C4K Summary for October

C4K #4

For my fourth C4K or my first C4K for the month of October, I was assigned to a student named Charles from Mrs. Pernille Ripp's 5th grade class located in Madison, Wisconsin. Her class was assigned a challenge in which they tried to solve two brain teasers with a partner without speaking or writing. They had to be completely silent for twenty minutes. After doing this activity, they were supposed to write a blog post and answer a few questions. How did it feel to do this? Was it frustrating? Was it hard to communicate? They also read a book called "Out of My Mind." In this book, the main character melody has cerebral palsy leaving her unable to speak. They were also asked to answer the questions "How do you think it feels to be her?" and "Would you like to not be able to speak?" My assigned student, Charles, did not respond to this challenge so I chose to read and leave a comment for a student named Alex who is in the same class.

In Alex's post The no talking challege! he responded by saying that it was pretty hard to communicate without words or writing words down. He said he would go insane if he couldn't talk to other people. I told him that I would too! Alex also wrote that he respects people like Melody who have cerebral palsy. In the comment I left Alex, I told him that when we try stepping into other peoples shoes for a few minutes, we often look at life a whole lot differently and we sometimes see how blessed we truly are.

I told Alex that I thought he did a great job responding to the challenge. He was honest and he answered each of the questions very well. I concluded my comment by thanking him for sharing his thoughts with the world and then I left the link to my blog.

C4K #5

For my fifth C4K or my second for the month of October, I was assigned to a student named Emma from Ms. Eppele's class in British Columbia, Canada. For Emma's post assignment she was asked to answer a few questions. The first question was "Right away in Chapter 7, Melody talks about how she dreams she can do anything. Think about a dream that you have had. How can you make that dream into a reality?" The second question was "Why do you think it is hard for teachers to stay with Melody and her class?" The final question was "Why do you think the episode with Mrs. Billups is important to the story as a whole?" In response to these questions Emma said she had a dream before where she turned into this thing that was half donkey and half goat. She said "It was weird." Emma also said, "It's hard for teachers to work with Melody because she can't speak and walk and she can barely move her arms." In the comment that I left Emma I told her that her dream does sound weird but very interesting! I continued by telling her that I have also had weird dreams like that before but that thankfully, they will never become reality. I told her she did a great job responding to the second question and that I thought she gave an honest answer. Once again I thanked her for sharing her ideas with the world and I left a link to my blog just in case she ever wanted to visit it!

C4K #6

For my sixth C4K or my third for the month of October, I was assigned to a student named Evan from Mrs. Mclean's class in Alberta Canada. In Evan's post The levels of the Alberta Forest!, he compared the levels of the forest to a house. For example he said, "The sub-floor is the basement part of the forest..." and "The canopy is the rood of the forest..." He used a great picture of a bear with a fish in its mouth to go under his paragraph explaining which animals are present in each level. He also included a picture of his own drawing of the different levels! His picture is so good, and you can definitely tell he knows his levels of the forest.

In the comment that I left Evan, I explained what EDM 310 is and what we have learned to do so far. I told him that I loved how he compared the forest to a house because it is a great visual and it really helps to understand the different levels. I also told him that I loved his pictures. I ended my comment to him by giving him the link to my blog and I told him that he could visit my blog if he ever wanted to.

C4K #7

For my seventh C4K or my fourth for the month of October, I was assigned to a student named Alex from Mr. Warren Grieve's 5th grade class at Medbury School for Boys Christchurch, in New Zealand. Alex's last post was published on Wednesday, September 11, 2013. In his post What makes us Kiwi (speech), he asks the question "What makes us kiwi?" Throughout his whole post he gives great details on what makes him kiwi and why. In his first paragraph he tells a story about when his family came down a ski field one day. He said, "We saw a green kea pecking on dads car tires. Dad started going wild, he ran up to the car and waved his arms and shouted to shoo it away. I started laughing and my little brother spilt his juice and started to whine."

In my comment to Alex I explained who I was and what brought me to his blog post. I told him about how I was new to blogging at the beginning of this class, but that I am grateful for now having been taught to blog. I also told Alex that I loved his first paragraph because he used great descriptive details and I almost felt like I was there. I wrapped my comment up by telling him to continue to keep up the great work, and that if he ever wanted to visit my blog he was welcome at any time, and I left my link.

C4K #8

For my eighth C4K or my fifth for the month of October, I was assigned to a student named Lauren from Mrs. Horst's 7th grade Language Arts class, located in Canada. Lauren's last post Out Of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper was published on Monday, October 28, 2013.

In this post, Lauren described several reasons why and how she could be a good friend to a book character named Melody. In the book, Melody has Cerebral Palsy. Lauren has a big heart and you can tell that by reading her post. In this post, Lauren began by saying, "People seem to think that just because she has a disability she won't be a good friend. I don't agree, if I saw Melody while I was on my recess I would talk to her and laugh with her. I wouldn't just go over to her because she has a disability, I would go over because she seems like a really good friend." She also said, "If I talked about my problems with Melody, I would try to make her feel like she is not alone. She is the same as all of us inside, and someone like myself should remind her of that."

In the comment I left her, I explained who I was, and what brought me to her blog. I continued by telling her she did a wonderful job on describing the reasons why and how she could be a good friend to Melody. I also told her that she sounded like a very sweet young lady and it is so great knowing they’re children across the world with hearts like hers. I told her a few specific things that I liked about her post and then I told her, I hope she continues to have a big heart for the rest of her life, and to continue the great work! I also left a link to my blog at the end!