FREE Current Event Lessons!!! (www.izzit.org)

Since it has been 11 days since my last post, I figured I had best step my game back up.  In my email yesterday, I came across a website that I have used before for free videos.  The website is www.izzit.org.  What caught my eye about the email was the following ...

Due to teacher feedback and our desire to offer more high-quality resources to as many teachers as possible, we have decided to begin offering access to our daily Current Events articles free of charge to all registered members of izzit.org beginning on Thursday, November 29, 2012.  

For the past 2 years we have charged $3.00 per year for a Current Events membership, but beginning next Thursday you will be able to utilize this resource by simply logging-in to your account at www.izzit.org and clicking “Current Events Lessons” in the left-hand column.  

We also offer daily emails which let you know about each day’s articles.  To begin receiving these daily emails, please visit the “My Account” section of our website and click on “Edit Account,” where you will be able to select the email address where you’d like to receive these. 

FREE CURRENT EVENT LESSONS!  They provide two lessons per day (which is awesome because you have options!).   Here is the format ...

1.  Key Vocabulary used in the article.

2.  Discussion questions to spark whole class discussions / collaborative group discussion / partner talking / individual writing prompts.

3.  Article with article link (Excellent to include literacy in your classroom).

I strongly suggest taking a moment to check out this resource ... as it is FREE!

Hoff

 

 

 

Article - Using Digital Learning Data to Drive Instruction

"Using Digital Learning Data to Drive Instruction"
Mary Styers, Ph.D.
Magnolia Consulting, LLC
Link

     The article breaks down the use of digital learning data into a number of ways.  I've known about the positive uses of driving instruction through the use of student learning data, but never thought about the benefits to each side of the equation (for teachers and for students).

"As a result, when students have continuing involvement in their learning and a greater understanding of performance, self-perceptions and achievement outcomes improve."

     We often focus on the academic side of our students a bit much.  I am guilty of this as well.  It was interesting to see the author focus on the student "self-perceptions" as a benefit.  In my tenth year of teaching in Thomasville City Schools, I can attest to how important that variable is.  Students need to feel self-worth and ownership over their learning.  Does anyone know a great way to organize digital data?

"When involving students in the decision making process, students should receive feedback and be equipped to learn from that feedback (e.g., rubrics). Teachers can then use student interpretations of their data to guide instructional modifications. By allowing students to monitor their progress, students are able to increase engagement in the subject area and develop a sense of control over their learning."

     Decision-making is definitely a skill our youth need to continually grow in.  It is hard to teach some days.  We want to pass on the content due to deadlines of our Essential Standards or Common Core.  However, it is critical that our students develop that same self-reflection that the new Teacher Evaluation Standards as teachers to do.  Build a lesson, teach the lesson and reflect on the lesson.  We should use that same equation for students.  Be a part of the lesson, experience the lesson, and use the lesson to make a decision about you and your environment.  How would this look in a lesson?

Throw any other thoughts on the article below to discuss.  Thanks!

Guest Speakers - In Person vs Virtual Field Trips ...

We were fortunate to have a representative from Southern Energy Management (www.southern-energy.com) come and speak to our 8th grade Science classes on 10.26.12. We were able to see a solar water pump, cross sections of solar panels and do math calculations using a manometer to determine leakage in our gym.  WOW!  My 8th graders went hands-on with today's technology regarding renewable resources.  This picture was taken after explaining the use of infrared technology to determine energy lose.  Did you know that your plugged in cell phone charger at home is using up energy ... even when it is NOT plugged into your phone?!?

(3rd Block - A Day)

With all that being said, where do you stand on the issue of guest speakers in person or virtual field trips? There is nothing like being there and experiencing. My students can attest to that. Virtual field trips do allow for a 21st century means to interact digitally.  However, is that engaging to a class of 25+ middle schoolers?  So what do we do as nonrenewable resources see their prices soar and class sizes enlarge?

Energy Conversion Dominoes :)

Special thanks to ...

http://www.nyserda.ny.gov/en/Schools/School-Power-Naturally/In-The-Classroom/~/media/Files/EEWD/Schools/Lessons/Level%20II%20Lessons/4_PV-games_pdf.ashx

A great lesson that we used to discuss the Law of Conservation of Energy.  The best thing about the activity is that it allows for several different combinations.  I allowed my students to work in groups of four.  Pairs on each side of the table "played" against the students on the other side of the table.  The objective was to keep the energy moving.



After the domino board was constructed, we took 30 seconds for students to walk around the room to see how other tables' created their board (all were in different ways ... some linear and some all over the place!).

Our final assignment asked students to choose a starting point (any place on their board to begin).  They were to write a four sentence paragraph explaining how energy moved from object to object and was not lost.  Their fifth sentence was to explain how this has shown the Law of Conservation of Energy.

Kids had a great time and enjoyed the activity!  Thanks again to the originators!!!

Article - Eight Ways to Use Video With English-Language-Learners

LINK

"I like the way you use videos with us -- you get us moving, talking, writing and speaking. The problem is you make us think too much."  -- "John," one of our English-Language Learner students.\

Wouldn't we ALL like to have this problem as educators? "You make us think too much." HA! The above article does a fantastic job of laying out eight different ways to engage ELL students through the use of video.

2. Back to the Screen  

Back to the Screen is adapted from Zero Prep: Ready-to-Go Activities for the Language Classroom(8) by Laurel Pollard, Natalie Hess, and Jan Herron. The teacher picks a short engaging clip from a movie and then divides the class into pairs, with one group facing the TV and the other with their back to it. Then, after turning off the sound, the teacher begins playing the movie. The person who can see the screen tells the other person what is happening. Then, after a minute or a few minutes (depending upon the length of the video), the students switch places. Afterward, the pairs write a chronological sequence of what happened, which is shared with another group and discussed as a class. Finally, everyone watches the clip, with sound, together.

I will definitely be using this strategy in the near future with my groups. I wish I would have stumbled upon this for my Chemical Properties/Changes activities earlier in the year. 

With language being a barrier, visual learning becomes a strong tool in content comprehension. We can work on the literary part as the student progresses. However, getting them engaged and not feeling defeated at the start of a lesson is crucial!

Meet students where they are! And give them what they need to succeed :).

Article - Why Long Lectures Are Ineffective

http://ideas.time.com/2012/10/02/why-lectures-are-ineffective/?iid=op-main-mostpop1

"Middendorf and Kalish also cited a study from 1985 which tested students on their recall of facts contained in a 20-minute presentation. While you might expect that recall of the final section of the presentation would be greatest— the part heard most recently — in fact the result was strikingly opposite. Students remembered far more of what they’d heard at the very beginning of the lecture. By the 15-minute mark, they’d mostly zoned out. Yet these findings — which were quite dramatic, consistent and conclusive, and have never yet been refuted — went largely unapplied in the real world."

Have you ever wondered why TV shows have commercial breaks every 5-10 minutes?  The obvious answer is for ad revenue.  The subtle answer is that people struggle to concentrate for beyond 15 minutes.  It's been proven.  Even during movies there are "breaks."  Scenes transition and something new is on the screen for viewers to decipher and learn from.

So when creating a Venn Diagram with "Movies/TV Shows" in one circle and "Classroom" in the other, it brought to my attention where similarities can be.  The article states 15 minutes.  I think it is shorter than that!  TV shows use that 5-10 minutes to hook you ... and then re-energize the brain with an advertisement.  Interesting ...

TRANSITIONS are the key to keeping students engaged in the classroom.  After the 5-10-15 minutes, how will you re-energize the brain of the student?

BLOG POST - Compliance is NOT the Same as Engagement

http://theevolutionofeducation.blogspot.com/2012/10/compliance-is-not-same-as-engagement.html?showComment=1349449544521#c4687425717760511464

"I don't worry as much about a student who acts out in class.  I worry far more about the student who sits passively and complies even though the work lacks any type of relevance."

I came across this interesting blog post today through my Twitter.  All credit to Brian Nichols, the original writer, for a great viewpoint.  It is increasingly easy for teachers (with the amount of work asked of us to do) to become content with compliant students.  If they're quiet, appear to be working, and not bothering their peers, then they are "learning."  Are you sure?

"Focus on being descriptive and asking questions that foster growth."

I think teachers need to jump out of their comfort zones and DISRUPT THEIR STUDENTS.  Engagement challenges them to think rapidly, creatively and give them ownership in the lesson.  It takes a lot of practice, but you'd be amazed at the "Ah ha!" moments that you get :).

HAPPY FRIDAY FOLKS!

Article - "Why Kids Need Schools to Change"

http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2012/09/why-kids-need-schools-to-change/

“One thing we know for sure is that kids learn better when teachers are invested and paying attention and showing they care,” she said. “The biggest impact you’ll have as a teachers is the relationship you establish with your student.”

Some things don't change in education.  I am only in my tenth year of teaching, but I can attest to this.  At the end of the day, students just want to know that they matter in this complex 21st century.  However, the problem becomes us teachers evolving with the culture we teach.  Have you tried to use Twitter and see what all the fuss is about?  Have you taken your class roster and passed it around for students to write their favorite song on?  How have you tried to connect with them lately?  

Let me focus on the heart of the article.  Why do kids need schools to change?  As I could go on and on through this article, a couple of my colleagues and I discussed one major component.  School Start Time.  "SCHEDULING. Neuroscience research on sleep is becoming more compelling by the day, particularly around depression, Levine said. “We’d always thought fatigue is symptom of depression, but now it’s looking more like lack of sleep causes depression, and that’s something looked at seriously.” Kids needs nine hours of sleep, and if schools were in synch developmentally with teenagers, should would start at 10 a.m., especially when kids enter adolescence. Teachers should also coordinate their exams with each other to ensure that students are not taking multiple tests on the same day."  

What do you think?

Article - 13 Ways to Engage Reluctant Writers

http://www.educationrethink.com/2012/09/13-ways-to-engage-reluctant-writers.html

I think the first two engagement strategies say it all!

1. Make it practical. There are some students who hate writing, because all they've ever written is stories and poems and they've never learned about the clarity of prose or the need to be concise in a functional text. 
2. Make it impractical. Allow students to be fantastical, bizarre, witty and off-the-charts crazy in their writing. 

Not everything in the classroom needs to be 100% serious, 100% of the time.  I love being crazy with my kids!  However, crazy must have a purpose :).  Let me use this example that came from one of my collaborative groups today.  A word was taken from our Velcro Word Wall and given to each group to come up with a 3 sentence fictional story.  The story had to stay true to the purpose and definition of the word.  One group provided this story ...

"It was raining on a cold snow covered day.  A weird guy went outside and started pee-ing in the snowy, rainy mush.  The crazy thing was that the rain/snow and the pee turned into a marshmallow!"

I know, crazy :).  However, that group provided a perfect example of the word PRECIPITATE.  A precipitate is a solid that is formed during a chemical reaction.  Anywho, just thought it was interesting!

Hoff