C4T post 1

The C4T blog I was assigned was "Principals Page" by Michael Smith. His blog post are usually short and very enjoyable, but the fact that they are short and usually only present one main idea does not offer much for reflection. In this weeks post the author talks from an administrators point of view and is titled "Kindergarten Kids Remind Me of Las Vegas." He begins by talking about how much he enjoys seeing the fresh batch of kindergarteners that come in every year. He talks about how much fun they are and how full of wonderment they are. He then talks about looking at them and wondering about how promising their futures are and what kind of promise they have in store. He gives examples about some of them being valedictorian, prom queen, starting quarterback, and even doctors or lawyers. Then he says it makes him think about the ones that will struggle and have learning disabilities, divorced parents, and financial difficulties. He then compares their futures to making a gamble. He says in closing "On the surface everything is wonderful. But just underneath things aren't quite so perfect."


My comment: "This is great perspective. At that age most children don’t have much experience with either success or emotional/physical struggle. I think that it is an inspiration to everyone to see children live at their purest. I mean at that point no one cares about much except boys think girls are icky and girls think boys are smelly. Thanks for the perspective."

I did receive a follow up e-mail after making this post. All it said was thanks for commenting, but as always it was nice to be told thanks.

The next blog post I commented on was titled "Do You Know Who I Am?" The post was about how as an educator, who has been at it for quite some time, you will be approached later in life by former students asking the sometimes awkward question "do you know who I am?" He says that the majority of the time he does not remember because they have aged, gained or lost weight, or been sent to prison thus now covered in tattoos. He says that after they talk for a while he remembers the 1994 version of who they were or what-have-you. It was a fun read. Like the last post it was difficult to think of anything to say because it is a general observation and there were not a lot of different ideas or thoughts expressed. But, I did what I could with what I had.

Here's my comment: "I'm not a teacher yet. I am in school studying to be one, but I have never thought about what it will be like in the future to help push students along hopefully into bettering their life. Then years later being recognized by them and not having a clue who they are. Also, after reading this I probably won't feel so bad if this ever happens to me because I'll know that I'm not the only one"

Here is a link to "Principals Page"