Thing 4: Sample Blog Posts
June 4, 2009 by pmcewen
In this case, I agree with Jonathan’s comment, #5.
“Not with you on this one. I limit homework (and ask students to report back to me how long they spend on assignments), but a little bit don’t. Weaker kids come afterschool for extra help or a head start with homework. And I assign 3 pieces: practice, regular, and challenge. Everyone does regular, and one of the others. So the stronger kids get a couple of challenge problems, and the weaker kids get a fistful of easier exercises to build up some proficiency. And since it is easier, they are more likely to do it.”
Our students need repeated practice. Concepts which seem to be well understood during class sometimes lack that same clarity at the kitchen table. Short, meaningful assignments allow teachers to do error analysis on problems missed and to create lessons to address specific misconceptions. We all do error analysis, don’t we? Also, I hold to the Fairness Isn’t Sameness Doctrine and tailor the amount of homework to the individual student, if necessary.
This is an interesting concept and one I’d like to put into place more often. Our school subscribes to netTrekker, a kid-safe search engine, which allows searching for articles/web pages by reading level. It also has a read-aloud function to make information more accessible. Sites and blogs not included within netTrekker can be added for student use, although the read-aloud function is not available in that case.
Imagine Turning on the Faucet and Nothing Coming Out
Last summer I sputtered and fumed about the watering restrictions for a number of reasons, one being that I had a new landscape at the time. I’m surprised that none of the students mentioned the homeowners wealthy enough to install their own personal well or those with a small creek in their yards who pumped water out of that source for their yards. County restrictions did not even make sense. Cobb County allowed hand watering very early in the morning. Two problems here – those of us who are employed would have to get up at ridiculous hours to water, and hand watering is an inefficient way in terms of water conservation to deliver water to the plants that need it. Let me mention that I already get up at 5:30. More education regarding ways to conserve water in the landscape and in the home is clearly necessary for all.
The Myth of the Digital Native
I confess that I have not read Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants by Marc Prensky, although I have received several copies of it. However, I agree with Chris Betcher’s assessment of students’ skills. I do believe that fear of technology is a huge deterrent for those of a certain era, but I aim to prove old dogs can learn a lot of new tricks. Calculators weren’t even around when I went to college. Signed – Methuselah
This is fun. I have been a foster bird mother in my day, raising non-migratory orphans until they could be released. Of necessity, they had to come to school with me, but the process was a great learning experience for my classes. There is even a book in our library dedicated by one of our students to Larry, Curly, and Moe, three starlings that we raised. I wish that this technology had been available at that time.
The photo is of Steve, Bluejay Extraordinaire, prior to release. I have discovered that .tif files don’t work in this setting and must be converted to .jpeg. Learning by doing. . .
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