Recommendation of National Science Board

I just read an article in the November issue of Readers Digest, by Barabara Kantrowitz, "The Road Ahead," that stated  the the National Science Board Report 2010,  recommended that teachers  receive training to learn how to get students interestested in technology and science at an early age . According to the article, the board also recommened that alliances should be made between research centers and schools, which would expose students to seeing scientists doing their job. The report also recommended that  teaches need to identify students who excell in math and science, especially students who fall in the lower socioeconomic class. The article also stated that The President's Council of Advisors on Science and Tecahnology strongly advised that we urgently need to train and hire 100,000 teachers in the math and science field over the next ten years to create 1,000 schools across the nation that specialize in science and math. In the article, the Secretary of Eduaction, Arne Duncan stated that we need to do this, otherwise in the future we will be a nation without inventors, engineers or doctor.  The article also stated that the field of science and technology has grown rapidly over the last ten year, three fold over other fields. With the demand being so high for knowledgeable people in these professions, do you think teachers need to steer their students into these fieds? In my opinion, we need to give our students a well rounded education and educate our students to be critical thinkers and good problem solvers so they can make educated choices of their own.
Reference
Kantrowitz, B. (2011, November).  The Road Ahead. Readers Digest, 165, 1-28.

Field Test of My Digital Story

This past week I was able to field test my digital story in my practicum  class, 6th grade English Language Arts. I developed an entire lesson plan around my digital story on Helen Keller. The object of my lesson was to teach about heroism. The students were surprised that I had made a digital story. While they viewed the digital story you could hear a pin drop; the students were totally engaged. I had one hour to complete my lesson. I opened with a book box strategy that I learned in my Children's Literature Class. In the box were items that pertained to the digital story. When the digital story was over, I took out one item at a time and asked the students to tell me what part of the digital story it pertained to. They were quick to answer and knew all the answers, which showed me how intensely they paid attention to the digital story. We continued with a group discussion about different questions I posed to them on heroes. I had a hands on activity for them in which they created a Class Quilt out of construction paper and pictures, quotes and character words that describe Helen Keller. The lesson was a complete success. From this experience I learned that today's students are digital learners and I must be a digital teacher in order to make connections with my students.

Holiday YouTube by stduents

I had to blog about this YouTube that was sent to me by the parent of one my Sunday School students. This video was made by students from the Yupiq Eskimo Village of Quinhagak, Alaska, as a school computer project. Their intended audience was for the viewing pleasure of other Yupiq villages in the area. To date, over half a million people have view it. The students and school were overwhelmed with the response. Even if you do no celebrate Christmas, you have to appreciate the creativity and use of technology that went into the making of this video. The amount of time and coordination that went into this project must have been enormous. These students in a small village have reached so many people world wide through this project. Without technology, this kind of project would have been non-existent. A project like this could be done in any curriculum area. The students went out into the community and enlisted the help of many people from their community to create a video that just puts a big smile on your face. The more you watch it, the more you appreciate its creativity. A big high-five goes out from me to their teacher for creating such an engaging and meaningful project for his students.  As a future teacher I was able to see another classroom set up, the area in which these students live, and how another teacher engages their students in learning. The more closely you watch the video, the more you discover about their school and life. It certainly made me smile.



<http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=LyviyF-N23A>

This Little Birdie Has Flown the Coup

I have finally taken flight. I flew! It has only taken ten weeks for me to get to this point. I was so proud of myself this week. I completed my digital story all by myself. This is a big accomplishment for me. As I have stated in my other blogs, I have only been using a computer since I started college two years ago. This course has been a huge challenge for me. Even though I still do not have the mechanics down on many other operations, this course has given me the confidence to explore on my own, and not be afraid of falling off the edge. It is nice, for a change, to have spread my wings and taken a short flight. It feels much better than the bumps and bruises of falling off the edge and not succeeding. I will still need many more flying lessons and appreciate the continued help from by professors and fellow students. I was just so excited that I could not contain my joy and had to share it to all who read my blog. When I am a teacher, I want my students to experience the joy of learning, just as I have and will continue to do.

President Obama's Jobs Bill

President Obama's Jobs Bill contains a vow to rehire teachers who have lost their jobs, and to repair schools buildings that are in need of repair. Congress did not pass the original bill. Presently they are deliberating on passing only pieces of the bill. This Thursday they are supposed to pass the piece of the bill that will give employers incentives if they hire and American veterans. If this passes on Thursday, maybe there will be some hope that in the future the section of the bill to rehire teachers, who have been laid off, will also be passed by Congress. Cutting back on much needed teachers is only going to haunt us later. We are jeopardizing the future of our society by not providing the best education we can to our students, for they will be the next leaders of our country.

Lefthandedness

This week I did a PowerPoint presentation for my Children's Literature class on lefthandedness. Last year I did a research project on this subject for my psychology class which I expanded on for my English research paper. This subject was of great interest to me because my granddaughter, who is in fifth grade,  is left handed. She struggles immensely with writing and her handwriting is worse than a preschooler. I wish I would have known about how I could have helped her while she was developing her handwriting skills. Every one who is studying to be a teacher needs to know the techniques of teaching handwriting to their left handed students. They need to equip their classroom with left handed scissors, rulers, and pencil grips.They need to learn the correct positioning of paper or journals that the student is to write upon. What is so troubling is that teachers or those who are learning to be teachers are not taught how to help students who are left handed. This is a subject that does not come up. These students need proper guidance and instruction in forming their letters when writing, how to sit, and how to hold their hand when they write. There are many books on the subject and their is even a Lefthanders web site that has a newsletter and sells supplies just for lefthanders. They have many interesting facts on the history of lefthandedness, plus a survey they conducted with left handed students. The survey is quite revealing and gives great insite into the classroom of a left handed student.  I would recommend to anyone who is going to be a teacher to investigate this area further.You will be doing your left handed students a great service; one they will use for a lifetime. The website for more information on lefthandedness is http://www.lefthandersday.com/.

Students' Handwriting

I just read an article from American Educator - Winter 2009-2010 for my Literature class, "Want to Improve Children's Writing? : Don't Neglect Their Handwriting," by Steve Graham, that talks about the relationship between a student's handwriting and writing. Graham states that if children cannot form letters quickly and legibily they cannot communicate their thoughts into written text. Graham also states that students who have a hard time with handwriting avoid writing and start to believe that they cannot write. When this happens they cannot keep up with their school work and fall behind. If a student cannot write fluently it is hard for them to keep up on note taking in class or on timed test, which will reflect in their grades. Graham stresses the importance of teaching handwriting to students and has developed a handwriting program which addresses the needs of children who are slow writers and children who have disabilties, and at the same time can be used for the entire class. He offers his programs free to teachers at www.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/casl.xml. I intend to look into this program to see what it entails and possibly add it to my tool box for my future students.