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I was passing through the Gen. Mitchell airport in Milwaukee the other day and had some time to kill. I noticed a sign for a museum and decided I should check it out. Very small, but still interesting and maybe a good way to occupy young children for a little while. Many exhibits seemed just a bit out of date and gathering dust, but that’s not really the point.
They had the expected exhibits with scale models of planes, a replica cockpit and some information on General George Mitchell. But, next to all of that there was a display case with all different sorts of currencies indexed to a world map next to them. The currencies had been collected through the donation bin for the museum located in the concourse. Often the coins had multiple sides to them, holes in them, different writing, and in very different denominations — all things that might seem strange to some students.
I found this to be an interesting way not just to look at the differences amongst currencies from around the world but it also provided an opportunity for geography and a discussion of how and why people from these far-flung places might be passing through Milwaukee. Sure, it is an international airport, as the display proudly proclaimed, but what reasons might all of these people have in Wisconsin. Some may be passing through, some may be doing business, some may even be moving to the area as refugees.
For all different ages, there are ways to begin discussions with this activity, whether it be on global economy and how markets are connected, the particular attractions to placing Milwaukee as a business and tourism center, more in-depth lessons on each of the nations represented, or even just as story-starters by imagining the lives of the people who left those coins behind. There are lesson opportunities that can be found in strange currencies and unfortunate airport layovers. We just need to look for them, and make them real to our students.
In relation to yesterday’s honor of Christopher Columbus and his “discovery” of “A New World”, I began thinking of the millions of people that were already living there. While they new it existed, their world changed with the arrival of Europeans as well. However, our history books don’t always teach us that. The video below may help to open up that discussion with your students and show that history is often a matter of perspective.
Although this book was originally published 60 years ago it continues to sell more than one million copies per year and still finds its way onto the syllabi of graduate-level courses of the theoretical (and practical) approaches to curriculum design and school reform. Tyler’s model, though not always followed exactly is often still the standard used in many educational settings.
Continue reading Basic Principles of Curriculum and Instruction
I have long been skeptical of Mr. Joel I. Klein’s qualifications for his leadership of the New York City school system, and certainly of his motives in doing so. In what seems to be a spreading epidemic, complete control of the school system was taken away from elected community school boards and usurped by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who delegated the responsibility to Klein, a few years. Since then, the schools have been run like a business that are concerned with improving the bottom line, and raising text scores, not with educating all students.
It seems Klein himself cannot even keep the goals straight as evidenced by his very confused, or confusing, statements in yesterday’s NY Times articles, “A’s or B’s Given to Most City Schools”. This article states that Klein was very pleased that so many of the schools received high marks while also claiming that the schools still have “a lot of improvement in front of them.” Klein supports the rather vague and “blunt” grading system of assigning letter grades to schools, but urges parents to “dig deeper” and actually pay attention to why schools were assigned such grades – which is about as likely as encouraging teachers to teach based on the interests of their students and not on what will be on the state exam.
 There are many reform efforts in the United States aimed at improving the current state of science education. Unfortunately, due to reduced funding in many areas coupled with the push towards a decontextualized curriculum that emphasizes rote memorization of facts there has been little time for students to learn through exploration in a hands-on environment.
A new approach by a few PhD’s is to take hands-on science labs to students. They have converted an old bus into a fully-fledged science lab on wheels. Although the bus may be old, the equipment and the science are not! The lead scientist behind the project, Dr. Ben Dubin-Thaler, Ph.D. received numerous awards and honors while matriculating at Columbia University. He continues to engage in Biological Sciences research throughout the United States – and he even drives the bus!
As a New York state registered non-profit, Cell Motion Laboratories, Inc. is the owner and operator of the BioBus. The mobile classroom offers both an introductory-type class in cell biology for younger kids, and a short-course that takes place over several days that allows students to conduct their own experiments.
I remember hearing about this project more than five years ago when it was still in a much earlier stage of its development and thinking this would be a powerful way to enrich the curriculum, and to allow kids an opportunity to get involved with science in a way that the average classroom does not allow for. With the subsequent degradation and dismantling of the science curriculum in the US, it may be that projects like this will be the only way that students get an opportunity for inquiry-based learning and lessons that are not driven by multiple-choice exam questions… that is when science has not been eliminated entirely.
But, programs like this can only continue if they have funding. Cell Motion Laboratories is able to receive donations and that are tax deductible. You can also help to keep the BioBus rolling with a $10,000 grant just by voting for them at: http://www.ideablob.com/ideas/5658-BioBus-Moving-Science-Educatio
P.S. – for all the teachers out there… if you would like to invite BioBus to your school the first step is to contact them here.
I was recently cleaning out a box of old papers. I found some of my old report cards from when I was school and laughed at the comments. I also found some ‘thank you’ from some of the wonderful students that I taught over the years. The following is a piece from a card made by a fourth grader whom I had during my student teaching. By this time, it was already known that I would be leaving the area to take a position elsewhere:
I decided to include this as a reminder of how deeply we are impacting our students. I remembered this student fondly, but I did not remember ever reading the letter when it was given to me—not until years later when I rediscovered it.
 About two weeks ago, the state of Florida released its standardized test scores for the 4th grade writing exam this year. It took me back a few years to when I was working with a student who became one of my “favorite” success stories. She was not the best writer when we began working together—we practiced, she wrote, I gave lots of feedback, and she would write again. We eventually got to the point that she was writing decently well according to the scoring guidelines from the state of Florida, but I sometimes wonder what the true benefit of this was.
Continue reading Genuine Writing
The most recent issue of Harvard Educational Review contained an insightful essay about a student-run radio program at Swarthmore College that focuses on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Emily Hager, though still a junior in college, tells us of her experiences interviewing people experiencing the wars firsthand—such as refugees, and government officials—on the other side of the world. Students are responsible for handling sources, writing stories, editing them and getting them filed for the weekly half-hour show that is broadcast on various stations throughout the country and can be found as a podcast on iTunes.
Much more than could take place in a typical class on journalism, current events, or politics, this method of firsthand learning is an excellent way to provide college students with a way to put their creative energies and enthusiasms to good use while also learning by doing, and producing a very informative show that rivals professional media outlets along the way. The project reminds me somewhat of Current TV, but it provides students with even more editorial discretion and tackles a very important topic.
Unfortunately, I cannot post the text here as it is copyrighted, but Swarthmore has posted a shortened version of Emily’s essay here.
Citation
Hager, E. (2009). War News Radio: Conflict Education through Student Journalism. Harvard Educational Review, 79(1), 94-103.
Throughout this series we have been considering the use of technological devices in our roles as teachers and students to better gauge how these innovations may increase the level of, or even enhance, the literacy of learners and become educational tools, not just glitz. This final post goes in a different direction to examine how technology may be challenging our traditional notions of what literacy is and suggests that we adapt our beliefs to better serve students.
Many of the devices and concepts that our students work with on a daily basis were not available for our use when we were students—although, those of us who return to higher education find podcasts, online shared documents, smart boards, and digital dropboxes as commonplace as mimeographs, punchcards and chalkboards were just a few years ago. These newer implementations may be signs that we must challenge our traditional views of what it means to be literate in a 21st century society.
Continue reading Redefining Literacy (eBook Series Part 6)
Although conventional wisdom tells us that small schools and small districts are the best way to go, that may no always be the case. Last week, the Open Education blog posted an article on the school district consolidation taking place in Maine. I ahve experience with large and small school districts beign measured by student population and geographic area. Large districts and large schools are able to offer some things that smaller ones are not, such as: specializaed classes, more diversity, more choices. However, they also the personal feel that smaller institutions can have and sometimes wind up being a dureacuracy. Smaller districts and schools have the (possible) advantages of: personal relationships, shorter commute times, staff and teachers with enhanced knowledge of the community, closer friendships btween families. While people do like the idea of a neighborhood school, sometimes what a larger school and district can offer are strong arguments towards their presnece. Additionally, as Jonathan Kozol and others have mentuoned, some of the very small districts in places like New Jersey and Massachusetts can have problems complying with integration orders because they are so small they serve only a homogeneous neighborhood.
I came across this video on Edutopia and just had to post it. The video, Student Body: Classroom Exercise Makes Learning Lively demonstrates “four techniques for mental clarity” that can easily be taught to students. Take a look:
We are seeing more and more schools cut recess and physical education from their curricula. Such a shame this is as growing children need that activity. Ancient yoga practices and modern-day exercise programs will tell us how important it is to keep blood pumping through our bodies which cannot happen to a child who is trapped at his desk all day long. These basic exercises can help to do that and may also prove to be effective with rambunctious boys and inattentive girls.
If you look at any playground you can see children of all sizes, shapes, colors and religions laughing and playing together. They don’t seem to create distinctions to keep themselves apart, but often look first for what makes them similar. Playmates may begin to notice each other’s differences, but it tends to be a source of curiosity and a reason to get to know the playmate a little better, not something to keep them apart. Children seem to be interested in forming bonds with each other to make new friends.
When do kids lose that natural curiosity and begin to use those differences to separate them from others? Why does this happen? What kinds of things can teachers and parents do to encourage that curiosity?
Teachers often say they learn a lot from their students. Maybe kids can show adults how to live together.
I was listening to the song "We Can Show You How" from One World by the Children’s Theatre Company when I thought of this post. You can listen to this song and 4 others on their MySpace page.
While one question may be, Can they show us how?, perhaps the larger unknown is, Will we listen?
Note: This entry is cross-posted on my other blog – Wanderings.
Thus far, we have been exploring the concept of replacing the traditional paper bound book with an eReader for the purposes of classroom instruction, independent studying, and even for teacher administration. This post is going to take a look at that institution which, for many of us, is nearly synonymous with reading – the library.
From the days of the first great library—the Royal Library of Alexandria—we have looked to these great buildings as collections of knowledge, symbols of humankind’s intellectual progression, and even a quiet respite away from the hustle and bustle of daily life where we can lose ourselves in the hunt for a mythic whale, travel to a fantasy land by climbing through a wardrobe, pore over the entries in a 19th century Ohio census record, or learn about biomechanical engineering, should we feel so inclined. Most of those books we are even allowed to take with us (provided we return them in a timely fashion and are local residents, or registered students). The question with any new technology is how will it affect what we have already been doing. I have posited the consideration of eBook readers and digital content becoming a replacement for textbooks and have yet to come up with a prediction for the future. Things get a little more serious when we talk about using these devices in the libraries.
Continue reading eBooks in the Library (eBook Series Part 5)
The latest book by Peg Tyre, The Trouble with Boys: A Surprising Report Card on Our Sons, Their Problems at School, and What Parents and Educators Must Do takes a long-deserved look at the way that male students are falling further and further behind their female counterparts. For the last few decades there has been a push to ensure that educational opportunities for girls are equal to that of boys. This book, and the people that agree with Tyre’s viewpoint (myself for one) are not attempting to take anything away from girls. On the contrary, I am a strong supporter of expanding opportunities to the millions of girls who are denied an education. This book does, however, take a look at why boys seem not to be as successful as girls in the same educational climate.
“What is it about males that makes them achieve less in school than females achieve? That’s a vexing question … it becomes obvious that something about being male is undermining their academic success.” (p.9)
Continue reading The Trouble With Boys
Up to now we have been considering the use of eBooks and PDAs for students. This post will look at the use of this technology by teachers, and will consider its use as a direct teaching tool as well as an administrative assistant.
Teachers often comment about the number of tasks that must be accomplished wihtout an assistant. At the same time, however, teaching seems to be one of the most resistant professions to change and the incorporiation of technology. Frequently, the failings of technology in the classroom are not from a lack of funding, but from the incomplete “buy-in” from faculty to actually use it. I have a few theories as to why that is—and it’s not just from inadequate training—and also some ideas about how technology, specifically, eBooks, eBook Readers and PDAs could become useful tools for teachers if they were in their hands, and also in the hands of the students.
Continue reading Teaching eReading (eBook Series Part 4)
 Although I am not a big fan of studying history by only learning about wars, like the Vietnam site I posted previously, World War II Remembered, a project of Unified School District 230 in Spring Hill, Kansas, focuses on the effects of the war by preserving the oral histories of veterans. The site offers more than these testimonies as it allows the visitor to get to know these veterans personally, and may have an impact on students’ as they begin to understand this generation that had this war play such a pivotal role in their lives and who will soon not be able to tell us about it any more.
Continue reading World War II Remembered
 I have reported on this concept before and thus do not wish to take too much space for it here, but to post the link to a NY Times article that is rehashing the issue, yet again.
Perhaps the best line from the article comes in the second paragraph, “many economists and businesspeople disagree [with psychologists], and their views often prevail in the educational marketplace.” This as the concept of rewarding students with money for taking AP courses, getting good grades, having good attendance and even for good behavior is under review.
Here, too, is a link to a previous blog post on the topic (on a different blog) that explains my views a bit more. I encourage your comments and discussion, but please remember to discuss here and not on the old blog.
Flickr photo courtesy of Lantzilla
I had long pictured working with DNA to be some abstract and complicated process that took place in far off labs by very experienced scientists. Working with undergraduate students at Brooklyn College, though, they would tell me about their work with DNA and it seemed so common to them.
The other day I found the following video and was struck by the innovative work that high school students were doing. Not only are they working with what seemed to me to be a very advanced subject, but they are using their knowledge for something beneficial to the world, and groundbreaking.
I appreciated when one student pointed out that
“this is just a regular biology class… everything we are learning is completely relevant.”
We have already looked at the practicality of eBook readers in general, and considered whether or not they have a place in higher education. In this post, we focus our attention on their possible uses in the classrooms of K-12 schools.
While we have already discussed the possibility of obtaining college-level textbooks for eBook readers and found that although the availability is still lacking, it is possible. I found there is not much available for K-12 students, though. Several companies had some eBooks available for teachers and Pearson had one Honors and one AP Edition textbook that had eBooks available through their companion websites (but, you had to buy the paper edition in order to get access to it, which defeats the purpose). I began to think of some other ways that the devices could be used in the classroom to benefit students.
Continue reading eBooks in the K-12 Schools (eBook Series Part 3)
 Yesterday, Edutopia published an article on students who now have the opportunity to learn the Navajo language via the internet. The story of a high-schooler looking for a scholarship and wanting to return to her familial roots frames the news of a course offering by The American Academy—an online high school accredited by NAAS.
When looking for qualified teachers and students interested in the Navajo language costs and feasibility make it impractical for an individual school or district to offer a course. Online courses, however, offer a solution and modern technologies—employing video and audio clips—can make the experience not only like being a face-to-face class, but can enhance the learning by allowing the student to play clips repeatedly and to practice whenever time permits.
The webpage includes a sample audio clip of the teacher reading the numbers 1-10 in Navajo and it demonstrates just how difficult the language can be. Because language is such an important element of culture, it is imperative that programs such as this are kept in order to preserve the linguistic and cultural diversity of the United States.
Citation
Colin, C. (2009, March 4). Online Classes Help Preserve the Navajo Language. Edutopia. Retrieved March 5, 2009, from http://www.edutopia.org/technology-education-navajo-language-preservation.
Flickr photo courtesy of JcOlivera
For many Americans, when the Vietnam War ended April 30, 1975, the world went back to life as usual. That was possible because the conflict was on the other side of a vast ocean. But, for the Vietnamese, the struggle continued even after all the GIs had left, and it still does. Vietnam: 30 Years Beyond War is a beautifully arranged site by the San Jose Mercury News contains photo-journals of post-war Vietnam and could become a valuable tool for teachers of history, social studies and even politics to make real for their students what it means to rebuild nations and some of the lingering effects of a war that has long since ended.
Continue reading Vietnam: 30 Years Beyond War
 There are no more “gifted” students… at least not in Montgomery County, Maryland. Officials at the school district of one of the most affluent suburbs in the nation have voted to drop the label that many parents have fought hard to get for their children. This post takes a quick look at what gifted education is and at the Washington Post article.
Continue reading No More Gifted Students
Ever since the printing press came about, books have been helping to spread knowledge throughout the world. Everything from entertainment to political revolutions; and religious fervor to scientific (re)awakenings have occurred as the result of reading a few books. In fact, it is books that contain the historical records of these events and will preserve them for generations to come. The format of those books may be changing though – and one sector of the population that reads heavily (or at least is supposed to) may help to advance that change.
The first post in this series on eBooks in Education looked at the overall feasibility of the 21-st century device meant to replace the centuries-old invention of the bound paper book. This post will look at how that device may (and may not) be put to good use on university campuses.
Continue reading eTextbooks on the College Campus (eBook Series Part 2)
 For those not familiar, the FAFSA is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and is required by practically all universities and other scholarship funders as well as student loan applications. According to a recent article in the New York Times, some families have become so intimidated by the form, that they are hiring professional assistants to help them.
Continue reading FAFSA Foibles
As a techie and an avid reader, I have always been fascinated with eBooks. Today’s post is the first in a six-part series on the eBook and how it relates to our modern definition of literacy. With the release of Amazon’s Kindle 2, I thought we should first take a look at what eBooks are and the pros and cons of using them.
I like the concept of the eBook… downloading an electronic file to my portable device that I can enjoy anywhere. But, in order for eReading to be feasible enough to get me to ditch the trusty paperback, some issues need to be worked out first. This is NOT a post urging everyone to throw out their home libraries, but rather a look at why a newer technology hasn’t been able to replace them… yet!
Continue reading Turning the Page (eBook Series Part 1)
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