Hans looks like he had a good economic backing for his computer generated study. Top of the line resources, etc. He was quite impressive with his diagram of social change before economic change. This was then repeated towards the end when he focused on improved health in a country increased child survival before improved wealth (economic status) and showed the example of South Korea vs. Brazil.
This database lesson is a bit confusing. I understand Hans and his data, I guess I don't understand how the linking of data with gapminder improves the world data, or is it the quality of world data? Hans was discussing publicly funded data available via the web and I'm not sure how the use of another database to link the data improves things. Is it about how we use the data to show us the things we question? Well, he gets an A++ for effort and presentation. Lots of things to keep the audience locked in and paying attention. Makes me wish I had a SmartBoard to teach.
Melissa S 10/29/09
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
A Bloom Blog
I need to know Bloom, I need to embrace Bloom. Little did I know that Bloom was sneaking into my language and life so easily. I had to do a free-write for another class and discuss Knowledge vs. Understanding. I created an example of knowledge being the facts and understanding being the synthesis and analysis of the facts combined with things like past experience. It came down to a classic If..., Then....statement. (Knowledge: The stove is hot. Past experience: I don't like when I get burned. Analysis: If I touch the stove when it is hot, I may get burned and I won't like that. Synthesis: Therefore, don't touch the stove.) My discussion partner gleefully announced what a great job I did getting all those Bloom indicators in there. What? How did that happen? When did I start to incorporate Bloom into my life? Egads! Bloom, look out. I think I'm beginning to understand it.
Melissa 10/22/09
Melissa 10/22/09
Friday, October 16, 2009
Bernie and examining for inauthenticity
That word: inauthentic. It just has a really negative feeling to it. It doesn't even sound good when you try to say it. Now, how to get around giving your students inauthentic tasks.
As teachers, aren't we supposed to help students learn to communicate? If we are, they must be able to communicate in the written word as well as the spoken word. How will they practice the written word with an authentic task? When I think of inauthentic tasks, I think of the term paper; the trap that Bernie was discussing. Did I create inauthentic tasks? Yes, I probably did. When will an adult have to imagine they are living in 1892? When will an adult read the poem "The Colossus" and dissect it and reflect upon it? I also tried my best to differentiate the projects enough to bring out the different learning strengths. I think my best task was for Team 2009 where they had to design a new monument for "the Mall" in Washington, D.C. dedicated to immigration. I'd love to see this concept come to fruition. How would students choose to present it? In clay model, in papier mache, in a drawing? At the end, I wanted the two teams of students to debate the immigration policies of each time period and how difficult the process towards citizenship may have been. I threw in the question of discrimination at the conclusion as an afterthought. ( Just something I was doing today at one of my schools. ) This is the last piece of thinking I wanted to leave them with and an idea of how to apply what they learned to today's culture. Hopefully this would open the door to the next unit on Constitutional Amendments and the history of discrimination in the US.
As teachers, aren't we supposed to help students learn to communicate? If we are, they must be able to communicate in the written word as well as the spoken word. How will they practice the written word with an authentic task? When I think of inauthentic tasks, I think of the term paper; the trap that Bernie was discussing. Did I create inauthentic tasks? Yes, I probably did. When will an adult have to imagine they are living in 1892? When will an adult read the poem "The Colossus" and dissect it and reflect upon it? I also tried my best to differentiate the projects enough to bring out the different learning strengths. I think my best task was for Team 2009 where they had to design a new monument for "the Mall" in Washington, D.C. dedicated to immigration. I'd love to see this concept come to fruition. How would students choose to present it? In clay model, in papier mache, in a drawing? At the end, I wanted the two teams of students to debate the immigration policies of each time period and how difficult the process towards citizenship may have been. I threw in the question of discrimination at the conclusion as an afterthought. ( Just something I was doing today at one of my schools. ) This is the last piece of thinking I wanted to leave them with and an idea of how to apply what they learned to today's culture. Hopefully this would open the door to the next unit on Constitutional Amendments and the history of discrimination in the US.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
WebQuest thoughts
My WebQuest is going to be on the Immigration and Citizenship process; comparing the beginning of the 20th century and the 21st century. I still feel frustrated as I haven't been able to find the exact information of Citizenship requirements for 1900. I will continue searching this week and next week (if that's okay), as I think it is an important comparative for the two time periods.
Ellis Island was not the only point of entry, Angel Island was the Pacific coast equivalent. There seems to be much more negative history with Angel Island and since many of my present resources include New York City as part of the history examination, I would like to stick with the eastern side of the United States. If anyone thinks that this will detract or that the project would be incomplete without including Angel Island, please let me know.
I have been trying to come up with strong questions, and usually the best ones come to me at 3:30 AM, or thereabouts. Better start sleeping with a notepad next to the bed. The development of the lesson and thought provoking questions is something that I am not truly used to doing. This is quite a challenge.
Ellis Island was not the only point of entry, Angel Island was the Pacific coast equivalent. There seems to be much more negative history with Angel Island and since many of my present resources include New York City as part of the history examination, I would like to stick with the eastern side of the United States. If anyone thinks that this will detract or that the project would be incomplete without including Angel Island, please let me know.
I have been trying to come up with strong questions, and usually the best ones come to me at 3:30 AM, or thereabouts. Better start sleeping with a notepad next to the bed. The development of the lesson and thought provoking questions is something that I am not truly used to doing. This is quite a challenge.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Creative Commons
The Creative Commons site was worthwhile to investigate. I did have some confusion when I clicked into the flickr site. It took me to "everybody's downloads". Is this still within the creative commons of copyright or do I need to search only "the commons" with flickr in order to stay clear of copyright infringement? This was unclear, so I searched in both, but didn't try to save anything. I also looked into Google images, and jamenda music site for some opportunities. The most fun I had was after listening to the podcast and going to Magnatune. My husband is very tech savvy and it was nice to be able to share something with him that he hadn't already stumbled across. Introducing someone else to Magnatune gave me the opportunity to investigate it a bit more myself and the creativeness of the site and the free use of the music in a not-for-profit way is great for teachers and students. I'm sure that many high school teachers will be glad to discover Magnatune for their student's creative podcasts, etc. Sooner or later, it will filter down to the middle and elementary schools, but it does seem that technologically, high school is the testing ground for most new ideas using internet resources.
The Creative Commons site was worthwhile to investigate. I did have some confusion when I clicked into the flickr site. It took me to "everybody's downloads". Is this still within the creative commons of copyright or do I need to search only "the commons" with flickr in order to stay clear of copyright infringement? This was unclear, so I searched in both, but didn't try to save anything. I also looked into Google images, and jamenda music site for some opportunities. The most fun I had was after listening to the podcast and going to Magnatune. My husband is very tech savvy and it was nice to be able to share something with him that he hadn't already stumbled across. Introducing someone else to Magnatune gave me the opportunity to investigate it a bit more myself and the creativeness of the site and the free use of the music in a not-for-profit way is great for teachers and students. I'm sure that many high school teachers will be glad to discover Magnatune for their student's creative podcasts, etc. Sooner or later, it will filter down to the middle and elementary schools, but it does seem that technologically, high school is the testing ground for most new ideas using internet resources.
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