C4T #4 Summary Post

I had the pleasure of being assigned to principal Julie A. Vincentsen's blog, One Principal's Musings.  She has posted some great and informational posts.  Here is a summary of a few post in which I commented on...


Capturing Struggling Readers

 Prinicipal Vincentsen was inspired by a student's parent to write
this post.  This parent shared that her son was frustrated because he could not read the same books as his peers.  He felt left out because he couldn’t engage in their conversations about the latest and greatest books they were reading.  She thought about he sister who had the same problems with her sons and called her for some advice for the parent.  Her sister suggested that the parent and his teacher use audio books to help with this problem.  Here are some sources of audio books she suggested:

Audible.com

• It is owned by Amazon and works well with the Kindle. 
• Membership is $15/mo. and includes one download per month. Additional books can be downloaded for a fee ($8-15 ea). Audible often offers membership deals and other specials. 
• Audio books are available for many titles and are read by professional actors.
• Each book can be downloaded onto multiple devises including personal computer, mp3 player or iPods.
• Some schools are obtaining memberships from Audible at discounted prices.

BookShare (www.bookshare.org)

• Bookshare is available only to people with print-based disabilities. 
• It is FREE!
• BookShare is unique because the download includes text and audio. The text is highlighted to assist reading along.
• Textbooks are available, but only if the membership is obtained by the school and the child is on an IEP.

Learning Ally (www.learningally.org) (formerly Reading for the Blind and Dyslexic)

• LearningAlly is available only to people with print-based disabilities. 
• An individual, unlimited, annual membership fee is $99.
• Audio books can be downloaded onto a computer or iPod app.
• LearningAlly is unique because textbooks are available to all members and illustrations and graphs are also read and described. Textbooks are frequently read by experts in the field.
• If a book is not available, it can be requested and will be recorded, often within two weeks.

Hello Principal Vincentsen,

And they say ban technology from classrooms, I think not!!! This is a great way for teachers to incorporate technology in the classroom. Struggling readers can definitely benefit from the use of children’s audio books. They can help students with comprehension, fluency, and overall attitude toward reading. There is no such thing as a child who hates to read; there are only children who have not found the right book.

Thank you for another great post!
Courtney Muse



Tis the Season of Report Cards: Praising Effort & Setting Goals

In this post, Principal Vincentsen talks about students and their report cards.  She refers to report card days as some of the biggest days in student's lives. This day brings a great deal of anxiety as children are concerned about how parents will react when they open the envelope. She shares with us a letter that a 4th grade teacher sent out to parent.  In this letter, the teacher offers advice to parents in reguards to their child's report card.  In the letter, she encourages parents to, hug, kiss, and tell them that they are proud of them no matter what.  She also suggest parents to praise their child for the good grades and encourage the child to set goals for the poorer grades. 

This teacher has offered some amazing advice to parents. Report card days are some of the most important days in a student's education career. And I'ts all up to the parent’s reaction to these cards that may make or break a student educational success.

Thanks for the ideas and inspirations,
Courtney Muse

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