Comments For Kids #1 (summary)

My first comments for kids experience was to comment on a an eighth grader at Noel Elementary School in Noel Missouri. Noel Elementary serves grades 3-8. The students in this class were required to write an "about me" post and also a learning manifesto. The learning manifesto was a post in which the student was to express  what they want to accomplish to better themselves as a student. The young lady that I was assigned to, in her ABOUT ME post, she said that she liked playing sports. She likes to do math. She expressed that some challenges for her were when she doesn't understand something or when things at home sometimes interfere with her studies in school. My response to her was that, first of all, I wished that she could help me with math because I have a horrible time understanding it. I also said that when I have a hard time with something, that it is helpful to ask not only your teacher, but your classmates as well, that sometimes they can put in a better perspective for you. And when things aren't going so great at home that it is sometimes really hard not to let it interfere with school but we have to try and focus on school while we are there because it is so important. I suggested to maybe talk about it with her teachers or friends to get it off her mind. In the LEARNING MANIFESTO, she wanted to become a better student. To get her work in on time and not be tardy. She wanted to overcome any challenges and help her friends if she could when they were having trouble with something. In my response, I told her that being able to teach the lesson to someone else was one of the best learning strategies she could do, because when you can teach it to someone else and repeat it over and over, it means that you have mastered the skill. She had very high expectations of herself and her school experience which I thought was so wonderful. And I think that it is great that these students are blogging. It gives them a chance to be creative and express themselves in a way that they might not be able to in the classroom!