. Most of the icons I have on my PLN are for educational purposes only or just intrigue me. My Educational News icon is a personal favorite because it updates you whenever any kind of news about the local school systems are available. I also added some art icons to my network as well, I think a PLN should be consistent with your personal interests. The website I used to create my PLN is called Symbaloo. This site allows you to compact everything you like into one collage of sites. Having this organizing type site is very invigorating and makes it much easier for my learning experiences.

 

Blog Post #4

Why Podcast? How do we do a podcast?

Link:http://langwitches.org/blog/category/podcasting
Summary:
This blog is about how a first grade teacher introduced the idea of podcasting to her class. Each student was allowed to read a part of the script in their own read-aloud audio book. The teacher would make a script and then record the students reading each line. She made a book so that the students could use it to follow along while listening to their podcast. The teacher writes how she was amazed at the students because they were all engaged and ready to listen and record their voices. Podcasting is a great way to intergrade learning phonics and reading with fun and exciting new ways. The teacher then stated that the podcast was embedded onto their class blog. This truly sounds like an excited learning experience. I think we should podcast because it breaks up the monotony of reading from text book to text book. If we can show our students that they can be apart of their books by hearing their own voices in a podcast, then I believe they will be astonished and intrigued. I think that by using podcasts in the classroom the students phonemic and phonological awareness will increase rapidly.

Link: Integrating ICT into the classroom
Summary:
While watching this video is makes podcasting seem like a must have in the classroom. There are so many advantages to having this tool, most teachers can record their lectures and upload them onto a class blog. If students are sick or unable to attend class they still have all of the lecture notes where they can listen and never be behind. By using the podcast learning strategy you are allowing your students to demonstrate a higher power of thinking skills. Another great thing about podcasts is that they can be listened to anytime, anywhere and are perfect for class blogs and websites. The children we will be teaching are called millennial students, meaning they were born after 1980. These students have never experience life without technology, so why should they have to while they are in school? By teaching with effective tools, such as the podcasting system, it makes learning very relatable for 21st century learners.

Link:http://www.curriki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Coll_jpsrolls/PodcastCollection
Summary:
This blog basically shows what a podcast is. Broken down the term podcast is a cross between a broadcast and an ipod. They say that a podcast is a radio-like talk show and it may even include background music. Podcasts can be listened to on a MP3 player or a computer. Millions of people who surf the web listen to podcasts on a daily basis. It enables information to be shared sufficiently. A Podcast is a voice with music in the background. A vodcast is just like a podcast but with visuals, its basically like a slideshow.

C4C (Project #5)

C4C #13 (Last One)
Student: Anna Kern
http://kernannaedm310.blogspot.com/

Hey! your blog looks great, all of your pictures have links and your links within your blogs are working. Great job! I only saw one tiny mistake, other than this, great job!

You Said:
We all remember being little and wanting to do the things we thought would be fun such as being an artist or an astronaut.As Mr. Koyczan said, despite all we dreamed about or aspired to be, we were told to think about things more realistic.
(*There should be a space after astronaut and As.)


C4C #12
Student: Jacquelyn's Blog
Hi! Your blog looks flawless, I have proofread this blog and I did not find any mistakes. All of your links are working and you have added titles and pictures. keep up the good work!

C4C#11
Student Name & Link: Jordan Neely
HI, Jordan your blog looks really good, it is organized very well and everything is easy  to see. I noticed you have pictures in every post and it really does make your post stand out. The links are also working on each of your pictures, good job. You also incorporated links into each post that will directly take you to each article.

I did find some mistakes within your blog post #11:
You Said:
They know the rules for commenting and to not say means things in comments because it could hurt their classmate’s feelings.
*Instead of "means" it should be "mean"

This sentence doesn't flow very well:
This classroom has Nintendo DS’s as well with educational games on them, too.
*Try this:
*Mrs. Cassidy's classroom is equipped with Nintendo DS, which is a hand held gaming device that contains educational games.

C4C#10
Student Name & Link to Blog: Brylyn Cowling

Your blog looks great, your picture has the correct HTML code when you hover the mouse over it and your links are working.

I am not positive but I am pretty sure you need a comma in this sentence:
*Randy Pausch was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University who battled pancreatic cancer and is famously known for his inspirational lecture, The Last Lecture.
>>(If the highlighter does not show up I placed a comma after the lecture, The Last Lecture)

*When he stated this, I immediately thought of scenarios in my future classroom that this could apply to: What if I teach in an area where funds are lacking and the tools I would like to use in my classroom are limited?

This sentence is a little broken up, you could rephrase it like this:
>>While Randy spoke, I immediately though of...

 *From this segment I learned that it is important to make the most out of each and every opportunity and situation I am given in my career as a professional educator.
*You should say something that flows better:
>>While listening to this segment I learned:


C4C #9
Student: Briann Smith
Blog Link: Briann's Blog Post

Below are some tips to incorporate into this blog post, also the post is very lengthy. Maybe condensing the next post would be a way to entice the reader to keep reading. Other than that it looks really good, your pictures and videos are working perfectly. Keep up the good work.

This was a colaberative post, they wrote:
He described at “risk students” as students of poverty
*This should be: He describes at "risk students" as students of poverty.

They wrote:
What city do you live?, What state do you live in?, What country do you live in?, and What is your address?

*I am not positive but I do not think you need these commas. The ? mark should be the end of the sentence the commas don't really make sense. You should just list the questions and leave the commas out.

They wrote:
In his presentation he went on to ask, “why is there such a disconnect for these kids”.


*There should be a ? mark after kids?"
Example: "Why is there such a disconnection for these kids?".

They wrote:
Crosby stressed how important it is to help students who have not had many experiences and inputs to build a schema of the world.

Crosby stresses how important it is to help build a schema or knowledge of the world these children live in. Since they are poverty students, they do not have worldly experiences other students may have.
*This breaks the sentence up and makes it more understandable.



C4C #8
Student: Amanda Weller
Link:Amanda Weller's Blog
She Wrote:
After we leave EDM310 we will have to figure out where to start to learn how to use new tools that will become available in great numbers in the future.

I think this can be said better, it is confusing. You should say something like this:
*When we leave EDM310 and we are teaching in the 21st century, we will need to know how to use new technological tools to become more affective teachers.

I like the idea of having a social network poster made from "Glogster". The students will love this because you can share it and incorporate their work into their own social lives. This is a great tool I never knew existed. I will definitely be using this in my future classroom, thanks for the idea.




C4C #7
Students Name: Krista Rodden
 Link to Blog: Krista Rodden
The video was very exciting and kept my attention. The background music was perfect, it made the book come to life! Your organization of your pictures and captions from the book were very impressive, and well thought through.
The only thing I noticed was that your in between sentences were weak.
You said: And refuses more but Sam keeps trying.
You could have said something like: After Sam's friends dismiss the Green Eggs and Ham, Sam persist they try it.

C4C #6
Students Name: Hilliary Sanders
Link to blog: Hilliary Sander's Blog
She Wrote:
"However, a very simple way is to ask questions."
*You need to explain what you are trying to say a little better, you should add something to justify this sentence.
Example: "However, a very simple way to discover if your students are comprehending what you are teaching is to ask questions.
She Wrote:
I'm sure at some point we have all seen the scene "Bueller...Bueller...Bueller" from the movie Farris Bueller's Day Off.
*(I love this movie! This was a great example to put in your blog it made me laugh!)

You have great word placement and your sentences are very precise and to the point. Also all of your links work and your pictures are linked correctly. Great Job! Keep up the good work.


C4C #5
Students name: Lisa Smith
Link to blog:Lisa's Blog
She said:
"Gives students a personal learning experiences."
It should say: "Gives students a tremendous amount of learning experiences."
(..or simply just make experiences into experience.)
The assignment was to make a presentation about both ICurio and Discovery Ed, I do not see anything related to Discovery Ed.
I loved the style of your prezi, the different slide changes kept my attention.

C4C #4
Students Link: Ashley Railey
Ashley Wrote:
And if you missed school because of an illness or family emergency, you feel behind in your work.
*(Feel should be changed to fell) (Also I wouldn't start this sentence with And..)

Ashley Wrote:
Fast forward to 2013.
*(I get what your trying to say, but this sentence needs more depth..)
Example: If you will fast forward to the year 2013, our educational systems have been modified and upgraded drastically.

Ashley Wrote:
How amazing is that!
*(Again you need more depth.)

Also your picture does not have a link when your mouse is hovered over it, if you need you can look in the class blog and its shows you how to fix this. Other than these mistakes your blog post is formatted rite and your sentences are informing. I also love love love your chevron background, keep up the good work.

C4C#3
Sarah Barnett's Blog Post
I critiqued Sarah's blog post #3 about peer editing, and below are some of the comments that I left on her blog. Hopefully she will take my comments seriously and apply them to her future work.

Sarah's Sentence: Peer editing is something that is so important in school these days.
*You should explain why you think its important, don't just state this as an open opinion, have something to back it up.

Sarah's Sentence: We should and will all benefit from these examples.
*You need more depth in your sentences, without the prior sentence this makes no sense.
*Also your picture doesn't have a link, wherever you got this picture you should copy and paste the link into your blog, (Not Google..an actual website or blog) so that when your cursor hovers over the picture the link will appear.
*You also do not have any links, you should have links in every single post. You can have a link to the video we watched and embed this into your paragraph.

Other than that your blog looks really good, I would just advise you to use more depth when writing.

C4C #2
Student: Caitlin Hinton
Link:Caitlin's Blog

This is what I said:
 "Mr.Dancealot” is an exemplary video concerning how many teachers in today’s society give facts ***and/or*** opinions, expecting the student to take notes, study, and regurgitate what the student “learned” in class.

I don't think you should put a / between and/or..this is not formal writing. But I do agree completely with the sentence.

You also have this sentence:
This is applicable to any field of education.
* What is applicable? without the sentence before this makes no sense. Make sure you include precisely what you are trying to say.

Your pictures and links look great, also your paragraphs were thought out very well. I would watch out for the dashes mid sentence because it throws everything off.

C4C #1
Student: Carla Young
Blog:Carla Young's Blog

The first thing that I noticed on your blog is that you do not have working links on your post. Also you do not have your pictures correctly done either. When you hover your mouse over your pictures it should show a direct link of where you copied the picture from. The links should not be Google, it needs to be a specific sight or blog. You can also go to the class blog and see in blog post assignments it shows you step by step how to add pictures and links into your blog.

C4K (Project #6) (Summary for September)

C4K #10
link: http://pesyear1.blogspot.co.nz/2013/11/i-can-write.html
Hi Khismira, my name is Kayla Szymanski and I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I am currently taking a computer class named EDM310 and I have been assigned your blog post for this week. I think it's awesome that you can have a class blog and add personalized pictures like this. I'm sure your teacher is showing you all of the wonderful thing technology can offer you while learning. Blogging is definitely one of them, keep up the good work.


C4K: #9
Student's Link to Blog: Cyrus's Blog
Hi Cryus! My name is Kayla Szymanski and I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I am in a computer class named EDM310 and I have been assigned your blog for this week. It is so exciting to see you learning through your blog. I read your about me part and your classroom learning environment seems awesome. Your description of your classroom makes me want to go back in time and learn the way you get too. Your blog post/story was very interesting, did you make it up? I loved the way you incorporated the four-wheeler chasing part. I ride four-wheelers all of the time and this part made me more engaged in your story. You have great writing skills, keep up the good work.


C4K #8
Student's Link to blog: http://osgapusgov.wordpress.com/2013/10/23/no-justice-for-all-the-dangerous-lack-of-standardization-in-our-criminal-system-and-the-man-whose-life-is-on-the-line-because-of-it/
Hi my name is Kayla Szymanski and I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I am currently in a computer class called EDM310 and I have been assigned your blog. Wow what a great article. I am very impressed with your blog, it looks great. Also the article was very interesting, I don't think most people even think about mental illness when things like this happen. Your charts and cartoon was very powerful, you did a great job. The chart was almost unbelievable and almost sad. I see you have a very strong platform within this blog and I encourage you to stick with it. If you don't tell it or explain it, nobody will ever know about it. What a interesting read, thanks! Keep up the good work.

C4K #7
Link to student's blog: http://pespehsoa.blogspot.com/

Hi Peh! My name is Kayla Szymanski and I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I am currently in a computer class called EDM310 and I have been assigned your blog for this week. I am very impressed, your art work as your background looks wonderful. Also I love how you made a paragraph rubric, these can be very handy when writing. It is amazing that you have added pictures to your post, your blog looks just like mine. Make sure you keep up the good work, I loved reading your blog.


C4K #6
Link to class blog:Mrs.Schroeder's Class Blog
Link to Students Blog: Tyler's Blog

Hi Tyler, I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I am currently in a computer class called EDM310 and I was assigned to your blog this week. Your post states that you would like to have a Facebook account. I think that if you let your mom put the private settings and allow her to monitor your account weekly she would have no problem with you having an account. You should tell her that she has the option to set privacy settings on your profile, and provide her with the user name and password. She shouldn't have anything against it since she can help protect you this way. Just some helpful tips, keep up the good work!


September Summary:
During the month of September I was allowed to read and comment on student's blogs of all ages. This was very interesting, instead of being the student it made me feel as if I were on the other side of things. It made me feel like one day I could really be reading these blogs as a teacher. This was amazing to be able to get this feeling and also be doing an assignment all at once. Reading these blogs I caught myself smiling, these students get to express their selves on each of their blogs and you really do get a sense of personality out of each one. Most of the time there were spelling errors and the sentences didn't quite make sense, but all in all each blog has a great meaning. I noticed that a lot of the children's books these students are being read have great meanings behind them. These students write in their blogs about what they have taken away from these books and its amazing. They are being taught humility, responsibility, and to be thankful for everything they have. These assignments each week were a breath of fresh air, I loved doing them. It is always fun to see these books and thoughts threw a child's eyes, and these C4Ks allow that. Having students blog each week is almost like the new way of a weekly writing journal. The only thing I disagree with is the writing errors, I think it would be easier to grade writing journals weekly.


C4K #5
Class Blog Link:Class Blog Link
The students were given this assignment on their class blog by Ms.Eppele:
Your blogs are all looking wonderful! Please remember to use complete sentences. Today’s challenge is to write at least FIVE sentences. I want to hear your amazing thoughts and ideas. 

1.   Right away in Chapter 7, Melody talks about how she dreams she can do anything. Think about a dream that you have had. How can you make that dream into a reality?
2.    Why do you think it is hard for teachers to stay with Melody and her class?
3.    Why do you think the episode with Mrs. Billups is important to the story as a whole?

Link to Student's Blog: Andrew Pickle

What I Wrote:
Hi Anthony! My name is Kayla Szymanski and I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I am currently in a class called EDM 310 and I have been assigned your blog this week. Your post was very interesting, I loved reading it. I think that it's safe to say that Melody has taught you a very important lesson. Always stay positive no matter what. When we look at other peoples lives and what they have to go through it can sometimes make us feel like we have the perfect life. I believe that this is what your main focus was in this blog. Keep up the good work, and remember never complain sometimes the grass isn't always greener on the other side.

C4K #4
Class Blog:MrsRippsClass
Student's Blog: Leona's Blog
I Wrote:
Hey Leona! My name is Kayla Szymanski and I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I am currently in a computer class named EDM 310 and I have been assigned your blog this week. I love the book out of my mind by Sharon Draper, it really does show us how blessed we really are to be healthy. You should also check out the club house mysteries series, its written by Sharon Draper too. Keep up the good work your blog looks great. Remember if you love a book written by a certain author most of the time you will like the other books they have written as well. It is great to have a favorite author. Thanks for letting me read your blog and maybe I will be assigned to it again.


C4K #3
Ms. King - 7th and 8th grade
Class Blog: Class Blog
Student's Blog: Anthony
Hi Anthony, my name is Kayla Szymanski and I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I am currently in a course called EDM310 and I have been assigned your blog this week. I noticed that your last two post are math related, you are very good with numbers. If you can keep your mathematical knowledge throughout your academic career it will be a main key to your success. Math is such an important subject and you should be very proud. Your blog is very impressing, and the background looks wonderful. Keep up the good work and maybe I will be assigned to your blog again.

C4K#2
Student's Blog: Juani
This is what I wrote on Juani's blog:
Hi Juani, my name is Kayla Szymanski and I am in a computer class called EDM310. I am attending the University of South Alabama and I have been assigned your blog for this week. I love your background and the colors are so pretty; they match the parrot perfect. I loved hearing about your boring mornings. I am not a morning person either, so I can relate. It's very hard for me to wake up in the mornings. I guess I am just like your little sister. If you eat a healthy breakfast each morning it helps a lot with boring mornings. Before you know it you will be wide awake. You should tell your sister about eating healthy breakfast too, and it might help her. Keep up the good work and maybe I will be assigned to your blog again.  

C4K #1
Student: Mckenna
Link: McKenna's Blog Post

This is what she wrote in her blog:
Did you know that Alberta has endangered animals?They are Bull Trout ,piping plover,woodland caribou,whooping crane ,Trumpeter swan,white pelican,swift fox,ferruginous hawk ,Burrowing owl and the northern leopard frog. contact your local wild life centre on how you can help.

This is what I wrote to her:
Hi McKenna, my name is Kayla Szymanski and I am a student at the University of South Alabama. I have been assigned your blog this week and I am so excited to read all of the fun things you are writing about. I had no idea that Alberta has so many endangered animals, this is very sad. I think that the best thing about your post is that you are helping these animals just by letting people know how to help. This is such a great thing, thank you for sharing this important information and keep up the good work. 

C4T(Project #4)

C4T#5
Link: Dianne Krause's Blog
Hi, I am a University of South Alabama Student majoring in education. Your blog is awesome, I love the way your layout makes it look like an organized notebook. I am so glad my teacher assigned me to your blog, you offer so much information. Thank you so much for posting interesting blog posts that can help future and current teachers. I will definitely be saving your link for future use!


C4T#4
Link: Jenna Luca
Title of Blog: Lucacept intercepting the Web
What I Wrote:
Hey, I am a student at the University of South Alabama and I have been assigned your blog this week. I am taking a course named EDM310 and we use twitter as a communication tool. I loved the video with Justin Timberlake in it, it really does put in perspective how silly hashtags can be. It is absurd how this generation is so fully involved in technological trends. I fully agree that post with excess hashtags are very infuriating. For future twitter use I will definitely keep "The Hashtag Stuffer" in mind. Thanks for sharing this educational video and helping people become better twitter users.


C4T #3
Teacher: Jennifer Brokofsky
Title: Building A Culture of Wonder: Inquiry in Primary Education
Link:jennifer brokofsky's Blog

Summary:
Jennifer Brokofsky's blog had three videos: The problem, part 2 of the problem, and the solution.
During the video the small boy and young girl were both eating skittles. They both only ate certain colors and this caused an quality problem. Because the pack of skittles was unequally colored they opened a second pack to make both sides equal. This was a very simple and relatable way to interrupt equality to small children.

What I Wrote:
Hi, my name is Kayla Szymanski and I am currently in a class called EDM310. I am attending the University of South Alabama and I have been assigned your blog this week. Your videos explain equality in a simple and very relatable way. This is such a great way to show children not only math skills but also how to be kind a generous to others. I think that the videos are more powerful than just explaining it to the class because research shows that children respond to visuals. Very good work and thank you for the ideas, maybe on day I will show these videos to my future class.



C4T #2
Author:Travis Allen

Title: My Life As A 21st Century Student

Link:Travis Allen's Blog Post

This is what I posted on Travis Allen's blog post:

Hi, my name is Kayla Szymanski and I am currently in a computer course named EDM310. My professor specifically assigned your blog to me this week. I am so proud of your work with the Ischool Initiative, it is a great way for our age voices to be heard. I am so happy to hear that the University of Jyvaskyla is partnering with you also. It seems like the education system in Finland is flawless, and as a future educator I am delighted you are trying to mainstream that into our education system in the United States. One of your quotes really spoke to me, " The more responsibility you give to students at an earlier age, the more responsible they will become", I agree with this 100%. Thank you so much for all that you are doing, your are truly a blessing to our society. 

Summary:

Travis Allen is a young researcher and founder of the Ischool Initiative. the Ischool Initiative was basically set up to educate both students and teachers to become lifelong digital learners. He is researching the education system in Finland and trying to shape the U.S. in its model. He stated that in Finland the education system is very personal so it keeps the student engaged and eager to learn more. Instead of trying to teach each student the same way, this system allows you to teach yourself in your own style. I am very excited to see the changes in our school systems, and hopefully I will see them before I am an educator.


C4T #1
Author: Davis Wees
Title: Thoughts from a 21st Century Educator
Twitter: +David Wees
Blog: David Wees's Blog

David Wees is a math teacher trying to help his students learn how to double check themselves while solving math problems. He wrote in his blog about how he was trying to compile a list of questions for his students to use while problem solving. He based his list of questions off of a book named, "How to solve it?" by: George Polya.

Here are the questions you can ask yourself when solving a mathematical problems:
1. What are your assumptions?
2. How is this problem related to another problems you have done?
3. Is there another way to solve it?
4. Can you explain the solution to someone else?
5. What tools could you use to help you solve this problem?
6. How can you reflect on your problem solving process?
7. How can you justify your solution?

This is what I posted on David Wees's Blog:
Hi, my name is Kayla Szymanski and I am currently enrolled in the EDM310 course. I have been assigned your blog for this week, and by this being done I have read your current post. I think that it is a very good idea to give your students questions they can ask themselves while problem solving. As a former math student myself, sometimes just seeing a math problem will freak you out enough to where you don't even want to begin. I think by giving your students these quick questions it will ease this sensation that I repeatedly felt while taking math courses. Also just a tip I think maybe you could condense these rules into about 5 quick easy steps. This would be a great class motto or easy memorizing learning tool for each of your students. They could use it as a way to self check themselves while solving problems too. I had a teacher that once gave us a saying, and each word meant; subtract, multiply, etc.,and it worked. You will be surprised what works and sticks in your students heads.

Blog Post #3

How Can You Provide Meaningful Feedback to Your Peers?

I think that it is very important when giving feedback not to be too picky. The entire point of feedback is to help the student or colleague exceed in that specific skill. You have to be very careful not to hurt feelings, but if the truth hurts there is no light way to say it. With this being said, I have critiqued my three classmates' blog posts and would like to share with you what I have found.

I believe our blog posts are a very important tool in our teaching careers. By offering feedback, we are enabling our students to have a good portfolio for their future employers. I have learned to be more serious when writing when writing things that are posted on the internet. I realize that these writings are a personal reflection of me and can be accessed by anyone.

 

Alyssa Sherman:

One thing that I noticed in this Alyssa's blog was that she starts each paragraph with the words "first, second," and so on.   This does not strike me as a formal way of writing. 

Ex: "First and most importantly how can students learn new information..."

Ex: "A second flaw of the flipping system, as mentioned in the video..."

Overall this student has a very good grammar structure to her blog, and I believe she identified the main thesis of her argument. She also clearly stated her position in the argument.

 

Katy Mehrer:

While reading Katy's blog I could not help but notice that she needs to write more formal instead of writing like she is texting or talking to a friend. She always needs to be aware that she writes a lot of simple sentences that do not expound on the main idea of the topic. A lot of her sentences are almost pointless with no meaning.

Ex:  I don’t believe that to be completely true; however, I do feel like it is important for children to learn about computers and how to use them.

*It should sound like this:

I don't believe this to be completely true; however, I do feel that it is...

 

Simple Sentences:

Ex: Teaching in the 21^st century is a lot like it was in the 20^th century.

Ex:When I was in school, we still had computer labs, and different things to do with computers.

Ex: I know quite a few things about computers.

Ex:That is why we have computer classes in college.

(Individually these sentences do not tell the reader enough about the topic. Katy needs to be complex in her writing. )

I do not think that this blog post meets the requirements of a quality writing assignment.

 

Haley Marrs:

Haley has simple grammar mistakes regarding comma placement and a couple of run on sentences. She seems to have made her major points aware in these paragraphs and she has clearly stated her position in the argument.

 

Run on Sentence:

Vicki Davis is an outstanding IT director and teacher in rural Georgia who has used digital citizenship to teach her students about technology.

*She could have broken this into two sentences and it wouldn't have seemed so long.

Ex: Vicki Davis is an outstanding IT director and teacher in rural Georgia. She uses digital citizenship to teach her students about technology.

 

Run on sentence:

As stated in the video, Davis likes to call herself a “teacherprenuer,” because she customizes her curriculum according to the students she has in the classroom, based on their strengths and interests.

*This sentence could have been broken down.

Ex: As stated in the video, Davis like to call herself a "teacherprenuer". She chose this name because she customizes her own curriculum according to her students' strengths and interests