A Whole New Mind

I think that all of these senses are really impotrant to be aware of and to incorporate into your classroom. I really think that as a science teacher it is important to tink about the design of the room. Usually the word science prompts crisp, clean and white but I want my classroom to feel homey and relaxed. I think that it is important for students to feel safe in their learning environment. As a teacher I also think that it is important to develop a sense of empathy. It is important so that we can recognize students reactions. This will help indicate to us when to challenge students and when to support them. I really liked the book talk and the book sounds interesting. If i ever get the chance I would love to read it.

Meet Me in the Middle: Chapter 13

Chapter 13: This chapter mainly focuses on the importance of outdoor adventures with a class. In the book, a camping trip is the main activity. There are tree major things that people learn baout themsleves when on a camping trip; physical, emotional and intellectual selves, gender equity and personal anatomy. All of these are important. Another thing that the book mentioned was that boys tend to become more nuturing when on camping trips. There are many ways to incorporate outdoor activities into a lesson in all subject areas. I plan to take my kids outside as much as possible as I believe that this is a good way to bring what we are learning to the real world.

Meet Me in the Middle: Chapter 4

Chapter 4: I really liked this chapter on active learning. It is important for the brain and learning to be moving while learning. By getting students up and moving during a lesson, you are keeping them active, engaged and focused. I think that not only is it important to keep students engaged and interested, but by having students up and moving you are reaching out to students with different intelligences, those who may not be as successful in a traditional classroom. I want to have a lot of activities in my classroom and the list at the end of the chapter will be really helpful for ideas.

Waiting For Superman

I found this documentary very interesting. The film exposes the flaws and wrongs in the public school system, and there is more than a few. The film is biased against a couple of main things; unions, tenure and tracking. Unions in the schools is what allows for teachers to have tenure and in many cases this is not a good thing. When an ineffective teacher have tenure it is extremely hard to get them out of the school system. The other thing that really stood out was tracking in middle schools. The more and more we use tracking we realize that is is ineffective and not creating the results that were hoped for. Students should all be held to the same expectations no matter what level of learning they are at. I really liked the film and it touched me how many of the students wanted a better education for themselves. I only hope that students across the country share this passion for learning and want to succeed.

Meet Me in the Middle: Chapter 3

Chapter 3: This chapter focuses on memory and how we can use this to get maximum memorization and retention. It focuses mostly on the brain aspect. A couple of techniques were mentioned in the chapter that are ways to help students remember various things in class. The use of a triad response in a class discussion would be a good way to keep students engaged and participating as well as helping them remember. Others that were mentioned was chunking, activities and bring emotion into a lesson. Students will remember things more easily if they can relate to them on a personal level.