Thing # 4 Why commenting is Important

There are many reasons why we need to comment, to relay a massage, to give instruction, to receive a instruction that will help us learn, and sometimes just to vent. Without commenting we do not have any idea as to what people think about our comments. The comments that others give us is vary important in helping us to become more well rounded.  Many people have some constructive input that will help to fine tune some of those strange ideas that you can come up with. I had an idea of what I thought would be a great way to get parents to get involved in my class. I put it out to some friend and fellow teachers. They all commented on my idea and now five of us have a way to get parents involved in our class. This would not have been possible without them putting in their comments.


One of the points that I thought was important is one from ProBlogger. If you are not willing to use your own comments section why would your reader. This make perfect sence when you think about it. Would you want to post to a blog that looks like they really do on want to Blog. And then there is one more part about the reading was. If someone leaves a comment interact with them. One of the most anoying things is makeing a post to someones blog and then they do not respond to your comments. The other point came from Cool Cat Teacher Blog. It is important that we model for children the right way to disagree on a topic and to show that we can do it while remaining civil and not attacking the other's right to their. Many forget that we will never agree with everything that people post. But as teacher it is very important that all comment are done in a civil tone. Plus if you attack people on their blogs it just turns people off, and will keep them from posting to yours. And that limits what the Blog was designed for.

1. The first blog that I visited is Mrs Baugh Class. I like how she has her blog set up. Going down the right hand side you will see what is coming up that is important. Her post are set up to keep the parents informed.

Thing # 3 Blog use in the Classroom

Before this year I would have been one who said I can not think of any use of a blog in the classroom.. But boy has that changed. Learning how to create a blog and make the post can be scary, but after getting started it really is not that bad. The only set back is if you have some parents that do not have a computer they may feel left out. As a teacher I will be able to post class art work. I will also be able to post the student of the week. Birthday with pictures if students. I will be able to have my students post to the blog about field trip that we have take  and what they have learned from the trip. It will give parents a chance to see what is going on in the class without have to spend time in my class. They will feel as though they are part of the class. This last thing is one of the most important items for me. When a parent starts sending their children to school they loose their name and take on the name of Samuel's dad, or Simeon's mom. I want to post picture of the parents with their first and last name. This way when the parents see each other in the parking lot, football games, PTA meeting, they can call each other by name. It may seem like a little thing but to me it is very important. You let me know by making a response to this post.

Thing #2 Avitar and Blog setup

     Well I have to say that that was a little harder then I thought. I have never set up an Avatar before. My family has a Wii, but my boy's do not let me make any of the me. I did have some help getting to the right places from a wonderful girl who has taken this class last year. I tried hard to make my Avatar look like me. My wife asked me why I created my avatar with glasses. I told her that at some point I will have to ware my glasses to school. I have never Blogged before. I have only read the blog of my son's forth grade class. It is neat how she keeps up with everything. She places the picture of the student who is having a birthday. She also has listed stories that the student have written. She also post what will be coming up the next week, and month.

     I know that some people will look at the name of my blog and say "what is this." Well it came from a friend who had a hard time saying my last name. He could never say it correctly and it drove me nuts. No that's not a far trip. So I asked him if he ever saw Star Wars.  I told him that my last name sounds like Chewbacca. After that he never had a problem with my last name. I have been called many different names, and I answer to them all. It dose not matter what you call me just blog in and we can talk.

Thing # 1: Lifelong Learning

     I have not spent much time thinking about what makes someone a lifelong learner. I guess that there are some who become stagnant and do not make an attempt to learn anything new. I feel that learning does not just happens it take a willingness to learn. I have never been able to just sit around and do nothing. I spend my free time reading books, magazine, or learning to play a new instrument. I have never seen the 7 1/2 habits of a successful lifelong learner. That being said I have approached my learning by using a couple of these habits. The first being #1 (begin with the end in mind) and then #3 (View problems as challenges). These would be the easiest for me to keep because I have been using them already. Before I returned to college four years ago I had to set my goal, and address all the problems I would have being in my forty's. The habit that will be the hardest for me will be #4 (Have confidence in myself as a competent, effective learner). I have spent much of my time learning about many different things before starting school. I have never felt confident with my ability to learn at this level. I try to push as hard as possible to get the information down to complete the course. The whole time I feel  like I am struggling to get all the information. This is what has kept me questioning my ability to be a effective learner. 
     I have been looking forward to this class. The ability to learn about new educational technology is a challenge. I love being challenged. I have seen this technology used at the school where my boys attend. My boys like the use of the smart board and taking  clicker tests. I can see what my son's fourth grade class is doing by looking at the teachers Blog.