C4T Comments For Teachers 3

For my third C4T project, I was assigned John Spencer's blog, Adventures in Pencil Integration. The first post I read was titled Why Were Your Kids Playing Games. In this post Spencer writes dialogue between a teacher and his principal. The principal asks the teacher why he and his students were playing games as opposed to him teaching a lesson. The teacher's reply was that he and his students were in fact participating in a mock simulation, but that it was educational. The principal does not accept this though. The teacher goes on to say that soldiers and doctors do the same thing everyday when learning their craft, but the principal still disagrees with his methods. I really enjoyed this post and I think that it is very important to get children interested in what they are learning. And, if a game helps do that, then what is wrong with them?
This is the comment I left for John Spencer:

"Hi John,
I really enjoyed this set of dialogue! I feel that it is extremely important to keep your students engaged while learning, for that’s when they are learning the most. I know how hard it is to pay attention to lecture after lecture, and to memorize straight facts. When you incorporate these concepts into a game, however, the information suddenly seems simple and a breeze to recall. I also feel it is important for students to learn skills instead of just memorizing facts. If you teach a child how to retrieve information (and then let them show you they can do it), they’ll never forget how. Repetition is important. I mean who wants a doctor performing surgery on them who has never even practiced the procedure? I really enjoyed reading your post!
Best wishes, Victoria"

The second comment I left for him was on a post titled I Banned Pencils Today. I read a lot of Mr. Spencer's blog posts and this one really stuck out to me so I decided to comment on it. In this post, Spencer talks about banning pencils during a math lesson. Of all things, a math lesson! He encourages his students to use their brains and figure out the problem mentally instead of writing it down on paper. At first, the students were uncomfortable with this idea, but after they finished and came up with the correct answer they realized that they could do it. His purpose for showing the children that their brains are powerful and evolved. I think that his experiment was a wonderful way to do that.
This is the comment I left him:

"Hi John,
Wow! I love this! I think that this is a wonderful thing to do for students. I admit, I would have been very uncomfortable if a teacher had asked me to do this, especially with a math problem. But, after I completed the problem, it would be so fulfilling to know what you can figure out with no tools. I am currently studying to become an educator, and I will definitely be using this approach for a lesson or two once I become a teacher. Thank you for sharing this!
Victoria"