C4T #3

I was assigned to Hadley Ferguson for my 3rd set of C4T's. She teaches 7th and 8th grade History.

First Comment:

In my first post Ms. Ferguson explained that she had to rewrite a lesson plan due to her students not being as engaged as she hoped. She gave them freedom to do whatever they wanted in learning about life in the Arabian peninsula before Muhammed in 570 AD. She thought that they would be interested in this due to being in groups and having the freedom to use whatever tool they wanted to learn about the area. Surprisingly her first class simply did enough to get by. Ms. Ferguson was disappointed, but she took the responsibility on herself. She wasn't going to allow that disappointment to keep her from her job though. Instead of wallowing in her disappointment, Ms. Ferguson decided to change her plan. She had experienced this before in students and knew it was her responsibility to provide a good hook that would get her students engaged. She re-wrote her lesson plan and added a kick-off activity where she showed her students images of the Arabian peninsula and this did the trick.

In my comment I began by introducing myself. I provided a link to our class blog and my blog. I told Ms. Ferguson that I was currently learning about Project Based Learning. I let her know that I was impressed with her humility in taking responsibility for her students not getting hooked with her first lesson plan. I came away from her first blog post realizing that it's okay to make mistakes, mistakes provide an opportunity to learn.

Second Comment:

In the second blog post of Ms. Hadley Ferguson's that I commented on she was discussing a new book she had read titled Role Reversal: Achieving Uncommonly Excellent Results in the Student Centered Classroom by Mark Barnes. The book really had her addicted to being the best teacher she can be. She throughout her lesson plan because she knew she can make it better. She had started off the year with two great plans for her 7th and 8th grade classes. These plans would introduce Project Based Learning to her students. The problem arose when she moved on to her next plan, Ms. Hadley felt that she had became complacent. However, after reading Mark Barnes book she was addicted to being the best teacher she could be. She re-wrote her lesson plans that would connect the students to the material.

I was blown away by Ms. Ferguson's dedication to being the best she could be. In my comment I let her know that I was impressed with her work ethic. I now want to give Mark Barnes book a read. It can sometimes be hard to fight against complacency and any book that helps you fight against it is worth reading. I was encouraged by Ms. Ferguson and the way she showed that it's never too late to change your lesson plan or teaching methods. I'm thankful that I was assigned to Ms. Hadley Ferguson for my 3rd C4T's. I learned a lot from her.