This post in response to:
http://scienceblog.com/47029/nasa-selects-seven-firms-to-provide-near-space-flight-services/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+scienceblogrssfeed+%28Science+Blog%29
Because I live in the Clear Lake area of Houston, TX, any positive news about NASA's flight program is a good thing. Much of the area in which I live is employed by NASA in one way or another and I hate hearing about all of the good people that are being let go because the flight program is no longer being funded by the U.S. government. I can't say that I support U.S. funding of the flight program, but I am happy that NASA is being able to outsource their future flights through companies located in the U.S. It will be very interesting to see what happens in the coming years when it comes to U.S. led flights into space!
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Beginning of School Year Lessons
In response to: "Starting the School Year Lessons."
http://www.edutopia.org/groups/social-studies/64210
In this short blog post, Brian Thomas offers four lessons to begin the school year with. Thomas has linked each one of the lesson plans which will take you to the lesson itself with directions/instructions. First lesson is a getting to know each other activity. Second is an introduction to interactive notebooks. Third is a discussion on learning styles and working with others. Lastly, Thomas gives an automated classroom procedures list to save on instructional time. All four of his short lessons are going to need to be tailored to the needs of your individual classroom. Thomas also includes a link at the bottom of this linked site to his own blog page which he adds monthly free lesson plans to. Great ideas for the first week of school.
http://www.edutopia.org/groups/social-studies/64210
In this short blog post, Brian Thomas offers four lessons to begin the school year with. Thomas has linked each one of the lesson plans which will take you to the lesson itself with directions/instructions. First lesson is a getting to know each other activity. Second is an introduction to interactive notebooks. Third is a discussion on learning styles and working with others. Lastly, Thomas gives an automated classroom procedures list to save on instructional time. All four of his short lessons are going to need to be tailored to the needs of your individual classroom. Thomas also includes a link at the bottom of this linked site to his own blog page which he adds monthly free lesson plans to. Great ideas for the first week of school.
Science of Learning
In response to: "Big Thinkers: Judy Willis on the Science of Learning."
http://www.edutopia.org/big-thinkers-judy-willis-neuroscience-learning-short-video
This short video by Judy Willis talks about her life as a neurologist and how she was increasingly being sent kids who were suspected of having learning disabilities. As part of what she did to test the students, she visited their classrooms to observe their learning. When in the classroom, Judy noticed that the students did not have learning disabilities, but their brains were either stressed or bored because of the way the teachers were teaching the lessons. Judy decided to take her knowledge of the brain and return to college to get a degree in education. From there, Judy taught second grade and was sure to teach students in a more hands on, collaborative style instead of the lecture style that she observed going on in lower elementary classrooms. Her students were successful and learned a great deal from her style of teaching.
http://www.edutopia.org/big-thinkers-judy-willis-neuroscience-learning-short-video
This short video by Judy Willis talks about her life as a neurologist and how she was increasingly being sent kids who were suspected of having learning disabilities. As part of what she did to test the students, she visited their classrooms to observe their learning. When in the classroom, Judy noticed that the students did not have learning disabilities, but their brains were either stressed or bored because of the way the teachers were teaching the lessons. Judy decided to take her knowledge of the brain and return to college to get a degree in education. From there, Judy taught second grade and was sure to teach students in a more hands on, collaborative style instead of the lecture style that she observed going on in lower elementary classrooms. Her students were successful and learned a great deal from her style of teaching.
What Makes an Effective Teacher?
In response to: "Measuring a Teacher's Effectiveness Goes Beyond Test Scores."
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/teacher-effectiveness-measuring-test-scores-elena-aguilar
In this blog post by Elena Aguilar I was happy to read that parents do care more than just test scores when it comes to evaluating what makes an effective classroom teacher. To a classroom teacher today, it seems that all that matters to administrators are the test scores of students. If the test scores in a classroom were not to the standards set by the school, then the teacher must not be doing their job. I agree with Aguilar that part of a teacher's yearly evaluation should be based on student feedback. The life lessons that teachers share with students on a daily basis are so important for kids, but are overlooked by administration and much of society because the focus is solely on test scores. Good to see that some parents care more about their child's education that just test scores.
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/teacher-effectiveness-measuring-test-scores-elena-aguilar
In this blog post by Elena Aguilar I was happy to read that parents do care more than just test scores when it comes to evaluating what makes an effective classroom teacher. To a classroom teacher today, it seems that all that matters to administrators are the test scores of students. If the test scores in a classroom were not to the standards set by the school, then the teacher must not be doing their job. I agree with Aguilar that part of a teacher's yearly evaluation should be based on student feedback. The life lessons that teachers share with students on a daily basis are so important for kids, but are overlooked by administration and much of society because the focus is solely on test scores. Good to see that some parents care more about their child's education that just test scores.
What Motivates Us?
In response to: "RSA Animate - Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc
In this YouTube video that was uploaded by theRSAorg., a different, new kind of motivation is described in detail. The video talks about a test that has been done on elementary students that is designed to motivate them using money as an incentive. Students were given a set of jobs to complete and depending on how well they did those jobs, they would receive a given amount of money. The better they did, the more money they would get. The video states that this type of incentive for students only works with jobs pertaining to mechanical skills such as physical labor jobs. When it came to jobs requiring cognitive thinking or creative thinking, the amount of incentive offered led to poorer performance. When the test was repeated for workers in a poor rural area in India where $50 was worth a months worth of work, the test results came out the same. The video states clearly that without PURPOSE, kids are not often willing to give their best effort even with an incentive being offered. Teachers need to do their best to ensure that there is a purpose to all of the assignments and activities that we expect students to do each day. This video was very interesting!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc
In this YouTube video that was uploaded by theRSAorg., a different, new kind of motivation is described in detail. The video talks about a test that has been done on elementary students that is designed to motivate them using money as an incentive. Students were given a set of jobs to complete and depending on how well they did those jobs, they would receive a given amount of money. The better they did, the more money they would get. The video states that this type of incentive for students only works with jobs pertaining to mechanical skills such as physical labor jobs. When it came to jobs requiring cognitive thinking or creative thinking, the amount of incentive offered led to poorer performance. When the test was repeated for workers in a poor rural area in India where $50 was worth a months worth of work, the test results came out the same. The video states clearly that without PURPOSE, kids are not often willing to give their best effort even with an incentive being offered. Teachers need to do their best to ensure that there is a purpose to all of the assignments and activities that we expect students to do each day. This video was very interesting!
Use Fictional Writing with Elementary Authors
In response to: "Fantastical Enlightenment for Elementary Students."
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/elementary-student-writing-fantasy-gaetan-pappalardo
In this blog post by Gaetan Pappalardo, he emphasizes the importance of introducing young writers to the genre of fiction. In his post, Pappalardo refers to the fact that many states do not even add fictional writing to their standards/benchmarks and that kids are being cheated. Children are exposed to fictional material on a daily while on the internet and watching television. The majority of the books that children read are fictional stories. When it comes to writing, many young students struggle more than they did when beginning to read. If students were encouraged to use their imagination in their fictional writing, they would enjoy writing much more. Pappalardo talks about how teachers do tell students to write about what they know, but often times do not give students the freedom to really write about what they want to write about. Instead, teachers often times tell students to write about anything that true and non-fictional. I agree with Pappalardo that if a teacher takes the time to model fictional writing and discuss fictional writing ideas with a classroom of upper elementary students that kids would really enjoy writing much more. As teachers, we need to find time to squeeze in fictional writing as much as possible!
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/elementary-student-writing-fantasy-gaetan-pappalardo
In this blog post by Gaetan Pappalardo, he emphasizes the importance of introducing young writers to the genre of fiction. In his post, Pappalardo refers to the fact that many states do not even add fictional writing to their standards/benchmarks and that kids are being cheated. Children are exposed to fictional material on a daily while on the internet and watching television. The majority of the books that children read are fictional stories. When it comes to writing, many young students struggle more than they did when beginning to read. If students were encouraged to use their imagination in their fictional writing, they would enjoy writing much more. Pappalardo talks about how teachers do tell students to write about what they know, but often times do not give students the freedom to really write about what they want to write about. Instead, teachers often times tell students to write about anything that true and non-fictional. I agree with Pappalardo that if a teacher takes the time to model fictional writing and discuss fictional writing ideas with a classroom of upper elementary students that kids would really enjoy writing much more. As teachers, we need to find time to squeeze in fictional writing as much as possible!
Using Technology to Study Landscapes Outdoors
In response to: "Learning Landscape: Kids Monitor Terrain with Technology."
http://www.edutopia.org/wetland-ecology-technology-video
This link connects you to a five minute video that describes a program that upper elementary school students in Minnesota are involved in for Science. Students have been working outdoors in a open area of land that has many different types of plant and animal life. Students are put into groups and are given a number of plants and animals that they need to research and monitor. Each group becomes specialists/experts in their area of study and is expected to report to the class about their findings. The area of land that they have to work with is large and most schools do not have programs set up like this for their students, but it is something that teachers could strive for in the future. The elementary school in this post has gotten grants to buy new technology for their students to use in the field and the kids really respond well to the atmosphere of learning. Using the technology allows students to collaborate and become life-long self-learners inside and outside of the classroom.
http://www.edutopia.org/wetland-ecology-technology-video
This link connects you to a five minute video that describes a program that upper elementary school students in Minnesota are involved in for Science. Students have been working outdoors in a open area of land that has many different types of plant and animal life. Students are put into groups and are given a number of plants and animals that they need to research and monitor. Each group becomes specialists/experts in their area of study and is expected to report to the class about their findings. The area of land that they have to work with is large and most schools do not have programs set up like this for their students, but it is something that teachers could strive for in the future. The elementary school in this post has gotten grants to buy new technology for their students to use in the field and the kids really respond well to the atmosphere of learning. Using the technology allows students to collaborate and become life-long self-learners inside and outside of the classroom.
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