C4T #1

C4T#1, comment 1
For my first C4T, comments for teachers, blog post I was assigned to Mr. Dave Sladkey’s blog. Mr. Sladkey is a math teacher at Naperville Central High School in Naperville, Illinois. On the day I visited his blog the discussion was about geometry, the unit circle, and an exciting new online tool that he was implementing in his classroom. I followed his provided link to the unit circle tool and spent some time solving his assignment problems with it. For a math geek it was awesome.

As to the comment portion of this assignment; I introduced myself, invited Mr. Sladkey to my blog page, the class blog page, and provided him links to both. I commented on the unit circle tool he is using and confessed to spending far too much time playing with. It was much more fun than writing about it. I then explained to him my desire to bring more real life experiences into a math class. After which, I asked him for comments and suggestions.

C4T#2, comment 2
On the day of my second visit to Mr. Sladkey’s blog the topic of discussion was empathy.

More specifically Mr. Sladkey was exploring ways that educators could, and should, take time to reflect on what it is like being a student in today’s classroom. As a part of his research he shared an excellent blog post titled The Most Critical Skill for Being an Effective Educator by Matt Renwick. Next, Mr. Sladkey developed what he termed, “8 Ways to Incorporate Empathy into Your Teaching.” Each of which I have briefly paraphrased below.
1. Shadow a student. Spend a day learning what it is like to be a student in your school.
2. Questionnaires. Use Google Forms to get feedback on your students and use this information to improve your teaching. (EDM310 students, have we not heard this before?)
3. Listen to Students. Discuss class assignments with your students and find the area where they feel more instruction would be helpful.
4. Homework. Again, put yourself in the students place and do some of the assignments.
5. Spend time in thought about your students. Try to see each as a person and not only a student.
6. Phone Home Early. Call parents early, before there is a problem, and establish an open line of communication with them.
7. Records. Look at your students' records, IEPs, standardized tests, and so on.
8. Activities outside the classroom. Find out what interest your students enjoy in their free time. Perhaps, go to ballgames or to school plays to better understand their perspective.

WOW! Reading Mr. Sladkey’s blog I could immediately feel the compassion and caring he has for his students. The thought he put into this article was overwhelming and I told him so. As a student, I expressed my apperception that he took the time to see things from our side of the desk. Furthermore, I commented on his suggestion to use Google Forms to create questionnaires by explaining that our very own Dr. Strange uses them in EDM310. The experience proved to be yet another insightful visit to Mr. Sladkey’s blog.