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Title: I Wish I could Quit you!

URL: http://timfredrick.typepad.com/timfredrick/2007/09/i-wish-i-could-.html#comments

 In becoming a teacher, I always think how I want to make a difference in my student's lives.  But I don't know the best way to do that, and I probably won't ever know because it will be different for each student. "When do we make the decision that we've done all we can with a particular student and the situation is out of our hands?" What I've never thought about though is when there is a student like who you talked about that you just can't help.  I don't know what how I'll be able to stop trying or when to realize that I need to stop trying because it's really up to him to change.  It's going to be hard to know when to let go. 

Title:  How To Grow A Blog

Website: http://www.teachandlearn.ca/blog/

I just began blogging, so the concept is a little hard for me to grasp so far.  But I like this post because the diagrams are a good way to visualize and really understand the point of blogging.  It's hard for me though because I am so used to writing a paper and trying to make it sound as good as possible because I am trying to get the grade.  And the worst part about writing a paper is that I have never considered myself good at it.  "In education, however, the product - the grade, the final draft, the test mark - still often takes precedence over the process of learning - the sense of personal journey without which the final destination is meaningless."  For me, this states exactly how I felt in high school.  All I cared about was getting a good grade.  Actually learning the information wasn't my goal.  Now that I'm in college, I am wanting to really learn the subject and understand what is being taught, but there is always still that thought in the back of my head that I need to get the grade.  I like the idea in this post too that blogging is really about the ideas.  The writer doesn't need to write a blog like a formal essay so it makes the process much easier.  "It helps them realize that blogging is not about posting well thought-out entries, and that each entry does not need to present a definitive and complete view on a given topic. Rather, it helps them see that blogging is about engaging with ideas."

Title of Blog: "Learning to be Myself"

URL:  http://www.teachandlearn.ca/blog/2007/09/23/learning-to-be-myself/#comment-99098 

 Hi Konrad. I think that joining in on the discussions with your students is a great idea! I have a class right now where we have discussions within certain groups, and our professor responds and puts up articles she has found that relate to our class or articles that relate to something she feels strongly about. I really like it because we don't see her as the professor in the discussions. We just see her as another peer, which makes it much easier to be comfortable around her in the class and ask for extra help if needed. "In other words, I want the students to see me as yet another blogger in their community, as someone whose reason for being there is not only to support and instruct but also to learn. To learn from and with my students." There have been a few times too where we as students have posted articles that our professor doesn't know about, so she'll ask questions about it in the discussion and then also in class so that she can be more informed as well as the rest of us who are not in that certain discussion group. I like the discussions and having our professor involved, and I really think your students will too.

Title: Is the National Curriculum too busy?

 URL:  http://timfredrick.typepad.com/timfredrick/

 "If they are given pointers some assistance when required, this free's up the teacher to work more closely with students who for varying reasons are not yet able to access information themselves." I completely agree with the idea of letting the students who know what is going on be able to explore themself so that the teacher can help the others who aren't understanding right away. Not only does this give the teacher a chance to help the students who need more guidance, but it also keeps the students who are a little a head from getting bored. It also keeps those students on track and interested in the class.

Title of Blog:How Do We Keep New Teachers? 

URL: http://timfredrick.typepad.com/timfredrick/

Reading this blog has made me even more aware of the importance of learning and having as much experience as possible before actually becoming a teacher.  I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, and all the schools I attended did not have any major behavioral problems in the classrooms (like in the classrooms of the NYC Teaching Fellows classrooms.)  We had a good amount of funding which helped keep the teachers from being put in positions like some mentioned in the NYC Teaching Fellows article.  Students and teachers always had books and supplies.  Over the past two years I have been thinking that I would really like to teach in the poorer areas of Chicago that are not as fortunate as the areas I grew up in.  I realize though that teaching in those areas will require more experience than I would have fresh out of college.  I do not want to be scared away from teaching like some of the teachers in the Teaching Fellows program.  I want to be a successful teacher, and feel like I have really made an impact in my students lives.  "'I don't think the kids are getting a good education from someone who isn't qualified to teach them, especially without books.'" I feel like if I were to start out at a school where the students really needed a teacher who was experienced enough to make a difference, I would not only be hurting myself, but I would really be keeping the students from getting an education they deserve.  So, I am beginning to feel like I should start out teaching in a better off school and then move in to a school with less funding where teachers do not necessarily want to work.
"'I really think the DoE needs to put their money where their mouth is and pay for teaching fellows to have as long as they can-ideally a full year-to be an assistant teacher in a classroom,' Greenwald said."  It seems like the teaching fellows has a good idea, providing more teachers to the rural areas, but it does not seem like they are making sure that the teachers are certified and ready to be teaching those students. Just providing any teacher isn't exactly solving the problem because it doesn't mean that the students are truly learning any better.  It seems to me that teaching in an area like that would require more training and possibly even a more experienced teacher with the new teacher in the classroom at first.  Or maybe they should spend their student teaching time in a classroom similar to the ones in NYC where they will be teaching. 
In response to the new teachers getting put in rougher situations, it just seems like that is how it is in most jobs.  The "newbies" do not have as many choices because they do not have as much experience.  But I think that more experienced teachers should be more open to using their skill in new places and trying to help students who may be more in need.