C4T #4

For my fourth C4K I was assigned to Dr. Paige Vitulli. Dr. Vitulli is an educator here at the University of South Alabama.

#1

The first post of Dr. Vitulli's that I read and left a comment on was called "Quilting our way to International Dot Day at USA". In this post she explained what International Dot Day was, how it started, and what she has done with International Dot Day herself. She first began by writing, "International Dot Day is a global celebration of creativity, courage and collaboration. It began when teacher Terry Shay introduced his classroom to Peter H. Reynolds' book "The Dot" on September 15, 2009. She then explained that this book is a story of a caring teacher who dares a doubting student to trust in her own abilities by being brave enough to "make her mark". She wrote, "what begins with a small dot on a piece of paper becomes a breakthrough in confidence and courage, igniting a journey of self-discovery and sharing, which has gone on to inspire countless children and adults around the globe." Dr. Vitulli included directions on how to let students "make their mark" and she even included pictures of her own classes "Dot" art work.

I am a student of Dr. Vitulli's and I loved this book so much. It was inspirational, encouraging, and most importantly it was relate-able. I also love how this book can be turned into an activity for students, with letting them create their own "Dot" or having them "make their mark." I know for certain that I will be buying this book and doing this activity when I become a teacher. In the comment I left Dr. Vitulli, I told her how much I loved this book and activity. I also thanked her for providing us with such wonderful ideas that we can use in our own future classrooms. I concluded my comment by telling her she could visit my blog anytime, and then I left the link to my blog.

The following is the picture Dr. Vitulli took of my class and our "Dot marks."

#2

The second post of Dr. Vitulli's that I read and left a comment on was called, Interest Driven Learning. In this post, Dr. Vitulli shared a YouTube video called "Diana Rhoten on Sparking Student Interests with Informal Learning (Big Thinking)." The video begins by Mrs. Rhoten saying, "Every kid has an interest, sometimes he doesn't know what it is, sometimes he can't articulate it, but every kid has an interest." In this video, they try helping kids identify their interests, by museums and other facilities, but they also help them progress their interests. One of their goals is to create new youth networks across the city. Mrs. Rhoten said, "They see kids they work with, want an experience they can relate to personally, they want to relate it in the own context of their lives." One of my favorite things Mrs. Rhoten says on this video is, "Part of the opportunity here is learning the content, which is very much the 20th Century idea around Education, but in 21st Century, it's learning the tools and the skills of remaking that content, becoming the creator and the producer." In the comment I left Dr. Vitulli I told her, that almost sums up exactly what we have been learning in EDM 310. To learn from hands on experiences, and to learn the tools and skills needed in order to learn specific things. I also told Dr. Vitulli other specific things I liked about this video, and I thanked her for sharing it. Below is a picture of Mrs. Diana Rhoten.