week one Pluto Debate

In reflecting about how I would use the latest discussion in the validity of weather or not Pluto is or isn’t a planet. I decided this discussion could be used as a spring board for a great debate or for writing prompt. The question I would pose to my students is; why are scientist so slow to define what exactly a planet is, and how does technology change their decision? I believe this is a great example of how we learn. As children we my have been told the moon was made of cheese. However, as we grew and become aware of the world around us we learned the moon is a satellite of our planet and is in fact not made of cheese. Why then did science debate the validity of Pluto? Much for the same reason we thought the moon was made of cheese. With the technology and the information we had 76 years ago this was a valid assumption. Now that we have improved technology we can make an evolving educated decision.

Sleeping Teens

Week 5
I too use the standards as a guide to drive my instruction. The thing that gets me is that all students do not arrive at the projected outcome at the same time. Working on the standards is good way to guide but not to hold teachers accountable for.



The real trick is to find a way to teach all the topics for the "test" but still make learning fun and relevant for the students. In regards to your prior comment, I find this to be very true. I have however found that going about the lesson backwards and teach the topic from the test backwards is very relevant as well as fun. Example: Science; the human body; give the test to the students in worksheet form and let them find the answers. Either on a computer (web quest, launch page) or in a book, this can be done in a scavenger hunt style they will love it. They will also have a study guide for the “real” test when you give it. I hope this makes since!


This article is about adolescent children not getting enough sleep. Their bodies are in a whirlwind of hormones besides other specific medical or social pressures that influence their sleep patterns. I think Parents need to encourage their adolescent to get enough sleep. Parents should recognize that their adolescent may need the extra sleep to get him/her through their school day. Parents should also know their teen may want to sleep until noon on Saturday and to be supportive when this happens. By this I mean that parents should be accepting of alterations in sleep times for appropriate activities. Teens frequently sleep longer. If there are no boundaries set by Teen’s parents or in addition any other parents of adolescents, those adolescents will often push until they find those boundaries. Once adolescents know their boundaries and even slightly agree that they are appropriate, then these adolescents will be happy to work within limitations and boundaries. I believe teens have pushed the boundaries in relationship to his sleeping habits. I believe that parents and schools are both responsible for setting those boundaries and consequently through forming a partnership to set teens back on the path for optimal growth with a more appropriate sleeping pattern. Ultimately I think it is worth while for school districts to invest their time checking into the sleeping patterns of adolescents. Perhaps teens are right; their sleep patterns have changed as they have grown older. In fact research is on their side.

Unfair Expectations

Reading response week 4




I find this weeks reading very interesting and in the perfect world these ideas would be great. Unfortunately, we do not teach in the perfect world. I so not have access to a class set of calculators. I have one computer in my classroom for student use and there is no added software (although I do have access to the internet). I am quickly becoming frustrated with the state of education I am witnessing. Lawmakers make the laws and lay out student and teacher goals without any regard to funding. There simply are not the funds to support technology, evenly and fairly in every classroom. Furthermore, low income families simply do not have computers. In my experience if the family does own a computer my fourth grade students are not allowed to use it because they “may break it” then the family would no longer have a computer. Parents are also uneducated at the benefits their students could gain from the use of this valuable tool and do not tap into it as a resources. Holding teachers and students to standards that cannot be obtained is neither far to the students or their teachers. I do not see an integration of core curriculum until the playing field is equal. I dream for the day we have a perfect world with ideal classrooms.

To Taste or Not to Taset

This article is awesome. It can be utilized across the continuum. I would utilize this article for science as well as math. First I would teach a science discover lesson on taste and set up a lab for students to determine their tastes. Then have my students gather information on a verity of other people’s preference of taste. Then integrate a math lesson into the equation by having my students graph the information they gathered. I cannot wait to put this to use.
http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20060830/Note3.asp

How a Venus Flytrap Snaps Shut http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20050129/fob5.asp This article is very interesting it explains how the Venus Flytrap Snaps Shut. it relates how scientist have found a connection between the science of math and math itself. It also points out how engineers may use the plant to design triggering mechanisms in the future. I would like to use this article in conjunction to reading “The Math Curse” I have a flytrap already in place in my classroom and the students have had a lot of fun bringing in bugs to feed it. This article really illustrates how math and science are all around us.

Independent Planet

Independent Planet (Pluto)
Children are resilient they are eager to learn, and will believe what ever a teacher teaches them as the truth. It is for this reason I was compelled to research a little further the validity of last months decision by many (not all) scientist to demote Pluto from plant to "dwarf planet".
My quest started out one morning when I arrived at school ready to teach a lesson in social studies, when one of my fourth graders asked me “Mrs. Bischof is Pluto a planet or not?” I stood at the front of the room dumbfounded. I had no answer, but, I did have the lap cart in my room so as a good constructivist I threw out the social studies lesson and told my students “I wasn’t sure let’s find out”.
I as we passed our laptops and logged on a multitude of thoughts cluttered my brain. Yes, I told myself seven dwarfs, six Brady kids, and nine planets I knew these facts to be true but now scientist world wide are trying to change the rules. How was I going to teach the facts, the truth when I was no longer sure what the truth is… I needed to learn again.
As my class and I explored many creditable websites we discovered many interesting facts. One fact we discovered, not all scientist agreed on the decision to demote Pluto, NASA has made no changes to their website Pluto is still a planet. We also discovered children and adults everywhere are trying to save Pluto’s planetship and reverse the decisions made by the few… This opened more questions a teacher could answer in a year, who decides what is fact and what is opinion, how do children know what they are being taught is true, just because a book says so, and do children and adults too have a voice in such a big decision as redefining history?
I have read many articles on Pluto in the last week, more then I have ever read in my life. I did learn ont thing. Teacher, scientist and children do not have all the answers. However, the good teachers, good scientist and smart children seek questions and never settle for one answer.
Websites my class and I explored:
http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20061011/Note2.asp
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/53454.html
http://science.hq.nasa.gov/solar_system/science/pluto.html
http://pds.jpl.nasa.gov/planets/

This article is awesome. It can be utilized across the continuum. I would utilize this article for science as well as math. First I would teach a science discover lesson on taste and set up a lab for students to determine their tastes. Then have my students gather information on a verity of other people’s preference of taste. Then integrate a math lesson into the equation by having my students graph the information they gathered. I cannot wait to put this to use.

http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20060830/Note3.asp

Pluto

In reflecting about how I would use the latest discussion in the validity of weather or not Pluto is or isn’t a planet. I decided this discussion could be used as a spring board for a great debate or for writing prompt. The question I would pose to my students is; why are scientist so slow to define what exactly a planet is, and how does technology change their decision? I believe this is a great example of how we learn. As children we my have been told the moon was made of cheese. However, as we grew and become aware of the world around us we learned the moon is a satellite of our planet and is in fact not made of cheese. Why then did science debate the validity of Pluto? Much for the same reason we thought the moon was made of cheese. With the technology and the information we had 76 years ago this was a valid assumption. Now that we have improved technology we can make an evolving educated decision.

Mapping a Path for a 3d Web

This week’s readings are not connected at all if they are then this Blonde missed it. The first article “Mapping a Path for a 3d Web” was interesting. It explores the reality of how close we are from making science fiction into science fact. I couldn’t help but think of one of the first scenes from Lost in Space (the movie) when will is having a virtual parent teacher conference with his teacher and mother while he is sitting at home playing video games. My concern with the web being manipulated is that this is a great tool for education and was conceived with educational purpose in mind, if we do not control what our students learning or at least monitor the quality of its content we will have a world population who have no since of reality.
The second reading “Lead, Not Lecture” would have in my opinion been better served as a constructivist reading. This article is very much like that type of classroom. It is very hard to allow students to learn in a intrusive setting especaclly if the teachers primarily wan taught in the formal traditional classroom setting. Fortunately I am old enough to remember both. I prefer to allow my students to explore their world especially since the have one foot in the real world and one in a virtual world.

Unfair Expectations

Reading response week 4
This reading is about standards and accountability and what they mean to children. The focus is on availability and funding and how to make changes in the classroom. Although the intent in good I also find the following to also be true.
This weeks reading very interesting and in the perfect world these ideas would be great. Unfortunately, we do not teach in the perfect world. I so not have access to a class set of calculators. I have one computer in my classroom for student use and there is no added software (although I do have access to the internet). I am quickly becoming frustrated with the state of education I am witnessing. Lawmakers make the laws and lay out student and teacher goals without any regard to funding. There simply are not the funds to support technology, evenly and fairly in every classroom. Furthermore, low income families simply do not have computers. In my experience if the family does own a computer my fourth grade students are not allowed to use it because they “may break it” then the family would no longer have a computer. Parents are also uneducated at the benefits their students could gain from the use of this valuable tool and do not tap into it as a resources. Holding teachers and students to standards that cannot be obtained is neither far to the students or their teachers. I do not see an integration of core curriculum until the playing field is equal. I dream for the day we have a perfect world with ideal classrooms.

Week 2 Reading Response
I never thought I would call myself a constructivist teacher. As I read the readings I learned that it comes to me quite naturally. For this blog I thought I would give some ideas of how I make my students constructors of their own knowledge. Today we started a unit on Arizona;
the first thing I needed to do is find out what my students knew and what they wanted to know about Arizona. I put up three pieces of butcher paper around my room. They were labeled as follows:
1. What I know about Arizona
2. What do I want to know about Arizona?
3. What do I think I can do with the information I will learn about Arizona?
My students took turns rotating around my room answering these three questions. When we wee done I knew what would interest them and they had input in the decisions of the things I will cover in the first quarter. The students will work in groups in various projects to present my lessons. My job will be to help them gather information, and guide them as they teach their peers about AZ. I found the readings useful for me to show how I can refine me approaches as I interact with my students.

Techo Divide

The Techo Divide Kathy's week 11 post
The readings this week discuss the mesh between teacher training and student readiness in the area of technologies. It also touches on the ever changing world of technologyIn my school the divide between the technology we have and the teacher and student participation may be as wide as the Grand Canyon. On one hand we have our teachers many of which are trained and ready to go with the technology in their classroom. The district however, is not ready to spend the money to allow the teachers to have the resources they desire. On one hand our more affluent schools all have overhead cameras, and smart boards (largely because the parents demand their children have the best). And our lower income schools have little to no smart boards or over head cameras. the cost to supply has meant an impasse. Schools are not willing to put out the big bucks unless parents scream about it. In lower income schools the families are just happy for their kids to be in school. They are unaware of their student’s rights to be fair and equal and many times cannot speak out in fear of being deported or embarrassed. I feel to say schools are equal is wrong even within the same district the divide is GRAND.