Blogs

On the last day of school my principal had some great news as I was getting ready to leave for the summer.  Rosemary, I am able to get you a supplemental for your Environmental Club. This was great news to me except I really didn't have an Environmental Club. I had students pick up the recycling and clean up the outdoor classroom but it wasn't a club with meetings. For the past 12 years my students have been roaming the school on a daily basis looking for work to do. Teachers would then give them tickets as pay for their services. These tickets increased their opportunity to win a scholarship to Whale Camp.Last year I added environmental issues around the school  as part of the jobs available.This year I'll use this club to try some water monitoring around the school.

I've been spending the past few months researching the cognitive and neural underpinnings of mathematics, as well as their implications for math education. What follows is a brief list of some of the more accessible articles I have found:

 

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_science_of_mathematics
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numerical_cognition

These are short, non-technical Wikipedia articles on the cognitive science of math and on numerical cognition. They both serve as a good introduction.

I think one thing that came out of our discussion today that we did not get a chance to talk about in depth is runoff pollution. I think it is a very real issue that our students can relate to and make observations about. It's also a great local issue to get students invested and interested in.

http://www.phila.gov/water/

http://www.nrdc.org/water/pollution/lid/lid1.asp

http://www.phillyfuture.org/node/5094

http://www.delawareestuary.org/pdf/CleanWaterPartners/CWP_Garage.pdf

Trying to get students to understand that their world goes beyond their own world is relevant when you teach science! This is an attempt to create a story that will interest your students as well as educate them about the the bigger picture! Our story begins....

Understanding what is science and how it is related to our world is a concept that is difficult for students to understand We will take a short tour through it to try and make sense out of it. First stop on our way is called Googleville. In this peculiar place, we will use the help of Google earth and Neo. http://neo.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/Search.html

This is a really great cause started by an amazing woman. My students really enjoyed learning about her and her movement.

http://www.greenbeltmovement.org/

 

http://www.michaelbach.de/ot/

 

Optical Illusions from Michael Bach

 

http://www.subliminalmessages.com/plane_charter_1b.htm

 

Subliminal & hypnotical messages

 

 A great starting point for service based learning is a group called EarthForce. They have a wonderful staff who are willing to come to your school and work with your students. This year one of my students won a $250 grant to clean up our outdoor classroom. This is a great way to start your classes thinking about how they might take care of this place called Earth. Check out their web site at www.earthforce.org/ .

We have had many conversations in class about blogging vs using Blackboard. Through conversations with others in class I feel that comfort level is the most important factor when discussing preference. It is taking me some time to become comfortable with blogging.  I find it difficult to navigate and think  some of my blogs have been lost in outerspace . I like Blackboard because there is structure. The teacher provides one or two threads and  the class  begins a discussion. I feel connected with everyone in class. With blogging I feel that we don't really read everyone's blogs, let alone comment on it. I would love to use Blackboard with my classes, I would feel my students were safe and think it could become a great teaching tool in the future.