C4T #3

My C4T #3 assignment was on the blog titled What Now? What Next? So what? I tried looking up the teacher's name but all it said under the About section was, "I teach year 3 class in Hamilton, New Zealand." The only name given is the one Dr. Strange included in the C4T assignment spreadsheet which was @teachernz.

PaCT with the Devil

PaCT with the Devil is a blog post in response to another blog post by Tara found here. PaCT is a tool being developed to bring consistency to overall teacher judgements. The developers of PaCT are trying to make a school system where "a child can exit one school and enter another one (armed with his/her number) and the teacher can keep going from the point where his other teacher left off." (Tara) The problem with PaCT is that it assumes that all teachers teach the same things, the same ways, at all times, but this is not true. PaCT sounds a lot like the United States' version of the Common Core State Standards.

My response to Teachernz's blog post was:

Hi Teachernz!

My name is Jamie Lynn Barbour and I am an education in major in elementary education, at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama. I am one of Dr. Strange's EDM310 students.

I agree with your post that all students learn and understand concepts at a different pace and in different ways. There are all types of different learners just like there are a variety of different types of teachers. Teachers teach each of their classrooms and students in different ways. That is what makes learning fun. That is also what makes our teachers unique.

It sounds like PaCT is similar to the US version of Common Core Standards. The CCS focuses on core conceptual understandings and procedures starting in the early grades, [which enables] teachers to take the time needed to teach core concepts and procedures well—and to give students the opportunity to master them (Common Core State Standards). I think that the more regulated teaching becomes the less effect our teaching has on students.

Thanks for your post. You can check out my blog here. Thanks so much, Jamie Lynn Barbour jamielynnbarbour@gmail.com

There was no new blog post to this teacher's blog so I read an older one called, Tears. This blog post was about one of her students who took time out of class to plant trees for Arbor Day. She did not get a chance to talk to him when he returned to class. So he tweeted her a "Hey" and said he would post a document about his day planting trees. It had been a long stressful week but the fact that he made a document about his day and tweeted it to his teacher made her well up with tears. He tweets and follows her with permission from his parents and he is only 9 years old.

My response to Teachernz's post was:

Hi Teachernz!

My name is Jamie Lynn Barbour and I am student at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama. I am one of Dr. Strange's EDM310 students. I thought this post about your student was very touching. I think that it's a great thing when kids get involved at a young age with philanthropic work. Giving back to the community is really important. I also think that it is really cool that your 9 year old student is a technologically advanced independent learner. He just up and created a document about his planting trees all on his own and shared it with you through Twitter. What an amazing kid! I hope one day my students will want to follow and look up to me as a teacher like your students do you. Thanks for sharing.