C4T #1

This week for my C4T (comment for teachers) I was assigned to Jeff Utecht. Jeff's blog is called The Thinking Stick.

     Jeff's first post that I commented on was Community Trumps Content. In this post Jeff talks about the internet. There is a video in his blog post where he explains his point of view on using the internet in the classroom. He points out that the internet is a place where communities are formed. We are able to connect with other people, whether down the road or around the world, with the help of the internet. Jeff questions why we are blocking the use of the internet in the classroom when it can be such a great resource to use. He even suggested ways that we could incorporate the internet into our classrooms and lesson plans.

     In my comment on this post, I told Jeff that I enjoyed watching the video on his blog. I also stated how I loved some of his ideas that he had for incorporating technology into the classroom. One of my favorite ideas he had was e-mailing authors or visiting an author's website after reading one of their books. I would have loved to do that when I was in elementary or even high school. I agreed with him that we need to work on incorporating technology into the classroom instead of restricting its use. Technology is a great way to engage children in their learning.

     Jeff's second post that I commented on was '15 The Year of Wearable. Jeff gives great ideas for why it is important to incorporate wearable technology into the classroom.  He explains that 2015 is the year for wearable technology such as fitbits to be incorporated into education. He also discusses how these fitbits can be used in health education curricula. Jeff points out that by using the sleep tracking activity feature of the fitibit that students can see just how important it is to get enough rest every night. He also explained an experiment that he is working on. In his experiment, he gave his friend's daughter a cell phone. Jeff helped her download a couple of fitness apps and showed her how to use them. He hopes that the young girl will be able to see that technology can benefit anyone in trying to maintain healthy lifestyles.

     I left a comment on Jeff's post telling him how much I loved the idea of fitbits being used in schools to enhance health curricula. I think it is a great idea to have this kind of technology available in the schools to teach children the importance of staying active and fit. I also mentioned how I had never heard of the app Google Fit and how I would like to download it on my smartphone to see what it is all about.