C4Ta#4

Langwitches Blog
Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano

    For C4Ta#4, I was assigned Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano's blog Langwitches Blog. Tolisano is a very cultured individual, born in Germany, raised in Argentina, lived in Brazil, and now currently resides in the United States. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Spanish with a Minor in International Studies and a Masters in Education with an emphasis in Instructional Technology. She has worked as a World Language teacher, Technology Integration Facilitator, 21st Century Learning Specialist, Social Media Coordinator, Professional Development and Educational Consultant. Tolisano is very experienced in the world of technology pertaining to the classroom.

    The first post of Tolisano's that I reviewed was What are the Best Ways a Teacher can Demonstrate Leadership in the Classroom?. This post was done as part of C.M. Rubin's monthly series in the Huffington Post. This is her third contribution to the series. She began the post by defining what leadership means, according to Google. She then did a Google Image search on the word which yielded images with quotes on them. She also conducted a survey on Twitter using the hashtag #leadership, and received other people's definitions of leadership as well. From the information gathered, she then formed a view on "What are the best ways a teacher can demonstrate leadership in the classroom?". In the classroom, demonstrating leadership, according to Tolisano, is a "leadership flow". This "flow" is based off of four different components: model, experience, share, and trust. With modeling, the students learn leadership by watching someone act as a leader. You model the behavior you want your students to exhibit. In experience, you let the students experience learning. You put the leader as a learner alongside the student, allowing them to experience learning alongside the leader, teaching them how leadership is demonstrated. With sharing, the leader shares their class's accomplishments on a classroom, local, national, or even international level through face to face meetings or through technology. For trust, a leader is always developing trust within their classroom students. Trust lubricates the "flow" of leadership in the classroom.
    My comment for Tolisano on this post was "My name is Eva Mareno, and I am a student of EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama. I thoroughly enjoyed reading your post about demonstrating leadership in the classroom. Those four components are very important to establishing leadership effectively in the classroom."

    Tolisano's second post that I reviewed was Reflection about Anne Frank and Making Blogging Connections. In this blog post, Tolisano is reflecting on a visit to the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam from the perspective of an educator who believes in the following: the power of writing via blogging as a teaching and learning tool, documentation for learning of and from our experiences, and the imperative of sharing and connecting to contribute to global perspectives. As she tours the home, she sees quotes from Anne Frank's diary scattered throughout. She states that Anne Frank set the path for journaling and blogging for future generations to come. Her diary inspired millions of people to keep their own diaries, much like it inspired Tolisano. Tolisano urges people to think of writing in several ways. Some that stood out to me were "writing, even when you are in 'hiding', with an audience in mind", "writing as a form of 'surviving'", and "we all know that history was written by the victors. What about the other side to the story?" These are great things to keep in mind when writing either about our personal lives, or writing for an assignment. Blogging has become a new generation's diary. We should use it effectively.
    My comment on this post was "My name is Eva Mareno, and I am a student in EDM 310 at the University of South Alabama. I love how you viewed blogging through the eyes of Anne Frank. I love hearing about how you were inspired to write and have continued to do so throughout your life. You also asked questions that peaked my curiosity. What really did happen to Anne Frank's sister? What happened to her diary? Interesting questions to ask. Thank you for posting this."