Show and Tell

I really liked what Wes Fryer had to say in this chapter about how show and tell doesn't end after kindergarten and first grade. I personally think it's importation for students to have an opportunity to share their learning and their interests, not only with the teacher, but also with their classmates. While homework might be the easiest and most efficient way to have students "show and tell" their learning, I think it's extremely important to encourage them to have other ways to explore their interests. Student progress is the most important thing, in my opinion, and somethings homework might not be the best way to explore that for every student.

I think technology is a great way to have students display their learning and their progress, without the pressure that homework might add. I definitely know that when I have my own classroom, I'm going to encourage all my students to use blogs to talk about their experience in the classroom. Giving students an outlet to talk about their own learning and go deeper into their progress as a learner is something that I find extremely important as a future educator, so whether it be using Blogger or Tumblr, or another free blogging website, I want to make blogs a regular activity in my classroom.

Online portfolios are another thing that Wes Fryer talked about that I really enjoyed. Through my experience with practicum, I've found that having an online resource like Wikispaces to store all the things that I've done over the course of the semester is extremely useful, especially if I want to go back and reread something, or have someone else look at something that I've done. Having a place where all student work can be displayed, will not only make things easier for me as a teacher, but will make the students feel accomplished once all their work is in one place and they can see all the hard work that they've done.