Student Centered

Betty Ray wrote a great article about student centered learning strategies.  I enjoy learning new ideas for student centered learning.  One great idea that I noticed was to give students detailed lesson plans.  Sometimes I forget to let students know what the objectives are to the lesson.  By giving students lesson plans this will help with my problem.  I do believe in student centered learning and it is important to teach.  Students who go to college need to be self motivated.  Students need to have the tools to become successful at the college level.  It is mostly taking notes and rote learning.  I try to teach students studying tools to become successful.

Student Writing

I just read an article written by Elena Aguilar.  It was about motivating students to write.  This grabbed my attention because I just assigned a writing assignment in my 7^th grade social studies class.  I am having students write the paper the old fashion way.  The paper must be one sided, written in cursive, and doubled space.  Students began complaining immediately.  I had students asking how to write certain letters in cursive.  It amazed me that all students did not know how to write in cursive.  Writing skills are becoming dilapidated in the age of technology.  I can sit back and complain about previous teachers but that will not help the problem.  So I plan to incorporate writing into class more often.  Elena’s article gives great ways to motivate students to write.

Collaborative Assessment

I just read an article written by Andrew Marcinek.  It discusses collaborative assessment in a digital age.  Andrew believes that the best way to get collaborative assessment into your school, “Is for administrators and faculty to model various types of collaboration.”  Teachers need to teach students how to use technology and web-sites in the classroom.  Once students are proficient in using technology in the class is to allow them to present of demonstrate what they have learned.  I believe that teachers need to welcome technology into the classroom.  Those teachers who do not are doing a disservice to students.  Times are changing and teachers must be flexible to keep up.

Gifted

I just read a poll by Sara Ring about labeling students gifted.  The poll asks if students should have this label.  Some districts around the country have stopped using the terms.  Calling some gifted and leaving out others is a concern.  Some believe that this creates a divide.  I believe that students should be recognized as being gifted.  I really do not see a problem with it.  I do not understand why some students self esteem should affect other students.  Not using the word does not do anything useful, we should worry about more important things like teaching students curriculum.  I think that students at times can be over protected at times.  Students should be taught about dealing with issues that cannot be controlled.  

Watson

I just read an article by Alex Williams that discuss Watson.  By now everyone knows that Watson is a super computer that is competing against humans this week on Jeopardy.  I find this very fascinating.  It reminded me of the book Do Electric Androids Dream of Sheep written by Philip K. Dick. It reminds me that more and more computers have human like features.  Will there be a day where one cannot tell the difference between man and machine.  This would be a great time to include current events into the classroom.  This article also reminds me of a fairly new theory called singularity.  There are a few writers out there about the theory.  In a nutshell, the theory is that there is a point where artificial intelligence reaches beyond human intelligence and we fuse in with the internet and become “spiritual machines.”  I find this new theory fascinating and a great way to inspire students to think critically.

Formative Assessment

I just read the article by Rebecca Alber titled, Why Formative Assessments Matter, and it made me look at my recent lesson plan.  It reminded me that attention is really on summative assessments.  With NCLB summative results matter the most.  Teachers may quickly cover material that formative assessment might be put on the back burner.  I feel stressed all the time about making sure that I cover all the standards.  With snow days, assemblies, and other events taking time away from teaching, the stress builds.  After reading this article, I realize that I am not put enough attention to formative assessment.  Teachers need to make sure that students truly understand material being covered.  The article gives examples of formative assessments that I will be using later this week.

Technology

I have been browsing the articles in the Read Write Web looking for one to grab my attention.  While scrolling through the list I realized how great technology is.  I saw an article about Twitter and how great social sites like this are.  People can socialize all over the world and this can be a powerful tool.  I believe the Egyptian and the Tunisia government realize this too.  It is wonderful that technology can bring change in our world.  Technology is improving at an incredible rate.  It is great wonder where technology will go in the future and how it will be incorporated in the classroom.

Contemporary Events

Elena Aguilar wrote an article discussing lesson plans being created to include Egyptian protests.  Earlier this week my social studies began discussing Northern Africa.  This of course is the home of Egypt.  I decide this was a great moment to cover historical protests in the classroom.  Teachers need to be flexible to be successful.  Using current news in the classroom engages students, and more learning occurs when students are engaged.  I try to use current events as much as I can into my classroom.  It is really exciting to see a revolution taking place.  I hope that the Egyptian people stay strong.  Change can happen without war.

Education Poll

I read an article titled, The Edutopia Poll, written by Sara Ring.  It was about a study completed in 2009.  It found out that, “When highly effective teachers are hired, not only do their students’ test scores improves, but the scores of students in classes they don’t teach also get a boost.”  In her article Sara wrote that the results were surprising.  After thinking about this idea, I do not believe that the results are surprising at all.  Teachers love to share ideas whether they are good or bad.  Every story could be beneficial in one way or another.  Teachers know that teachers “steal” ideas from one another.  Successful people feed off of another and motivate people to put their best foot forward.