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