C4K Summary for October

Reilly Thompson is a student in the 4th grade at Union Pleasant Elementary in Hamburg, NY. Reilly posted a descriptive, suspenseful story called "Flying on Wheels" about a bike ride he had with his friend Abby at a campground in New York. I thought the story was amazing. Read it for yourself! In my comments I included how great of a writer he is and how I would enjoy more of his stories. I believe he is naturally good at writing.


Olivia is a high school student taking a history course called Age of Exploration. In her post, she discusses her first impressions of the course. She had initially signed up for the course because she had heard that it was project based. Now, the course has exceeded her expectations. She is surprised by the teaching method and that she is actually enjoying a history class. Her earlier history classes were boring and tedious, filled with essays, test, and lots of memorization. In contrast, this class is laid-back and lets her work at her own pace. Not only that, it is fun! Olivia says that it has given her a way to show her creativity. She likes the fact that her open-ended assignments have given her and her classmates opportunities to show their skills and apply different ideas. Last, Olivia discusses the great student-teacher cooperation she has in her class. She says, "...giving us the task of being responsible for our learning will help us grow and mature as learners...". In my comment, I discussed how similar EDM 310 is to her class. I also agreed that being responsible for our own learning will help us grow and mature as learners. I wrote about my history courses in high school. It all came down to pure memorization in order to prepare for essay-test and other exams. I wish my class would have been more like hers. By doing projects, you can incorporate so much creativity and a variety of ideas. It is such a great way of learning! I was amazed at the fact that her post hits so many issues that a student, including myself, has with the classical way of teaching, such as stress and late-night homework.

Dylan is a 3rd grade student in Gulf Shores. In his post "The Characters of Rows and Piles of Coins", he describes the characters of the story: Saruni (the boy), Yeyo (Saruni's mother), and Murete (Saruni's father). In my reply, I complimented Dylan for such a great description. I asked him to post a summary of the story because his descriptions made me very curious about what happens next. Also, I offered Dylan a tip. I said that by using the spell-check option, he can check his spelling and learn new words. I use spell-check myself!

Anika is a student in elementary school that lives in Alberta. On October 19, 2012, she posted a slideshow:

Make your own slideshow with music at Animoto.
In my comment I wrote that I really liked her slideshow and music. I asked her which place these pictures were representing. I told her that I have been to Ontario several times, but never Alberto.

On Dr. Vitulli and Santoli's blog, I read a post by Dr. Vitulli called Dublin Bound, which was posted on October 24, before flying off to Ireland. In her short post, she says that it is time to turn off her cell phone, which will remained off throughout her trip. In addition, she says, "Listening to the Irish accents on the plane is already music to my ears." I replied by saying that it was good to be able to temporarily put away the phone and be able to tune into another world. I hoped that she had a great trip.