Blog Post #15 Final Reflection

Project #16 Contest

Project #13

For this project, my group and I were required to use products such as Skype, google hangout, google presentation, and google documents to collaborate the information for our project #15. With google documents, we chose to outline ideas that we would use or our project #16 as well. This use of collaboration made it easier for us to organize our thoughts and get information to each other in a quick and easy way. We are using google drive very much for both projects. Our project 15 has been shared and shared. We really like using google documents to write outlines and notes to each other without uploading anything. It was difficult using the collaboration for everything. We texted a lot and used google hangout once or twice. We did not use google presentation at all. Working on the notebook software was a trip. It slowed our computers down a great deal so we would alternate in the lab and work on it then share the file on google docs, so that we could easily open it anywhere. This project was fun and I loved working with Amy Archer and Quentin Morris.

C4T#4

For my third C4T assignment, I was assigned Mr. Michael Kaechele's blog Concrete Classroom. He is a high school social studies teacher from the state of Michigan.

C4T#1
The blog post that I commented on for part one of my C4T was Mr. Kaechele's blog post Why social studies should teach empathy. In the beginning of his post he discusses how the curriculum and the tools used to teach that curriculum, including teachers and books, is biased. He discusses that each different points of views need to be discussed in the classroom, not just the mainstream or dominant point of view. We see is everyday, teachers teach in a very biased way. When an educator teaches about Hitler, they focus on actions and things that were terrible and implying that he had always been a anti-semitic. There is more to Hitler's story than Auschwitz or the "Aryan" race. I am not saying Hitler was not an evil man, I am just stating that there is more to the story. Students should not take history that is taught at face value, they need to research information that tells of both sides and critically analyze that information. As educators, we need to focus on this. I am studying to be a history teacher and research is a must in this field. I need to work on researching topics in an unbiased viewpoint so that I may be able to understand the feelings and attitudes of others that are on the other side of the fence. We need to teach empathy in the classroom. Mr. Kaechele opened my eyes to this topic, because I had never thought of this issue in teaching. Empathy is necessary if we want our students to become more knowledgable about different cultures and issues that will be presented to them in their lifetime. The comment I left was as follows:

Mr. Kaechele,
Hello! My name is Nancy Nelson. I am a student in Edm 310 at the University of South Alabama. I was assigned your blog for my C4T or comment for teachers. I am required to read and comment on two of your blog post and later post on my blog a summary of your post and my comment. I found this post very interesting. I had never thought this before and now I see it. As I think back to my high school years, I was taught in a biased way. I was ignorant about so many points concerning topics that i was supposed to have learned about in high school that were being reintroduced in college. Your post has opened my eyes. I want to try and teach my students not only the general point-of-view, but the alternate point-of-view, or as you put is the views and attitudes of the winners and losers should be taught. If you would like to contact me please do so by twitter at NancyN91 and/or my blog at nelsonnancyedm310.blogspot.com.

CT#2
The blog post that I commented on for the second part of my assignment was Delicious. Mr. Kaechele discusses such an important part of every living thing's life; FOOD! Throughout his post, he discusses the different aspects of life that we do each second, but rarely think about it, like breathing for instance. Thanksgiving is a large part of American life. It means tradition, holiday, and great food. I know that on thanksgiving I love to eat. Macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, pecan pie, and turkey. Food is a pleasure, but when we eat the food is generally unhealthy. Mr. Kaechele discusses his family garden and the fact that since starting the garden, he and his family have began watching what they eat. This would really be a good idea for anyone who has the time, money, and space. After I read his post, I left a comment responding:

"Mr. Kaechele,
I very much enjoyed our post. I personally love food; whether the food is good for me or bad for me. I would love to start a garden to grow some of the veggies that I like to eat, but I do not have the space or the time. Eating healthy is on my to do list and now I just have to start doing it. I have heard of the book you are reading, but I haven't read it. Thank you for your post and I hope to read more in the future.
Nancy Nelson"

Project #15 Group Awesome