C4K SUmmary Post # 3

C4K # 7- I found Mr. McClung's World to be very diverse and interesting. He has something for everyone posted in his blog. I commented on The Band of the Week Section which featured Sleigh Bells, a duo that has gained popularity since their debut in 2009. The band is composed of former guitarist for Poison the Well, Derek E. Miller, who also is the songwriter and producer for his current band, and Alexis Krauss, former Rubyblue band member who provides vocals for Sleigh Bells. They have signed with M.I.A.'s N.E.E.T Recordings and Mom and Pop Recordings. This blog post provided much information about the band and included one of their popular singles, Riot Rhythm from there album Treats in an audio MP3 player. I have never heard of this band, but I am glad that this blog post introduced them to me. I love music and am always looking for something new.  I am now anxious to check out more of their music.

C4K # 8-  I commented on Ellie's blog, a year 6 student in Mr. Pike's class at Epping Heights in Sydney Australia. She and some classmates rewrote the lyrics to Jingle Bells to make it environmentally friendly. The girls sang the song and played a flute and horns in a video posted on Ellie's blog. I really enjoyed the video. They  did a wonderful job. The girls were very brave and creative. It is great that they are interested in environmental safety and spreading awareness. I love the song and encouraged the girls to continue their creativity. 

Mrs. Yollis' Class

C4K # 9-  Mrs. Yollis has been a teacher for twenty-four years and is currently teaching third grade in Las Angeles. She acknowledges the importance of working alongside parents to bring out the best in her students. She recently receives a Master's Degree in Integrating Technology in the Classroom. Her class Blog has been recognized and has won the 2010 Lifetime Achievement Edublog Award. As part of her blog, Mrs. Yollis includes a tab where visitors can learn HTML Codes. I personally found this to be very useful when creating my own blog. With her help, I learned how to create buttons, hyperlinks, and line breaks. I also found the Time Zones of Friends tab to be very interesting. The page shows clocks displaying the time of different teachers and places around the world that Mrs. Yollis' class connects to. Through her blog, she is able to incorporate her students interests into the information she gives. In learning how to shoot great digital photos, Mrs. Yollis lets students be the teachers. It was amazing to see the students interaction on the blog. Out of all the class blogs I have visited this semester and C4K, I never received a reply, but the students post great responses on Mrs. Yollis' class blog. On one post (Postcard from Panania, New South Wales, Australia) , a parent commented and a classmate responded to her with a very intelligent and insightful post. I love that the parents and students are able to share information. This is a great way to keep the parents involved in the classroom and their children educations. Not only are the parents involved, but other family members participate as well. One student was having a conversation with his grandmother. Mrs. Yollis has some really good ideas. As an English teacher, one of my favorite activities I saw the students doing in a post was recreating a story. The students read "Poppa's New Pants" then made their own pants and illustrated the occurrences in the story. Mrs. Yollis blog was very interesting. There is great emphasis on effective commenting. Her students give great tips and seem to really enjoy the blogging process as do I.  

Star Fruit

C4K# 10-  Miriam is a student in Mrs. Yollis' 3rd Grade Class. Her blog post was about tropical fruits she had found and tasted in a Hawaiian Farmer's Market. She posted pictures along with a bre\ief deception of each fruit. I love to learn about new things, especially food, so I really enjoyed her post. Although I have never tried an y of these tropical fruits, I would probably like the star fruit best. It sounded very tasty and was aesthetically appealing. I told Miriam that I have many favorite fruits including strawberries bananas, peaches, and apples. I encouraged her to keep up the good work.