Blog Assignment 11

First Graders in Ms. Cassidy's Class 

The first part of this assignment was a video posted by Ms. Cassidy on YouTube.  The video is titled, if you haven't already guessed, is "Little Kids... Big Potential." Ms. Cassidy is a first grade teacher in Moose Jaw, Canada.  In the video she shows all of the things that the children in her classroom are doing with technology.  She has done a great job integrating technology into her classroom.  Her students use all kinds of things like, wiki's, skype, Nintendo DS, and blogging.  She shows the children using all of these technological tools effectively.

The second part of this assignment was for us to watch a Skype interview between Dr. Strange, some of his students, and Ms. Cassidy.  In the first part of the interview Dr. Strange interviews Ms. Cassidy about what she is doing in her classroom and what role technology plays in her classroom.  In the second half of the interview some former EDM310 ask Ms. Cassidy a number of questions dealing with how she manages her classroom and the technology she uses there.  At the last of the interview she shows her backyard, which is covered in snow.  Not something we are used to down here on the gulf coast.  The interview is about 35 mins long and you can check it out using this lazy link here.

I think that Ms. Cassidy is doing great work.  It is great to see what we are learning in this class in action.  In the second part of this assignment, the interview with Ms. Cassidy,  she says that technology and children go hand in hand.  I agree with this thought.  It is without a doubt, in my mind, the most relatable way to reach out to children on their level.  It makes learning fun.  Also in the interview Ms. Cassidy says that the children don't have to "power down" when they come to school.  I think that the sooner this concept is widely accepted the better.  I am definitely going to have a blog for my classroom and I will have my students create blogs to practice their writing skills.