Summary of Edna Sackson - C4T #3

Edna Sackson of What Ed Said is studying to be a primary teacher and has a blog written so well it will leave you completely in awe. She writes with understanding, wit, and a little bit of sass, but she is sophisticated in her methods. I found myself getting lost on her blog because I was reading so many entries because two just wasn't enough.

The shifting roles of the Librarian and the IT Facilitator
In this entry, Edna talked about how creativity in the classroom is getting lost. She said that teachers are losing their ability to teach new material any other way than the norm, but it isn't as effective as it could be. My comment to her: "Amazing blog post! My name is Catherine Stalvey and I am an EDM 310 student at the University of South Alabama in Dr. Strange's class. I believe creativity is the most important tool out there! I was always taught to think in different ways and to find an unusual perspective on different circumstances throughout my life. Your post hit the nail on the head! I love the analogy about ways to eat Oreos-haven't we all been there? Whether you're four years of age, or 44 years of age, you never tire of finding new ways to eat those life-changing cookies. Your writing is so easy to read and so relatable, and I honestly enjoyed reading through about 5 of your other entries. You have a gift! Keep it up!"

Is technology dangerous?
This blog entry was about an inservice Edna attended recently where the lecturers were referring to technology too broadly for her liking. She said that it appeared as though her mentors, in a sense, were people who were terrified of change, people who didn't like what they though technology was because they didn't understand it, people who were too stubborn about the changing education system. Here is my response: "I love love love this post! This is Catherine again, from the University of South Alabama. You really have a knack for blogging, and your thoughts hit the nail on the head every time. It’s so true that so many educators are terrified of technology, but as you stated, it’s almost never because of what the internet is capable of, or any logical reason at all, it is because they have no idea what they’re doing. It’s sad, really. So many people are missing the opportunity to have SMARTboards in their classroom or tablets for their students to help them learn at their own pace…all because of a stubborn refusal to learn something new. Your sassy ending was the perfect touch! ‘If you don’t understand something…don’t teach it to pre-service teachers. Otherwise they’ll blog about you.’ Amazing, simply amazing!"