C4T 1 Summary

Ira Socol: The Stories of 11 September 2001

Ira Socol mentions how telling stories about the events of September 11, 2001 can help heal students. Student’s can learn from listening to other’s stories about September 11, 2001. He includes many of the stories he himself has written about the terrorist attacks. Ira also emphasizes the fact that students should be given the opportunity to heal by writing their own stories about the event. Writing these stories can help student’s express exactly how they are feeling, which can be very therapeutic and help students cope with events. I believe that writing is an excellent way to get the students talking about how they really feel. In my post, I told Ira my story of September 11, 2011. I was in fifth grade when the terrorist attacks occurred, and we were let out of school early because of the attack. The teachers, however, did not tell us why we were being let out of school early. Our school decided that it would be best for our parents to tell us what had happened that day. I told Ira that our teachers did talk to us about what happened when we got back to school. I believe that it is important to talk about difficult events. If you ignore or ban talk about difficult situations, how can you expect anyone to heal? I hope to incorporate storytelling in my classroom so that my students will be given the opportunity to express how they feel instead of being forced to bottle up their emotions.

Ira Socol: Five things to do, Five not to do

Ira Socol gives a list of five things that he thinks you should and should not do in the classroom. His post emphasizes the ways a teacher can reform how a traditional classroom is structured. For the list of five things that teachers should do in their classroom, Ira suggests providing alternative ways for students or parents to access information, such as utilizing podcasts. He also mentions incorporating variety into the classroom because teachers must remember that all students are individuals and they each have unique conditions for how they learn the best. Ira mentions that teachers should not stress the use of handwriting within their classroom. I commented that since I am an elementary education major, I will have to emphasize the importance of handwriting. Students are expected to follow a specific model of handwriting when they first learn how to write, so if I teach the lower grades in elementary school, I will have to make sure that my students are able to follow the model. I also commented that I would be trying out many of his tips in my classroom, because I believe it is important to use technology and incorporate variety into a classroom.