Sharing Ideas

In The magnetic generosity of the network effect from Seth Godin's Blog , Seth Godin shares,

“An idea shared is more powerful than one that’s hidden. A technology standard outperforms a proprietary one. A community is stronger than divided individuals ever could be.”

Teaching should not be an isolated activity.

We need to share ideas that work with each other. It takes time to share but it is well worth the time and the effort.

Some of my best ideas have been formed while waiting in line for the copy machine. One teacher talks about a great lesson that she taught. While listening to the activity, I start thinking about ways this lesson could work in my class. I start talking about how I modify it for my students and usually, someone else will jump in and give other suggestions that I hadn’t thought about.

This is such a motivating and inspiration time even though at first, I was annoyed that I had to wait in line because I hate copying papers anyway.

Sometimes you have to look for the rainbow in the clouds. Look for opportunities to share ideas with others and let them share ideas with you. If no one is talking about their best lesson that they have taught lately, ask them.

Ask others what their biggest struggle was and then share yours. Maybe everyone can exchange ideas so that everyone can benefit.

Even students like to share their ideas so you can ask them what their favorite activity has been so far and what was their least favorite.

There are so many ways that teachers and students can share ideas. Sometimes you only need to ask the question to get the ball rolling.

Photo by G. Crescoli on Unsplash

Using Our Tools

In The steering wheel and the guardrails from Seth Godin's Blog ,  Seth Godin shares,

“Your car may have a powerful engine, but if the steering wheel is out of whack, it’s probably a mistake to simply drive faster. And putting in premium gas and removing the muffler doesn’t help much either.”

When I teach my students, I want them to study harder and to learn more but if I don’t teach them how to use the tools they have, we are all wasting our time.

It is important to know if the students have the foundational skills to move on to more complex skills.

I need to use my tools of assessment to determine what my students already know. I need to know that they have the basics down pat before I can expect them to do more difficult work. Knowing how to assess a student’s abilities is an important took in my teaching toolbox.

If a student’s learning style is more visual than auditory, we are really causing unnecessary stress by only giving the lesson orally. If I tell everyone about the content, then tell the students what to do in an activity, many of my visual learners will have difficulties. It doesn’t matter if I repeat the lesson and the instructions. I need to figure out a way to make this lesson more visual for the students who learn by seeing the information or watching how an activity is done.

If I have a student who is an auditory learner and I only give visually prompts, they may miss out on important parts of the lesson. Their reading abilities may cause them to struggle with getting all of the information or following the directions. If you give visual information, it would be better to also explain the information orally.

We need to make sure that we use all of our tools that are needed to meet our student’s needs. Ignoring those needs and insisting that a student learns according to whatever method you are using is only going to cause frustration and even anger. There even may be behavior problems or depression.

What tools do you use from your teacher toolbox? Please share.

Photo by Hunter Haley on Unsplash

Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 11/23/18

Here are some interesting sites that I’ve found this week, thanks to my PLN. As a teacher, I feel we have to keep up to date concerning research in our field and current issues in the education system. I hope some of these inspire you, inform you, and even have you asking questions. Thank you for coming by and visiting!

Note: Each resource is labeled with a level and subject area to make it easier to use.

Levels:  E: Elementary; M: Middle; H: High; G: General, all levels; SN: Special Needs; T: Teachers

Subject Areas: LA: Language Arts, English, Reading, Writing; M: Math; S: Science; Health; SS: Social Studies, Current Events; FA: Fine Arts; Music, Art, Drama; FL: Foreign Language; PE: Physical Ed; C: Career; A: All

What an Astronaut's Camera Sees: International Space Station – YouTube video; “An intimate tour of Earth's most impressive landscapes... as captured by astronauts with their digital cameras. Dr. Justin Wilkinson from NASA's astronaut team describes the special places that spacemen focus on whenever they get a moment.” (L:G;SA:S)

Build a Body – “Learn about the body's systems with this drag and drop game. Choose organs from the organ tray, and place them in their correct position within the body to create organ systems. Build-A-Body is a drag and drop game where players are tasked with assembling an organ system from a set of organs. Players may then attempt case studies where a functional problem with a system must be linked to the organ affected.” (L:G;SA:S)

Parts of Speech Quest – “ A terrible dragon has attacked the kingdom of Lingua and only a Nouns Master will be able to save it. Will it be you? Put your knowledge of nouns to the test as you venture through Parts of Speech Quest-Nouns!”; other quests for other parts of speech also. (L:E;SA:LA)

WWF Together – iPad app; “WWF Together brings you closer to amazing and endangered species than you ever could have imagined, letting you discover their lives and the work WWF does for them. Try out “tiger vision,” flap your wings like a migrating butterfly, and chop the panda’s bamboo. As part of each story, you’ll get to bring an animal into your world by taking a selfie with its origami or placing it in a scene.” (L:G;SA:S)

Measure the Speed of Light - With Chocolate! – “'C' is for chocolate! 'c' is also the symbol used for the speed of light. Defined as being 299,792,458 meters per second in vacuum, you can take a crack at measuring the ultimate speed using your microwave, a ruler and a bar of chocolate! Yum!”

Original photo by Pat Hensley