Quote

I found this quote when I was looking for cartoons and I thought I would share it.

The following quotes are from Daisaku Ikeda,
a Buddhist philosopher, educator, writer and poet:

Education must be based on the fundamental rhythm of life itself - the wish to grow, to extend oneself, to break out of one's shell. It cannot be authoritarian; it must seek to enhance a person's progress with his agreement and to his satisfaction.

The genuine goal of education must be the life-long happiness of those who learn. Education should never be subordinated to the demands of national ego, or of corporations searching for profit-generating employees. Human beings, human happiness, must always be the goal and objective.

Knowledge itself is a neutral tool that can be used for good or evil. Wisdom, in contrast, always directs us toward happiness. The task of education must be to stimulate and unleash the wisdom that lies dormant in the lives of all young people. This is not a forced process, like pressing something into a preformed mold, but rather drawing out the potential which exists within.

Education should not be based on or limited by a nationalist agenda. Education must cultivate the wisdom to reject and resist violence in all its forms. It must foster people who intuitively understand and know-in their mind, in their heart, with their entire being-the irreplaceable value of human beings and the natural world. I believe such education embodies the timeless struggle of human civilization to create an unerring path to peace.

The task of education must be fundamentally to ensure that knowledge serves to further the cause of human happiness and peace

I needed a little laugh!

Comment on Handwritting

I found the handwritting without tears to be intriguing. I am in a Kindergarten classroom for my dyad and am finding handwritting to be a strong focal point for the students. The teacher is extremely particular about what she will accept. Sometimes she even takes the pencil out of the child's hand and erases their work. It has been interesting to watch how the children respond to this type of instruction. Some students hate writing, while others are thriving and do perfect letters. I would be interested to observe a class that is using HWT and how the children are responding to it in comparison to what I have observed in my dyad. Thanks for the links - it has been fun to explore the HWT website!

Handwriting Without Tears

I just saw this on NWCN (channel 2 news) about a program being used at some Seattle schools to improve the handwriting of students. It seems a little less "stringent" than the program that we saw at the other kindergarten class we were in.

Handwriting Without Tears feature

This is the actual site for the curriculum itself:

Handwriting Without Tears

Check out this blog...

Creating Lifelong Learners

This fits in perfectly with some of our literacy classes....how to get children to write well and enjoy it. I think a lot of these ideas may work in our main placements.

Thinking Tech

Technology is everywhere we look. I think back on my first years of college and how every assignment was on paper. Now, only 6 years later, the majority of our assignment can be turned in electronically, are more technological in content and require us to have a comfortability with the use of technology. It is truly amazing how technology has grown in such a short time span and how it continues to grow every second.

This picture made me think about some past teachers I have had. Their reluctance to give technology a try was very clear. They didn't know how to use it, didn't want to learn and didn't care what others thought about their stance. I believe this stubborness to technology is due to fear. Using this stuff can sometimes be like swimming through quicksand. It can be scary, but I don't think that this is a reason to shy away from it. In fact, I don't know that teachers now really have an option to say no to technology. Our students are so in tuned with this resource and we must use this engagement to benefit their learning. Technology can be frightening, but it doesn't have to be impossible. It is all based on the perspective we as teachers choose to take.

Rap To Teach Math

This is a cool math video of a middle school math teacher rapping to teach his students how to change fractions to percents. It also teaches improper fractions.

The Need for Tech in our CLassrooms

Do you ever feel like you've been gagged?

The one thing that I took away from last week's "Communities" class is how many thing we can't talk about. It seemed like, no matter what it was, someone was going to be offended. A part of me screams out that this is a democratic society where the majority rules....why should 1 or 2 families be allowed to curtail the activities of the other 25+ children in a classroom? I was a bit shocked about the story Mary told us concerning the father who didn't want his son to have to give valentines to children who weren't his friends. On the other hand, I don't want to see a child sitting off by themselves because they can't/won't/aren't allowed to join in. Children can be mean and I can see that putting a huge target on that child.

Probably the biggest issue for me to understand is that our religious holidays (Christmas, All Souls (All Hallows), Easter, Valentines) have become so secularized that we don't see them as purely religious celebrations. We forget that others do still focus on the religious aspects or how these celebrations may not fit in with their religious/cultural beliefs.

I sometimes fell that the classroom is nothing more than a cultural minefield; one false move and KABOOM!!! and we won't even see it coming.

Religion

Religion is a touchy subject, just like politics. I personally am torn on whether or not these subjects should be breached in the classroom.
On one hand, the topic of religion does make me uncomfortable. Yes, I have my own personal beliefs, but I don't know a ton about other beliefs and wouldn't want to somehow come across as biased. Teaching these topics would require all teachers to step back and present the information objectively. It would also require many conversations about respecting differing beliefs of fellow students so that each student felt safe.
On the other hand, religion is so deeply intertwined in culture and history, which is something that I want students to explore. We live in a diverse world, with a wide variety of cultures and religions. I want students to grow to appreciate and respect other cultures, various religions and different ways of living. Without a doubt, we will have diversity even within the walls of our classroom. As such, I feel it is important to acknowledge, welcome and learn about the different cultures represented in our room, school and community. So, how do we find a balance? Do we get parents and community leaders involved? Do we do research on our own and teach objectively about the cultures and religions represented in the room? Or do we just stay away from religion alltogether? It definitely is something to be thinking about!

Religion

I guess my thoughts about teaching religion in a classroom vary. I do believe students need to know how religion has affected the world. In teaching history, I don't think we can really get around it especially with the war in Iraq and all that history of violence, But I'm with you Kate, I would wouldn't feel comfortable teaching about a religion I don't know much about. I have studied many religions, but I still think it would be best to bring in a guest speaker who really knows what they are talking about. I also think you would have to have a serious talk to your students about being respectful of others beliefs and that we are here to learn and not argue about who is right or who's wrong when it comes to religions matter.

Relgion in Schools

Today's lesson on religion in public schools made me think about our recent religion and politics postings. I personally really don't want to teach religion unless it is directly tied to a unit, for example Ancient Egypt. I don't know a lot about every religion and would not feel comfortable teaching a class of students about religion unless I learned more on the topic. I feel pretty comfortable after the class discussion today that this is what we will be expected to do.

sensitive subjects

I agree with Kate. Religion and politics should stay out the classroom. Both can bring up emotions that are hard to control, and many times, when people are arguing against what you believe, it feels like a personal attach, and most students don't know how to deal with that. I don't think most adults know how to deal with those emotions. Plus then once those differences are discovered, people might blame other problems on those differences. It reminds me of a class I took, Sociology of Religion, half way through the class, we found out that our teacher was Mormon. Of course, now we believed everything he said was tainted in someway because of his religious association. I believe that same thing can happen with politics. It's all too messy. It's one thing to learn about the process, the history, and what's going on. It's another to make some students feel like they are losers or wrong. We are supposed to make everyone feel successful and proud in a safe environment, and I don't think politics and religion helps promote that safe environment.

Current Polictics Should Not Be Discussed at School

I love the example of using "Activotes" in the 2nd grade classroom.  What a great way to teach the young students about the election without actually using the current election!

I am at a middle school where all but one student are Democrats. The one student who is Republican has been bullied and feels left out.  The students have been studying politics and the voting process for a few weeks now, but there has been NO talk of the current election.  The current election is too sensitive and emotional of an issue to bring up for the students. I feel that politics and religion should be kept out of the classroom, unless you are discussing the process or the history.  There is a lot to be learned of the past.

Activotes!!!

I was wondering if any of you saw anything cool in your dyads to help our students understand how voting works?

In a class I observed in, the teacher had activotes on each desk. They used these all week to make decisions in the class and talk about how the election works. I thought that this was a great tool to help 2nd graders understand what a poll is, how they contribute to their classroom by voting on different class topics. What a great use of TECHNOLOGY!

Tech necessity

In looking up different technology teacher sources, I am realizing that we have an ocean at our fingertips. There are so many sources out there with explanations and ideas of different for teachers to adapt and utilize in their classrooms. I have been thinking a lot about how I will ever gain so much knowledge about technology that I feel confident in presenting it to students. I am coming to accept the fact that I will not always have the answers and that it is a smart move to learn with (and sometimes from) my students.

As teachers we need to utilize all of our sources and go out on a limb to incorporate technology in our classrooms. I believe this because technology is a relevant part of our youths' lives. Cell phones, texting, computer networking, video and the music technology are all valuable to our youth. Whether students have access to technology or not, most students do have an interest in what technology is and what it can offer them. In many of our classes we have discussed the need to connect our instruction to our students; technology is one way to incorporate their interests. Furthermore, I think it is vitally important to teach students to navigate technology responsibly and safely. School, in theory is a safe environment. If we can education students to use technology properly we are preparing them for the future.

Technology can be extremely daunting and yet we live in a world that is increasingly proficient in it. As such, I believe it is important to find a way to incorporate technology with the purpose of teach students how to be comfortable with and use technology properly.

Don't Forget To Tag

I noticed that not all the posts are tagged... part of our assignment.  If you want to fix them you can edit an old post and add a label(s).

Really Cool Political Website!!

Check out this political website: 270 To Win 

We used this website at Room 9 to learn about the US voting system, electoral votes vs. popular votes, and the history of major events as they relate to voting.

You can go through the history of voting and every 4 years a map of the US pops up and shows the layout of the US in red and blue states.

You can change the states (undecided, republican, democrat) and see how many states it takes to win an election with electoral votes.

The kids (and myself) learned that it only takes 11 states for a President to win!

Helpful Technology

After Chelsea's and Leah's Blogs on being unsure about using technology in the classroom, I think of my (mostly) positive experiences with technology right now at Room 9.  I agree with a lot of points made in the earlier posts, like that tech is always changing and that it is hard to keep up with, that older teachers seem weary about trying it, and that sometimes it does not work.

I have seen that technology can be a wonderful asset in the classroom... when used properly!  All the 6th-8th graders have their own laptops, except 2 because their parents:

A: won't sign the permission form or

 

B: don't have the the $ to pay for a case and the $50 deposit & they won't fill out the scholarship

form. 

These two students have a hard time keeping up with the other students because, although they have a laptop at school to use, they don't have one at home to do their homework on.  The other issue is that the laptops do not always come to school charged and students often forget their chargers at home.  These two problems are really the only issues I have with using laptops in middle school.  How can we ensure that all students have access to laptops and that they come to school fully charged?

Beyond those minimal setbacks I have seen wonderful use of laptops in school.  The students use laptops in every subject: science (national geographic online), art (research), literature (TeenBiz), and  math (online math games).  I feel that the use of laptops enhances the learning and the students love to use them!

My master teacher told me that he spends A LOT of time in the beginning of the year investing on teaching the students to use computer programs, but that it pays off later when he can do really cool projects.  He also uses the the digital projector for more than just projecting.  He takes pictures of the students and saves his work to make changes on.

The next time someone asks "why do you want to be a teacher"...

Gretchen Wilson's Hero

Even though the focus is on adult learners, the message is the same. It is never too late to learn and succeed.

HOW do we let the world know we've commented on another blog?

I've left a comment on Larrry's blog about iPods in the classroom but how do I make that known to Jane?

Helpful website

Here is another list of Performance Task Ideas....

To add to the list Jean gave us in class. There are a lot of ideas for every subject.

In the Classroom

Learning about all the technology that is possible to use in a classroom is very exciting and opens many opportunities to your classroom, but I still don't think I want to center my teaching around it. In the classrooms that I have been in there are active boards, many computers,document cameras and some type of controller that hooks into the main computer that all the students use to answer questions (I'm not sure what it is called). And it seems like half the time, something isn't working and can't be used. For example, in the 6th grade that I'm in, the teacher uses a math program called accelerated math. Each student works individually and at their own pace on extra math work, when the students finish a section, they put their answers on a scan tron, and scan it into the computer where it is put in a data base, and then out prints what the need next. This program has helped a lot in the classroom...when it is working. At the beginning of the year, all the computers were up-graded to vista, and it turns out that the math program isn't compatible, so there was un-installing and a few other things, which took a few days, so the students were behind. This has also happened with other tech equipment which makes me a little weary on totally relying on technology to teach a lesson.

I know it can be a wonderful assets, I just worry that if it doesn't work, it will ruin the whole lesson.
I also believe there needs to be more training in using all the technology that is put in the classroom. It's changed all the time, and sometimes the teachers don't even know it, they just come in a do it, leaving the teachers in the dark, and I hate to say it, but the older teachers that I have been around are very much in the dark with all the technology. They are given all these different things and not really getting enough instruction on how to use them, so they just sit their collecting dust.
So, I guess what I'm saying is, I'm not so sure all the time about technology. Much of it is very exciting, but unless someone is willing to sit down with me, or give me the option of going to multiply classes about the new technology, I'm not going to know how to use it, and I also want to learn how to trouble shoot problems, because if it can happen, its going to happen and most likely, right in the middle of a lesson. I want to use all the cool technology, but I'm not sure how it's going to all fit in.

Dormant Technology

I have been thinking this week and pondering how little I have seen technology used in the classroom. Every classroom I have been in has had an active board, but I have yet to see it taken advantage of. In talking to these teachers about their active boards, I found that they didn't feel comfortable with all of the different attributes of the board to use it with their classes. They also expressed frustration over the fact that when they have tried incorporating the boards, something went wrong and resetting the machine didn't work. My thoughts lie in trying to think about how to educate myself so that I have the knowledge to integrate the active board on a regular basis and am able to resolve unexpected issues that may arise.

I realize that technology is an everchanging tool that we have to better instruction and provide students with challenging learning opportunities. How can we not use these valuable tools? As an education student, what steps can I take to ensure that I will be prepared? I feel slightly overwhelmed by all of the options available in the technology world. I can see where the teachers I mentioned earlier reach a point of frustration that causes them to neglect the use of technology. I also can see that we are asking our students to constantly be challenging themselves. Is technology my constant challenge?

Pizza dough recipe

Pizza Crust

1 c. Flat beer 2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. Sugar 1 tsp. salt
2 ½ c. flour 1 pkg. yeast

Dissolve yeast in bear. Place sugar over beer. Mix the rest and let rise until double. Brush with vegetable oil. Cook till golden brown @ 350°

Video used for 7th Grade poetry intro

This was used to introduce poetry to my 7th grade dyad...

The-Simpsons-The-Raven

Test Movie

Cool Middle School Tech Project

Check out this link from Room 9:

http://schools.shorelineschools.org/room9/Ballard/Poems/A-R/Alessandro.html

The 6th-8th grade students wrote a preposition poem, then using GarageBand, PowerPoint, and iMovie they put it all together and published thier work!!

What we are doing!

Group Blogg To Do:

You must each post at least once a week.

You much each upload at least one image.

You must each embed at least one video.

You must "tag" your posts.

You must each comment on at least two other education blogs written by those outside the cohort.

So, whats this blog all about?

So, what are we blogging about? Tech stuff? tech stuff we see in the classroom? I'm ready to start!

Recipe

I think that flat beer recipe should be on the site so we can all try it out!

Yes....and.....

Yes, thank you...and do you think it needs to be so purple?

Thanks  Kate for setting this up!