C4T# 2

C4T#2 Post 1

I was assigned to read and comment on Mr. Chase’s post entitled, “Things I Know 37 of 365: I am uncool.” I really enjoyed reading his post because I could relate. In his post he talked about how in school when he was younger he felt as other students were advancing to the next level. What I mean by that is, he said that when he was being just like the other kids playing tag he saw his friends smoking. He also said how being labeled “uncool” allowed  him as a teacher to try new approaches and new projects in school and be accepted for it, even if for years he had been labeled as uncool.

I responded to Mr. Chase by saying how I admired him for being so called “uncool.” I told him how I believe that being uncool led us to where we are today. Even though we may feel as though we are walking this path alone, usually this is not the case. More than likely at some point in a person(s) life he or she may feel as though they were alone. I also mentioned how we as teachers should set examples for our students and that we should not care what others think of us, even though it may be tough at times. We must stand strong! I told Mr. Chase that whenever we have a bad day, as a teacher we can walk in the classroom and because children are so loveable they can lift our spirit, even though the children may not know that they are doing so. This is one of the beauties of teaching! Children accept us for who we are whether cool or uncool.

C4T Post # 2

I was assigned to comment on Mr. Chase’s post entitled “Things I Know 52 of 365: My classroom should be as democratic as twitter.”

Mr. Chase’s post was about how the classroom should be more democratic. He suggested that we should read the book written by Sam Chaltain’s entitled, “American Schools: The art of creating a democratic learning community.”  He also spoke about how when reading this book he thought back on how the role of democracy was used in his classroom. He also mentioned how much of the work in his classroom still has more conformity than he would like.

I responded to Mr. Chase by saying that I believe that having a more democratic classroom would be a great idea. I told him I like the fact that the teacher would then be able to hear the students' sides so to speak. I also said that I like the idea of having students' being included in certain things. I mentioned how sharing in decision making can be a great thing. It could possibly allow the students' to feel that they contributed to making the classroom a fun and good place to learn. I feel that if the student(s) feel that their ideas or opinions are valued then they will not hold back when it comes to being involved in the classroom.