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Showing posts from May, 2007

Who is the Decider-er

I have decider-ed that I don't want to be only decision making-er in my classroom. Well actually, I don't mind making decisions but it seems to me that more effective learning situations are a combination of leadership and collaboration. I was engaged in a discussion yesterday with some friends about our political deciders and we all had a bleak viewpoint about the current state of affairs. I have come to hear more and more grumbling about the way this administration has trampled people who didn't agree with the Decider-er. Citizens from both parties are incensed and disgruntled with the supression of dissent and narrow mindedness of our leadership. What kind of example have we set for our citizens over the last 6 years? Is it time for a change? I'd love to hear some comments.

Google for Educators

I attended the Google Teacher Academy for the last two days and it was a truly enlightening and transforming experience for me. I heartily encourage any teacher to get involved and learn to use the tool set that Google has developed. Google for Educators The tools are great and they enable educators, scholars, and students to share ideas, collaborate, and build networks of content that can give us real power to change the way our educational bureaucracy functions. Many people pay lip service advocating teaching our students 21 st century skills, but Google is putting the rubber to the road. I am eager to put my leather on the pavement to help them.
Esther Wojcicki's lecture about journaism and publishing was really enlightening at Google's Educator seminar this morning Her journalism website is http://ldt.stanford.edu/~ewojcicki/ This is true collaborative learning. Her students publish online at http://voice.paly.net/

Reflections on the Oh No Second

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Florence Unkeless Web Page You can't take it back. Human relationships are delicate and easily bruised. As a developing teacher, I believe that one of the pitfalls of our profession is being too judgmental. We are called upon every day to make judgments about our students based upon data we have collected and analyzed. We reward or fail our students based on the aggregate data but should we take a step back from the brink before we issue our judgments? I have tried to encourage students to see themselves in full control of their grades. They show their mastery of content and receive marks based upon the skills they demonstrate. If they fail, I still try to encourage them. I have seen many students who are interested in the content of my classes but have not developed habits of mind, motivation, or organizational skills to pass the battery of tests, homework, or projects I assign. The 6 th graders I teach are just emerging from elementary school and they have widely differ

The Nikon Gallery

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Nikon Gallery These pictures were displayed by Samy's Camera in Los Angeles for a period of time in their Nikon Booth on the first floor. They were all taken with Nikon film or digital cameras that I was using at the time. I use photography as an aid to teaching science and math. The web is well suited to sharing all kinds of media. I enjoy sharing these moments of light and time.

The Art Class

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I am posting selections of my Art classwork online. I have been grading portfolios and some of the work is really outstanding. I photograph the paintings and once the work becomes digital, the students can use a paint program like Photoshop to alter the work or transform it further. They enjoy seeing their work on the web and Narda and Justine titled some of the paintings today. Link to Picasa Web Page: The Art Class

Fibonacci Patterns

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Hubble Space Telescope I am fascinated with patterns, numbers, and their relationships to natural phenomena. Most of my students are learning English as their second language and come from Korean or Hispanic backgrounds. I wanted to teach my sixth grade core students a lesson in plane geometry and use techniques to aid English learners. I also wanted to demonstrate how a simple concept can impart multiple meanings. The Fibonacci sequence can be shown to express a logarithmic spiral similar to the growth in seashells. The ratio of these numbers is also used to describe a golden rectangle used by classical artists in creating balanced compositions. The length of the sides is a ratio of 1.61 to 1. I described to the students how the sequence worked. We worked together to write the numbers out by adding the last number in the sequence to the one before it. The sequence looks like this: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233 …….. Then we went to work with graph paper, straight ed

Aquaculture

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These are my Rose Anemones and Clownfish. These two species have a symbiotic relationship with each other. The bigger Clownfish is 18 years old and has lived in my aquarium since 1990. The anemones have divided many times and I keep removing them to sell to my local Aquarium store. They live in the South Pacific so I have to keep my water temp at about 78 degrees Farenheit. They are beautiful animals and I have learned that they have some interesting stategies for survival in their habitat. Rose Anemone Hermit Crab Old Blue Eyes Cleaner Shrimp Mr. Magoo

Read Write Web

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Notes on Read/Write Web: Wow, there have been a lot of sites to visit. Today I posted an assignment for my class based upon the Falcon Cam in San Jose. I would like to make this assignment available to my students and allow them to collaborate so that they would share information and formulate action plans. A peregrine falcon Photograph by Michael Melford Courtesy of National Geographic Assignment: Create a Scientific Journal on the observations of the Peregrine falcons in San Jose , California Link to Web Cam http://sanjose.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?publish_id=91/nest Link to National Geographic http://www3.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/peregrine-falcon.html Link to Cornell Lab of Ornithology http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Peregrine_Falcon.html Learn about the habitat, ecosystem, niche, food web and other important information about falcons. Determine why they are considered endangered. What environme