C4T #4

Teacher:Sharon Davison
Blog: Kindergarten Life


The first post I decided to comment on was from May 2014, titled "Reflections Inside And Outside of Kindergarten". I skimmed through a few of the more recent posts, but this one caught my eye. It had a picture of a few students standing outside with their iPad, looking up at the trees and it made my imagination go wild. Mrs. Davison says that the students were collaborating about videoing a bird in its nest that was hard to see. She talks about how impressed she was with their conversations.
She then reflects on a student during a writers and readers workshop who wanted to write a book about penguins. She continued to do so, complete with labels and visual models. She also used Google to find the answer to a question that Mrs. Davison could not answer. Mrs. Davison states that she is helping her students through guidance on how to become safe and responsible digital citizens also. Another of her students wrote about Twitter and how it helps people communicate and share. She goes on to talk about how as an educator she can see the difference in her students learning through technology and how it is also helping the parents of those students as well. Mrs. Davison was also invited to speak at a convention regarding technology in the classroom and she brought a few of her students along to demonstrate and give their opinion. She says she was stunned at how well technology has improved the lives and learning experiences of her students.

My Comment:
Hi Ms. Davison. I am a student at the University of South Alabama in EDM 310. I am majoring in elementary education and secretly hoping I got to teach kindergarten in the future. Reading your post and your reflections has truly been inspiring. Not only is it great to hear first hand how technology is improving the learning experiences of the students, but to see the different ways you are using the technology takes my imagination to a whole different level for my future classroom. I will be linking your blog to my EDM 310 blog and I will be also commenting on your blog again soon. Again, I thoroughly enjoyed reading and good luck!

Mrs. Davison replied to my comment on November 16, 2014:
Hi Sabina, Thanks so very much for reading and sharing your perspective. Technology is really a wonderful way to engage, enrich and connect learning globally inside and outside of your classroom. I hope you also find ways to use technology to enrich and connect learning for your students and parents of the future!


The second post I commented on was from November 14, 2014, titled "A Celebration of Learning: Engaging Families Inside and Out!". I loved this post! It was all about how she uses technology to connect with her students and to connect the students with their families. Being that she is a kindergarten teacher, her students and families are going through a change in their daily lives with the starting of school. Mrs. Davison states that it is so important for families to feel a part of their child's daily learning and in return it helps strengthen not only their bond, but it helps that students learning experience. She talks about a breakfast that she set up for her students and their families to show them how/what the students were learning in the classroom. There was one student whose parents were unable to attend, so instead they FaceTimed the parent and the student was able to present all her work to her family. Mrs. Davison says that it we as teachers need to think outside the box with technology to bring learning to life in these students lives.
My Comment:
Hi Mrs. Davison, This is my last post I will be making on your blog for class, but I will continue to follow you for sure. Your posts are extremely insightful and useful for those of us getting ready to be teachers ourselves. You have a great way of looking outside the box and making learning fun. Thank you for having the time to blog about your daily learning/teaching experiences! As far as this blog goes, I agree with you 100%. Children need to have their parents involved in their learning so that it is an all around experience and not just an at school one. I love the way you used Face Time with your one student also! What a great idea to keep that student from feeling left out!