Make Smart Choices

In the edutopia article about helping kids make better choices they bring up some really good points. The author says that maybe the best way to let kids learn to make good choices is by practicing! I think this makes a lot of sense. If we are hovering around and constantly telling them what to do for every decision they make they will not be able to develop the skills to make good decisions themselves. Part of the issue is that some students have parents that are so involved they won’t allow their child to fail. I think we all need to remember that failure is one of the best ways to learn. You don’t really learn anything by doing something perfectly. That is probably a lesson we could all remember.

Help Each Other!

The edutopia article about the schools in Shanghai was very interesting. It explained how they were able to improve the performance of underperforming schools by pairing the lower school with a high performing one. The teachers from the better performing school would work with the other teachers and help them understand what they needed to do to improve. Instead of the teachers just having a single meeting, they would work together to develop lesson plans and the mentor teacher would observe the lessons being taught. It provided a lot of support for the teachers needing to improve. I feel like this would be a way better idea than leaving the underperforming schools to their own devices or taking them over financially. I think the assistance is what we need to give teachers because probably those who are not effective aren’t doing so because they don’t want to be, and they would probably benefit.

What Happens to Your Facebook When You Die?

The article "Social Media is Changing How We Die and Mourn" is a really interesting read. I hadn't thought about the notion much before reading this. I've seen a few people post of their friends walls after they passed and left comments. It seems to almost act as a memorial. I am interested to see how this continues with people who have grown up with social media all their lives.

Where to Look?

Nick Provenzano's article on Edutopia, accessed here, is a great resource for teacher resources. It lists a few different sites that he uses to find answers to questions that people ask him. He starts with Google which doesn't surprise me because that is a pretty logical place to start. He talks about not needing to hold all the ideas and information in your head because this resource is always at your fingertips which is a good point. The other things he lists though are really helpful. I will absolutely be using the list when I start to lesson plan fro next year. There are a lot of things to keep in mind for the next school year that will make my lessons even better!

Standardized Testing and PBL

The article from edutopia about standardized testing and PBL was meant to give tips to teachers about utilizing PBL while still maintaining their prep for standardized testing. I think this is a great idea. Instead of waiting until after testing, teachers should just tailor their projects to work within whatever constraints their testing schedule puts on them. I have been doing a lot of reading about using PBL in the classroom and think this would be a great thing to try next year.

Facebook Money

In the article "How Does Facebook Make Money?" the author explained how advertising makes up almost all of Facebook's profits. I have been wondering how they could possibly make so much money because of the fact that it is inherently not a money making money. Much to my surprise it is almost ALL from advertising on the right hand side of the page. It doesn't seem like people would actually click on those ads but apparently they must. I wonder if this is the reason the stock didn't do as well as it was thought it would do- people thought the same thing I did.

Equal Schools?

The article "After Brown v. Board of Education" made me think about something that I have often thought about. It makes sense that all students should have the same access to materials and good teachers, and nice schools. The issue is that the school your child goes to directly correlates to the neighborhood your child lives in. This is good for people who live in nice areas and not good for people who live in bad areas. I know thank you captain obvious. To me, the separation isn't about race anymore it's about socioeconomic status. The issue is, it's not just a money thing, it's a while mindset that is different. I believe integrating lower income students into higher income schools would be beneficial to lower income students. My question which is probably unpopular is what about the higher income students? I teach in a low income neighborhood and have experienced all kinds of things students have said or done that I would not want my own child exposed to. I would be curious how being exposed to students who seem not to value their education as much would effect those students in higher income areas.*

*This is not to generalize and say all lower income students are bad students who don't care about school or all high income students are angels who take school seriously. It's just a question of how to integrate all students without negatively impacting any of them.