Comments for Teachers # 4

This time around I have been assigned to a teacher named Mathew Needleman and his class blog Creating Lifelong Learners. Mathew Needleman is a teacher of grades K-5, literacy coach, Apple Distinguished Educator, and author of this blog. He is the founder of nearly twenty popular educational destinations on the internet, has been integrating digital film making in the elementary classroom for over a decade, and currently producing mobile applications for improving literacy. He holds a masters degree in Educational Leadership and Policy and a California Administrative Credential. Through this blog, He hopes to offer practical tips for elementary teachers on teaching traditional and new media literacies, valuing students and their cultures, appealing to different learning modalities, and integrating technology in the curriculum with an emphasis on video production.

The first post I looked at dealt with an article he had found where schools, such as one in Auburn, Maine, are giving Ipads to all kindergarteners. He basically just talked about his feeling on this and wanted to know how everyone else felt about it?

I think it is GREAT that a school system has enough money to be able to buy this awesome device for so many students. However, kindergarteners....really? I simply think that if a school is going to spend that much money they might as well get the most bang for their bucks! I think the this device would be better used in the hands of a moderately older child. I think this would give younger children something to look forward to when going in that grade level. Growing up in the era of green chalkboards, I feel it is somewhat a privilege that children so young are being able to use all the different tools of technology.


The second post of Mathew's that I commented on he was giving advice to surviving standardized tests. Apparently, his school will begin testing next week. His advice was short, sweet, and to the point.

1. Don’t work too fast and furious.

2. Check yourself before you wreck yourself.

3. Don’t get punk’d.

It was great that he included #3. I remember taking these test when I was younger and thinking why in the world would these people want to trick me this way. HaHa! It is important to just slow down and read those questions carefully.

It has been great getting to check out different teacher's blogs this semester. I like that it gave us ideas and examples of different teaching formats as well as different ways in which teachers can use blogging to enhance their classroom experience. :)