Here are my Seven Points for Sunday:
1) Marie, it is interesting to read about your childhood near the French-Belgian border. You seem to have grown up in quite a non-stressful environment, in the countryside, with an abundance of nature at your doorstep. And besides gardening you traveled to an incredible part of France, an area I have yet to visit, but I have read a remarkable account by an Englishman who lived there : A Year in Provence, by Peter Mayle. I have to admit, someday I want to pick a wild mushroom and eat it.
https://madamechemin.edublogs.org/describe-an-interest-that-you-had-as-a-young-person/
2)Tosch, I have visited an Army buddy of mine several times who lives in the Abilene area. I find it amazing that football is so venerated in Texas. Your experiences obviously have contributed to your life perspective and the game has taught you many things, and especially that it has kept you “focused, mentally tough, fit, humble and motivated.”
http://ttraylor.edublogs.org/2017/01/27/ed-677-interests-youth-reflection/
3)Ms. Sunny, I find that the concept of Project Based learning should be quite advantageous to young students, as it keeps them focused on an area which is of interest to them. This is my understanding of the concept. You are correct when you wrote that “Dewey reminded me about the importance of a meaningful and relevant education. “ I concur, all education must maintain it’s relevancy and be meaningful, however, sometimes I wonder if our classrooms go off on a tangent and do not stress the fundamentals enough.
http://lsunny.edublogs.org/2017/01/29/reflecting-on-the-past-week/
4)Tracey, you surely do utilize quite a number of formats for your students in regards to the connectivity issue. I am only familiar with Twitter, while the other platforms are unknown to me. When I have a chance, I will research them, but there seems to be new communication platforms almost every week!
http://lsunny.edublogs.org/2017/01/29/reflecting-on-the-past-week/
5)Jen, you had mentioned that you wished our annotation event would have been more interactive. Well, I found it to be an interesting format, however, unless one is a speedy typist, which I am not, one does get lost in an avalanche of commentary. You write that the possibility exists for a “Twitter chat”. I wish I knew exactly what you mean by that. Methinks that would be terribly confusing, or?
https://jhartmansite.wordpress.com/2017/01/29/connected-annotating/
6)Margo, I read your post about coding for your students, and I actually did not realize that this was taught so early in a child’s education. And I agree with you that technology should enhance learning, and it is important for the student to understand that it is indeed there to make their education more meaningful.
https://ed677equityinconnectedlearning.wordpress.com/2017/01/27/find-5-friday/
7)Mrs. Kelly, I see you have written and vented about the plethora of testing that seems to be the norm in today’s classroom. From my readings and discussions with professional educators, it appears that you are not the only teacher who is annoyed with this. Since I only teach English to adults, this component of our education system is quite bizarre to me, until I read somewhere that American youngsters perform rather poorly in the PISA exams, and then I wonder why this is the case. I believe we have very large capital expenditures for education, however, something is not functioning as it should.
https://mrssamanthakelly.wordpress.com/
-Dirk