Post #10 "Lost in Translation"

As with anything in life, the things that we attempt to communicate to others may not be received in the manner that we intended. This is also very true in classrooms. As teachers we present information and communicate to our students. It is important for both the communicator and the receiver to be aware that misconceptions can and will occur during the learning and communication process. The activity that we did in class yesterday would serve as an exceptional tool to convey the concept of a breakdown in communication. As I mentioned in class, I wholeheartedly intend to use this activity on the first day of school in my science class. Students need to be aware that misconceptions are a common occurrence, but through better communication on both ends, those misconceptions can be reduced to allow them to reach a better understanding of what is being communicated. Like with writing, communication in all forms is a process and the skills to communicate efficiently will need to be learned and refined throughout the school year. By doing this activity with my students I hope to ease any anxieties about learning science and begin to develop the appropriate communication skills to become successful with the content material.

Post 9: Traveling Story

I enjoyed the traveling story activity we did in class yesterday. It was different from what would be done in most language arts classrooms, let alone in a science classroom. The activity would be very fun for the students and allow them to learn about language arts and science at the same time, but it may be difficult for the students to stay with in the content area during the activity. To possibly make it a little less stressful for the students to perform at the drop on a hat, I would incorporate a science vocabulary word box into the activity. Each student would be given a word box with science terms to choose from if needed. the list would have words both learned in class and from the science community in general. This way the students may have an easier time staying within the content area and be less concerned about not having a word to say between I or the from the previous student. An example to give the students of a sentence with science terms could go like, "The astronaut went in to outer space in a space shuttle to look at the stars, which are giant balls of gas millions of miles away from earth." In this format the students could understand the direction that the sentences should go. The use of everyday words and science terms combined to explain something about a science concept or term.

Post #8 Cross Curricular Project

I had a little difficulty coming up with a theme for my project. Then I decided to regress and become a 12 year old again, which wasn't that hard. : ) I sat down and thought about what I was interested in when I was in middle school. It was that simple, Ancient Egypt! I was fascinated with the mysterious culture and the exotic look to the people, so I have decided to go with it. I have done research and have started my lesson plans. The content areas I will cover will be:
1. ELA
2. Science
3.Math
4. History

ELA will include the introduction of various form of written communication, including ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs. The students will learn to translate hieroglyphics into English by using the translation station learning sheet. The students will also create a cartouche of their name using the hieroglyphic alphabet and display them in the class. They will then read The Red Pyramid by: Rick Riordan. Once they have read the book they will do a project which will have them identify setting, characters, summary, plot, etc.

Science will have the students learning about the science that Egyptians used in their daily lives, while practicing modern scientific methods. One activity will be for the students to learn about the mummification process. To expand on the topic the students will mummify an apple. They will use the scientific method to conduct the experiment, i.e. weighing the apple before and after, documenting observations before and after, and making predictions and conclusions.

Math will have the students investigating the ancient pyramids. They will be given a pyramid fold-able to learn about area, surface area, and volume. They will also practice using alternate methods of measurement, similar to the ancient Egyptians, by using a string with knots tied in it to measure things around the classroom and compare it to the modern meter stick.

History will have the students writing and creating an Egyptian history book. They will research the information using links found on a webquest online. compile the information, create the illustrations or use graphics found online to expand on the information, and put it all together to create the book.

I still have a lot of thing to create for this unit, but I feel that I have a good starting point. I found this activity to be much easier than the traditional method of creating specific daily lesson plans. After deciding on a theme the lesson seemed to come about with ease and are more fun to create. The theme seems to drive the creatve process to create a more engaging unit for the students! I am enjoying it.

Post 7: Assesment

In my opinion, assessment is an informal or formal method to gauge and judge and individuals knowledge in various content areas or situations. The key when administering an assessment is to ensure that is is authentic. Types of authentic assessment can include portfolios, discussions, presentations, labs, writing assignments, etc.

Three authentic assessments in science:

1: After covering stars and the solar system you can have the student create their own constellation. Using a predetermined set of plot points, the students will plot them on a graph paper using the Cartesian coordinate system. Once they have plotted the points, they will connect the dots in any way they wish  and color it to create a constellation. Then they will write the story or mythology associated with their constellation. They should also incorporate the appropriate terminology into  the mythology showing that they have grasped the material.

2. Have the students choose a branch of science that interests them and have them create and informative brochure that explains what it involves, its origins, evolution over time, contributions to science as a whole, etc. You can display them or have students present them to the class.


3.In addition to conducting labs, the students should maintain a journal reflecting their outcomes, predictions, or ideas; similar to lab reports. The journal would be used as a portfolio to show the students' critical thinking skills and the use of the scientific method. 

Post 6: To Inform or Persuade?

  Informative writing is designed to use facts to inform the reader on a topic or guide them through a procedure. It can be seen as a recipe, technical manual, or as an informative brochure. Topics are limitless with informative writing. If there is a want or need to inform the masses about a topic than informative writing will be a useful method of writing to meet the demand. For an in class activity, teachers can have the student choose a topic that they are interested in and have them write a "How To" paper. In addition to writing the paper they can actually present their "How To" paper in class, such as How to Hula presentation.

  Persuasive writing uses a different set of tactics than informative writing. Persuasive writing appeals more to the ego, emotions, or character of the reader to get them to follow the writings position on a topic. This could be seen as political adds, advertisements, etc. In class the teacher can use the current book being studied in class and pose a for or against question pertaining to a choice or occurrence that happened in the book. The students would decide on which side they wanted to be and write a persuasive paper to convince their opponents to change their position on the topic. For example, Do you think that Snape is truly evil? Why or Why not?

Post 5 What is writing?

For all intensive purposes, writing is a processes. In all there are five steps associated with the writing process. The first is pre-writing, which includes brainstorming, listing, webbing, free writing, outlining, and conversations. Once you have pre-written then you move on to drafting the first copy. This could be done on paper or on the computer. Revising comes after drafting and this involves the changing of ideas, adding and deleting concepts and elaborating on existing ideas. Once you have revised you edit grammar and punctuation mistakes. The final step is to publish what you have written.

What is a good reader?

Most people think that a good reader is some one that reads all the time or someone that reads very quickly, and they are correct, that person is a good reader. However, the variety of material that they read is just as, if not more important than how fast or often they read. For instance, I love science fiction/ fantasy and drama. Hey, don't judge! And I would consider myself a very good reader by traditional standards. Now, If you were to give me a book explaining the political structure of the government of Zimbabwe, I would be less likely to comprehend what I was reading. Comprehension comes from our own prior knowledge and this knowledge is acquired not only by what we experience personally, but what we read as well. Comprehension of what we read is what truly dictates our ability to read. Reading strategies are useful, yes, but if you are reading a subject matter that is unfamiliar to you than it might as well have been written in another language.  So to answer the question, "What makes a good reader?", a good reader first and foremost is created and developed through reading a wide variety of material. As well as using reading strategies to build skills and reading often.

 In hopes to, "bridge that gap" so to speak, for the students in my class I would incorporate reading material that would cross curriculum and expose students to information that they might not have otherwise been exposed to. I would assign literature circles or research projects that included historical fiction, math scholar or artist biographies, science-fiction,etc. To develop there skills as readers I would have students assume roles while in literature circles and give them reading guide to fill out while reading for a research project. This tasks in addition to simply reading the books will increase their reading and comprehension abilities and develop meta cognition of how they are reading and comprehending.

Post 3 Games

To game or not to game! That is the question. From my perspective games in the classroom are a vital tool for learning. Without them students would be faced with rote memorization and possible boredom in school. The introduction of games, even ones that were not designed for a specific lesson, can teach students information that crosses curriculum, as well as allows them to learn life skills. Social behavior and critical thinking are a few of the life skills that would benefit the students while playing games. One of my most memorable years in school was the seventh grade. This year stood out because of the 6 week long game that played in history class. The westward expansion unit was not a topic high on my excitement meter until my teacher introduced the game. I went to class eager to play and in turn I learned about history, math, critical thinking skills, social behavior, accountability, and economics, all while playing a game.

In my science classroom I hope to integrate games to bring forth my students excitement and untapped skills. The games should be for learning new material and for practicing recall skills prior to quizzes and tests. A game that I plan to use is an atom building game. Students would be placed in to teams and asked to go up to the board, one from each team. They will given the number of protons for an element and the students will recreate that atom on the board as a diagram with the correct number of electrons surrounding that for the given element. There are many games that can be played and incorporated in to a curricula and I feel that this aspect of learning is far too often overlooked, because the stereotypes that has proliferated over the years. "If the students are having too much fun, than they couldn't possibly be learning!" We all know this isn't true, but for the want of orderly and "QUIET" classroom, games tend to a wild card not worth using in the game of learning.

Post 2 Motivation

For me, I see motivation as a course of action taken on by an individual to achieve a goal. This could be the want for a person to complete a mile run under 8 minutes, finish reading a book, graduating college, ect. Personally both intrinsic and extrinsic motivators play a large role in my achievements. Extrinsically, the motivation for me going back to college and maintaining good grades are the future increase in salary, the enjoyment I will get from my new career, the example that I set for my own children, and the lives that I will affect by becoming a teacher. Intrinsically, I find great satisfaction in the knowledge I gain with every course I take; as well as pride I feel at giving every course my best effort and receiving a grade that reflects it. In most cases individual require both forms of motivation to achieve goals. Extrinsic may outweigh intrinsic at times, or vice versa, but they will both be a factor in an individuals successes.

Hello!

Just letting everyone know I am here.

Post 1 Culture and Literacy

     With respect to culture and its' affects on literacy, we can see that the many cultures and subcultures that an individual identifies with, directly influences that individual's literacy. It is also important to note that no two individuals will function at the same level of fluency, because their cultures vary widely. As future educators, when we look at our prospective student population, we have to begin to determine how we would "bridge the gap", so to speak, between cultures to achieve the common goal of increasing fluency in multiple literacies. One possible method would be to initially determine the various cultures present in the classroom, i.e. male, female, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, school clubs/ programs, etc. With this information the teacher can better understand the culture of his/ her own classroom, which in my opinion is a vital  first step in establishing a relationship with the students. Given the knowledge of the importance of cultures in influencing education and the understanding of your own classroom culture, we are again brought back to the question of how to make a connection between the two.
    
     Whether through printed, written text or through oral means, communication seems to be the link that creates and continues to develop fluency within a culture. For example, a child that is having difficulty in reading, will ultimately have issues in other disciplines that involve reading. Taken further still, if a student is not introduced to the method of communication associated with a specific culture than they will not be nearly as successful as if they had been given the prior knowledge. For example, a child that is unfamiliar with the rules of the Bakugan game culture would not likely win many matches against well versed players. The same idea applies when you consider students in math, science and technology classes. These courses require a different level of communication than what they may have been already exposed to. So, it becomes apparent that clarifications in communication between cultures is needed to achieve success. As students learn to function and move between cultures it is important for them to understand the differences between the cultures and have a solid foundation of there norms and methods of communication for the varying cultures.

    We would love for there to be a simple answer on how to reach across the divide and join cultures to create a level of understanding for all students in our classrooms. However, with each passing year, as our students change, a new set of cultures come with them. It will be a balancing act that teachers will practice throughout their careers.

Test Run

This is my first attempt at blogging and I hope it is a successful one! Here I go......