Day 74: Roger, 5th Grade Student

Fractions Were the Worst Thing in My Life.

"I couldn't get anything right.  I didn't understand it.  It was confusing.  I felt like I would never catch up and that I failed myself."

Many of us can relate to the feelings Roger, a 5th grade student in Mrs. Humm's class, felt about fractions.  When we don't understand something, it can affect us in different ways.  If we know it is important to understand something, yet find ourselves constantly not "getting it", it can make us feel very defeated as learners.  This is where persistence pays off.

Roger worked with Mrs. Humm to keep at it when it came to understanding fractions.  "Mrs. Humm found a way to make it easier.  [For example], I always thought you had to subtract the denominators from each other.  Like 1/5 - 2/10 would be 1/5.  She said not to subtract the denominator and that cleared up everything.  That one thing opened the door for me."  After that, Roger felt confident about the work he was doing with fractions.

Lessons like these stick with us as we continue to grow as learners because we proved it to ourselves that we can set goals for ourselves and achieve these goals.

Day 73: Dana Humm, 5th Grade Teacher

Kidblog:  Why my students enjoy blogging about their reading with total strangers.

I have learned that no matter how enthusiastic, energetic, funny, or entertaining I try to be, I will never be completely “cool” in the eyes of my students.  It’s something about the fact that I am the one assigning work, giving out homework, and nagging about forms that are due that make me seem almost like a second mom.  Do I think my students like me?  YES!  Do they want to blog with me about the books they are reading?  NO!

Enter Kidblog:  a website that safely lets students blog about books with total strangers!  Ok, not total strangers.  Currently my students are blogging with students at Columbus State Community College.  The college student and my 5th grader read the same book and then blog weekly to each other about what they read.  They ask each other questions about the book, answer questions from previous blogs, and talk about themselves.  (The whole time I get to monitor their posts to make sure they are appropriate and withhold any personal information).  The quality of writing and book analysis that comes from my students when there is a real-world purpose for it is phenomenal (not to mention that they get to use the laptops!)  I even find my students using their newfound audience to talk about other books they are reading and to make new book suggestions.  It is nice to see them engaging as real readers over real books.  Now if only I were as “cool” as their book buddies!

Student Blog:

“March 7, 2013 at 10:32 AM

Hello again you should get a chinchilla their so cute! I agree about how Jay is selfish. The book Hoot is really good im really far in it. Its probably going to be like Lost and Found a book that you never wished ended. You should read it its an awesome book. Ya I agree never knowing what happens next in a good book is what makes a book so good. Thats what happens in Hoot if I leave off at a good part I just wanna keep reading on. If I were Melissa and I knew the secret then I wouldn’t tell anyone even if I trusted a friend not to tell. Because like what happened in the book everyone was only telling friends they trusted,and then thats how the secret got around. Because every one just had to tell one of there close friends who they trusted. What would you do if you knew RAY and Jays secret? hmm would I tell melissa the secret if I were Jay? I think I would because Melissa seems like she could keep a secret, but like what happend in the book I think I wont tell Melissa my secret ,but I would because Ray even said he felt good to tell someone so maybe I would tell Melissa my secret. What would you do?

I do think that the whole school is going to find out. Because its getting around really fast, and sooner or later the whole school is going to tell because it is a cool secret. So yes I think the whole school is going to find out. Their going to get in trouble probably by there parents. I cant wait to hear back from you. Bye!!!!!!!!!”