C4T #4

For C4T #4 I commented on Eva Buyuksimkesyan's blog, A Journey in TEFL. Mrs. Buyuksimkesyan's blog is all about teaching english as a foreign language. I enjoyed reading her blog this week because she has unique approaches to teaching reading and writing. She also had some great tips on being safe on the internet.

The first of Buyuksimkesyan's that I commented on was Surfing Safe on the Net. This post was all about internet safety for your students. Buyuksimkesyan's had some great tips that I plan to but into practice in my own classroom. Some of her tips include: students not to using their full names, not to sharing photos until 13, not to sharing their passwords with others, and not to sharing where they live and where they study. Many of these tips are common sense tips to us as adults, but we do not think to share these with our students and children. These are simple tips that can make a huge difference in the safety of our students on the internet. Mrs. Buyuksimkesyan's also shared a wonderful idea that she has put into practice at her own school, which is to hold a seminar for both the students and parents. This not only allows the parents to be informed and involved in their students' educations, but it also gives them an opportunity to encourage internet safety at home as well. I commented on Mrs. Buyuksimkesyan's blog post that I really enjoyed reading her post and I would be putting many of her tips into use in my own classroom. Since I plan to use technology in a majority of my curriculum it will be very important for me to explain internet safety to my students. The idea of having a workshop or seminar to have parents attend is a great idea and I plan to use it in my own classroom, if not school wide.

The second post of Mrs. Buyuksimkesyan's that I commented on was all about Reading Games. This was a great post for educators and future educators alike to read. These games can be used for any grade level of students, whether they are just beginning to learn to read or they are reading novels as a part of their assignment. Mrs. Buyuksimkesyan's said something that really stood out to me when she said, "I believe teachers can help students become good readers. That’s why I think about fun activities to go with reading lessons." This statement is very true. The teachers that I enjoyed reading for their class and was more motivated were those that made it fun and enjoyable. The teachers that just handed me a book and said to read it and we would have an exam on it were those that I waited until last minute to read and dreaded reading the novel. I commented on Mrs. Buyuksimkesyan's post and thanked her for the reading game ideas. These are games that I will use in my future classroom. Several other readers also shared reading strategies and game ideas on her post in the comments section. This was a great post to read and bookmark.