Chapter 4: Active Learning

The beginning of this chapter talks about having kids move around and using examples in life to engage their interest in the subject. The author described the classic example of using ratios to find the height of something really tall relative to the height of shadows. I would definitely use this in my classroom because it doesn't only get the students outside and moving, but it's a real world application. Another way to get students engaged is to relate the material to their own bodies. This would be great for most areas of science. The author then goes on to list many other ideas to engage students in the classroom such as carousel brainstorming and setting up Olympics courses. These are all great ideas and can be tailored to any content area.

Book Talk 1: Student Orientated Curriculum

This presentation went really well. I liked how it was separated into sections according to scheduling, assessment, etc. Each leader knew a lot about their content. I liked the idea of student-run classrooms and I can see how it will be beneficial to students and teachers in that class. Having portfolios at the end of the year to mark their progress is a great idea. I would use some of the student led activities in my classroom but I'm skeptic to giving them full responsibility of the class.

Chapter 13: Outdoor Adventure

In this section of the book, the author suggests taking students on an overnight camping trip. To me, this seems rather risky. I understand the idea of making students work as a community and accomplish real life situations. Ideally this would be quite an experience. I especially liked the section about how math relates to a camping trip. All of the author's suggestions could deeply relate to the naturalist intelligence which would make math creative. Actions such as determining average width, rate flow, and depth of a creek include concepts such as math, art, hiking, measuring, ratios, and geometry. Then maybe students can stop saying the infamous phrase "What will we need this for?" when talking about math.

Chapter 3: Brain Research Applied in Middle School

In this chapter the author tries to get in the head of middle schoolers. He discusses how emotions play a big role in students' behavior especially when it comes to lying and cheating on assignments. Adolescents like to test limits and cross lines. A set of ground rules need to be determined early on and when a student slips up, they need to take responsibility for their actions. One way to help adolescents to think critically is to discuss logical fallacies. Talking about gray-area issues in the world will help students gain individuality as they form an opinion. However, with opinions it's easy for students to create misconceptions. It's important for teachers to ask straightforward questions, revisit topics frequently, reward questioning, and many other things. Middle school is where students form identities and it's important for teachers to place students in the right direction.

Waiting For Superman

This documentary was a real eye-opener for a lot people: teachers, parents, students, administrators, etc. When the narrator first started talking about the "drop out" factories, I was not expecting there to be so many across the United States. However, it does make sense that these under-achieving schools are near cities where there are more people. It also surprised me that principals and other administrators are aware that most of the students who enter their school will drop out. It has got to be difficult knowing that. Another fact that surprised me was that spending money on a prisoner for four years in jail is more than putting a child through private schooling for 13 years! Hmm... what's wrong with this picture? I can safely say my jaw officially dropped after hearing that statistic. I liked the statistic that America is the most confident country when it comes to how well we did on tests, even though our scores are very low. This made me laugh, especially after the clip of the guy trying to jump a building on a bike.

The part of the documentary that really got to me was the ending- where all the children the documentary followed were trying to get into better schools by the lottery. This made me think about the schools I went to when I was their age. My parents took charge and enrolled me and my sister into a private, Catholic school. They could have just as easily enrolled us into a public school but they wanted us to get the best education we could. These parents want the same for their children but were not as lucky financially as my family was. I am so grateful for my educational experience from kindergarten to where I am now. Through hard work both on my part and my parent's part got me to where I am today. I just wish everyone was so lucky.

Chapter 3: Curriculum and Assessment to Improve Teaching and Learning

In this chapter there were three things discussed: the Backwards Design, assessments, and the standards. The Backwards Design I learned in Practicum. It's a really great way to put the teacher in the students' shoes; this way it would be clearer to see what students will understand at the end of the lesson. For assessments, it's important to have variety. This way, students will not get bored with the routine, and it is a great way for students with different strengths to shine. It is also important to have standards within a school. This way, teachers can have a common goal. It would also be a good way to stay focused when teaching. Standards could bring school and the community together by creating a common goal- to educate children.

Chapter 9: Planning for Block Scheduling

This chapter talked about planning for a block schedule. In middle school it would be beneficial to have longer periods. Throughout this chapter, the author plans out his day according to the block period schedule, writing down his thoughts. I found that it was important for teachers to not fill the entire 80 minutes with lessons. Have students take breaks. The ideas of having more time for formative and summative assessments is ideal for students because the assessments can have more dimension to them. They can relate to real life and will be more engaging than a written test.