Summary of C4T #3

I was assigned to Kelly Hines a forth grade teacher in Washington, North Carolina. Her blog is called Keeping Kids First.

http://keepingkidsfirst.wordpress.com/2010/10/01/reflections-on-a-lecture/
The first post I read was her reflections on a lecture she attended. I agreed with her #1 point about meeting the child’s individual needs and making them feel valid. Children need to know that they have made a difference. We need to make sure every child is feeling a sense of accomplishment everyday when they leave our classroom. The #2 comment was funny. She asked the students if they heard of a friendly letter. And the students responded with alphabet letters that they thought to be friendly. We always have to be on a look out for these types of answers to questions we ask.


I also agreed with point #3. This is what I wrote....I think technology is the way and I am wondering when our schools here in Alabama will catch up. They have started to install smartboards, but after watching a video that Dr. Strange had us watch for our upcoming demo on smartboards, I noticed children had a laptop that corresponded with the smartboard to make the lesson taught interactive. Well, I can say the schools my children are at are so excited about their new expensive smartboards, but the interactive laptops are not in the classrooms. So, now I just view the smartboard as a very expensive chalkboard. Children can come up to the smartboard to answer a question just as well as they could answer the same question written out on a chalkboard. So, where is the technological advancement if you have a smartboard without all the tools needed to make it fun and interactive for the children?

http://keepingkidsfirst.wordpress.com/2010/11/01/the-sum-of-the-parts/

In my second post, I told her that I am still not sure I am understanding PLNs. I really do not understand nor do I have enough time to follow so many blogs and twitters. I could relate to her loss of her PLN in a different way, because I lost my PLN related Mom's group. This is what I wrote....
I used to attend meetings and get together with other stay at home mothers. We would discuss the pressures of raising children and also study bible scripture that helped us get over the daily struggles of motherhood. Our children are grown and school age so, we do not see each other much anymore. It is sad when I see a mother in the hallway at school, and we just say “Hello, how are you?” Answer with “fine,” then move on. We used to sit and talk and now life is too busy for that. Just the other day one mother contacted me on facebook. She left me a note about being able to catch glimpses of my life through facebook. It makes me sad to know that we are too busy to sit and have a cup of coffee and talk about life.