What a thoughtful parent "Bec" is on the Edutopia group 'Elementary School'. She posted a question and wanted to know what teachers could use in their classrooms that they typically end up purchasing out of pocket. Instead of giving her children's teachers a random gift for Christmas this year, she was going to give a supply basket. This was a great idea!
Even at the secondary level, I know I spend hundreds of dollars a year buying items for my classroom. From the decorative items and project tools to spare pencils, paper and folders for my students, it does not take long to add up to a large sum!
Additionally, as I read through some of the postings, one user suggested going to the Title I office (I did not know this existed) if your school is a title I school and another user suggested going to www.ShopForStudents.com to start a classroom fundraiser. What neat ideas!
http://www.edutopia.org/groups/elementary-school/33690
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Application Based Learning
I was very excited to read Edutopia's article Race to Knowledge: Putting Project-Based Learning on the Fast Track by Diane Curtis. As a former mechanical engineer, and Kettering University alumni, I have lived the project-based learning and would not trade it for anything. As a student at Kettering, I also participated on the Society of Automotive Engineer's Clean Snowmobile Challenge (SAE CSC). I whole-heartedly agree with the fact that there are a lot of things to be learned when working in a team environment that one cannot learn in a classroom alone. For me, I think it was the realization that not everything (if anything at all) turns out as one would predict let alone in the timeframe one would hope.
Working on the CSC, we would plan, prepare and work all year long to come up with a robust design, test it out, make modifications as necessary and retest. However, it never failed that we would still be doing quite a bit of tweaking the week leading up to competition. Later on, after I had worked full time in the engineering profession, I found that the job was no different than the competition. Because test data typically produced unpredictable results, our course of thought would often change.
To implement something like project-based learning at the high school level is something I find to be very exciting. What better way to prepare our future leaders than to give them firsthand experience in validating their thoughts and ideas, working within a budget and set timeline and working with individuals you may or may not particularly enjoy being around. Additionally, the students would learn that you do not always come up with a “correct solution” the first time around and that sometimes, failure can lead to a positive outcome!
http://www.edutopia.org/race-knowledge
Working on the CSC, we would plan, prepare and work all year long to come up with a robust design, test it out, make modifications as necessary and retest. However, it never failed that we would still be doing quite a bit of tweaking the week leading up to competition. Later on, after I had worked full time in the engineering profession, I found that the job was no different than the competition. Because test data typically produced unpredictable results, our course of thought would often change.
To implement something like project-based learning at the high school level is something I find to be very exciting. What better way to prepare our future leaders than to give them firsthand experience in validating their thoughts and ideas, working within a budget and set timeline and working with individuals you may or may not particularly enjoy being around. Additionally, the students would learn that you do not always come up with a “correct solution” the first time around and that sometimes, failure can lead to a positive outcome!
http://www.edutopia.org/race-knowledge
Thursday, October 28, 2010
I AM good at math!
As a teacher of mathematics, I used to hear almost daily "I'm not any good at math" or "My mom/dad wasn't good at math and neither am I". Eye color, height, body build, hair color - these are all things that are hereditary. But since when has the ability to do mathematics become an inherited ability? I now will not allow the above mentioned phrases or similar phrases be used in my class. As soon as one of my students try to bring out the "I can't do math" card, I give them an additional problem to show them that they CAN do math and that they are actually good at it!
I couldn't agree more with NCTM's (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics) president J. Michael Shaughnessy's October 2010 Summing It Up article It's Time to Stamp Out the Phrase "I'm Bad at Math". Shaughnessy discusses how many of today’s students proudly announce that they are not good at math. He talks about how parents and educators need to start putting an end to this by demonstrating the importance of mathematics to our kids and students. We need to keep them involved and interested so they too will see the many things that can be done with at mathematics background.
I couldn't agree more with NCTM's (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics) president J. Michael Shaughnessy's October 2010 Summing It Up article It's Time to Stamp Out the Phrase "I'm Bad at Math". Shaughnessy discusses how many of today’s students proudly announce that they are not good at math. He talks about how parents and educators need to start putting an end to this by demonstrating the importance of mathematics to our kids and students. We need to keep them involved and interested so they too will see the many things that can be done with at mathematics background.
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