- Peers don’t necessarily need to be other teachers in order to unpack a topic. My wife and I had a discussion this afternoon about a decision my host teacher for (one-day) student teaching made this week. The teacher coaches girl’s basketball, and he told his students that if they showed up (on Saturday) to support the team and made their presence known to him that they would get an unspecified number of “bonus points” added to their latest exam. Although I appreciate him trying to engender community at a school event, I questioned whether his students should consider this “fair” or not. What if his students didn’t like basketball, or sports in general? After some contemplation (through my connected learning lens) I decided that it would have been fairer if he had allowed the students to pick a school organized event that occurred within the next month. This way the students would have exercised their right to choose what section of the community they supported, whether it was a sports game, a band performance, a robotics event, or a debate club competition. What do you think?
- In my other post for the week I mention the Danielson Framework, in particular domain #4 d, which addresses “Participating in the Professional Community”. For those who need a refresher, this link is to the Danielson Group website, which has content-specific downloads that break the Framework down further into six “clusters” which address all the points that the larger Framework does.
- My search for discussion of equity lead me to the Students Helping Students website. SHS is a non-profit group which acts almost like Robin Hood in that they “take from the rich and give to the poor”. In this instance, it is important to note that that which is taken has been freely given by well-to-do school districts so that the school districts that are not as well off might still be supplied with what they need to function. One step towards equity? Yes, indeed.
- This post from Edutopia is about a school in Oakland, CA where collaborative learning is a core tenet. It interested me especially because there is a link to a group test that students complete instead of individualized assessment. The article talks about how the students feel more connected to and supported by each other, with an interesting by-product being that students who learn this way are more likely to ask for help when they need it.
- I don’t think there’s a math teacher alive today that hasn’t been asked, “When am I ever going to use this?” This article on the Think Through Learning website should be bookmarked for just such an occasion. Of special note is the example of a “To-Do List” that gives projects number values based on importance and urgency.
- Based on a request from my host teacher I made my first video on the Educreations website. In it I worked through an example of graphing a rational function and recorded a voice-over that students could follow along with. I think other have mentioned this site before or the “Show Me” app for the iPad (which works similarly). Both use a virtual white board and can have voice overs added in order to facilitate a flipped classroom. I did not have a stylus to write with, so I am (only slightly) worried that the students might tease me for my sloppy “finger-writing”. In my mind it will only remind them that we are all human and thus fallible.
- One of the ways to improve student engagement suggested to me was to have professionals in a particular occupation speak to your class about his or her job. But what if you don’t know the right people? Don’t know any geologists in your neighborhood? There is a website called Classroom Connect that will put in the legwork and find one for you. There is also a section where professionals who are willing to speak to classrooms may volunteer their services. The “visit” seems to normally be a virtual one, so it seems that all that is required is basic internet and projection equipment.
Thanks for reading,
Eric L.