Promoting the Love of Science

Instilling the love of technology into students is becoming more and more difficult. Even though this generation of students use technology every day, there are a small number entering fields such as engineering. Most schools have mandatory science fairs, but if a student is not interested in science they will produce a cookie cutter project that required minimal thinking on their part. However, Frank Smith discusses in his article, "STEM Students Blast Off in NASA Launch Event" an interesting program designed to get students interested in science related fields. STEM also known as, "Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics" hosts events that get students to use knowledge from these fields to build and create amazing technology. His article discusses an event where students from middle school all the way up to college had to build rockets that could do various things. In the MAV (Mini Mars Ascent Vehicle) contest, competitors had to create AGSE which is autonomous ground support equipment. This equipment had to be able to pick up a payload and launch it 3,000 feet into the air by a rocket. Winners could win $50,000.
Challenging students to build amazing rockets is one way that STEM promotes the love of science. Of course most schools cannot afford to do things as extravagant as these, but with a little creativity, teachers can think of interesting ways to teach. Maybe adding some gamification would help. Or even turning the individual science fair projects into classroom projects and giving away prizes to the most original class science fair project. Doing this would allow students to collaborate with each other and learn to work together, which is important for future career success.

website used: http://www.edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2015/04/stem-students-blast-nasa-launch-event

Flim in the Classroom

I remember when I got the opportunity to watch films in class. We only watched films when there was a substitute teacher, or if we were in health class learning about the miracle of birth or dangers of abusive relationships. On occasion, literature teachers would show clips of movies that were adapted from books. Nancy Barile found a way to incorporate film into her class that made learning a lot more fun. She was able to stay within the Common Core Standards for teaching and still make learning fun with movies.
She first had her students read the required texts for school. Instead of showing them the movie adaptation, she showed films that she knew her students would enjoy watching. When they enjoyed the movie, her students often had a lot more to say about the films and made connections to the required readings more easily. Barile showed films such as The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, and The Shawshank Redemption. After showing the movies she would ask thought provoking questions, some relating to the students' in ways such as the portrayal of teenagers compared to how teenagers act in their school. Barile also presented them with critics' reviews and asked her students to compare their reviews with the critics'. In showing these movies, critical thinking and analysis increased tremendously.
I would encourage teachers to follow in her footsteps and stop showing mediocre movies for the sake of filling up a time slot. If you need to call in a substitute, have a movie on hand with a question sheet that promotes critical thinking. Even if you cannot teach the lesson you wanted to teach that day, at least students are still engaged in a learning exercise.

website used: http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/classroom_solutions/2011/05/film-as-a-springboard-to-writing-in-the-ela-classroom

EasyBib Promoting @thenerdyteacher

Nick Provenzano, otherwise known as "The Nerdy Teacher" was interviewed by EasyBib about his views on technology in the classroom. He talks about learning one tech tool at a time in order to prevent overwhelming the students or teachers who are trying to learn about technology. He advises teachers not to be afraid to fail in front of their students when using technology, because it is a learning process. His favorite technology to use are: EasyBib to teach students about scholarly research, Evernote, and Remind.
He also talks about the importance of making sure that the technology being used aligns with ISTE, Core Curriculum, and ASSL Standards. All of his advice was sound, but I found that his most important point was when he told teachers to not base lessons around the technology they want to use. Instead, incorporate the technology into the lesson so if it does not work on the day of class, the lesson can still be taught. I have had so many teachers who have wasted valuable class time fiddling with technology and calling for technical support when they cannot figure it out. Twenty minutes ends up being wasted and they end up "modifying"(cutting out important information) lessons to make up the time.
This was the first blog I have ever read by the Nerdy Teacher, but I will definitely read more of his insightful knowledge about technology used in classrooms.

website used: http://info.easybib.com/how-to-embrace-and-implement-ed-tech-slideshare?utm_campaign=Nick%20Provenzano%20AMA&utm_content=14109117&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter

Reflection on Karl Kapp's Gamification Video

Karl Kapp describes gamification as a motivator for students to learn. He starts by describing a physical game board and its elements which all come together to create a fun environment. Then he takes the elements he described and puts them into technological terms such as game pieces become "avatars". The idea is, as long as the game has competition and cooperation, students will be excited to learn. Interestingly, he mentions that the word "gamification" was coined in 2002 by Nick Pelling but did not catch on until 2010. Even as I write this, spell check does not recognize the word "gamification". He also explains that learning games and simulations are not considered gamification. Instead, he describes gamification as a continuum ranging from points being added to an activity, to playing a game of real life HALO.

Before I saw this video, I was still skeptical about the benefits of gamification in the classroom, even if I have been immersed in gamification all semester. However, he made me hopeful that I can incorporate gamification into my literature classes to hopefully get students engaged in read a text. Getting a student to read their texts is going to be the hardest part of being a literature teacher because without reading the texts, there is no point in teaching a lesson for the text. I would use the leader board example that Kapp talks about. I will create short quizzes after each reading and create a leader board in which at the end of each week, the student with the most points would win a prize. His video has really inspired me to create ideas for gamification in my classroom and I can not wait to implement them.

website used: https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=21&v=BqyvUvxOx0M

Informing Students About Drugs

Nancy Barile's, "Educating Teens About Drugs--The National Institution on Drug Abuse" discusses being a teacher and seeing students abusing drugs all around her. She realizes that the 70s aided in the perception of drugs, glorifying them as something that cool and laid back people do. Parents often try to alert their children of the dangers of drugs when they are young, but this often is not enough. Barile mentioned that the books, "Go Ask Alice" and "Jay's Journal" are novels that describe the lives of drug abusers in vivid terms. These books are sometimes enough to scare a child away from drugs. However, when this is not enough, Barile recommends the website, Scholastic's Heads Up, which provides a lot of information on drug statistics, videos and real life stories.

Barile also recommends Al-anon and Alateen facilities to help teens with drug problems. Often times teachers will not know what to do with students they suspect are on drugs. Taking the time to establish an open and trusting relationship with students is important for teachers. Students who do not have good relationships with their parents need to know they can turn to someone, and I believe that it is a teacher's job to act as a second parent when at school.
 
website used: http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/classroom-solutions/2011/02/nida

Teaching Students with Autism

I am currently taking a class about educating students with special needs. The information I am learning in that class has caused me to take great interest in finding out more about autism. So when I saw Kim Greene's blog post, "Teaching Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder," I was very interested in learning more. She explains that in today's schools one in every 68 students are diagnosed on the autism spectrum, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention . In addition, boys at five times as more likely to be autistic than girls. Because autism appears in many forms and difficulties, a spectrum has been created for diagnoses called the DSM-5. Putting a student on the spectrum helps to decide what type of services are needed for the child.
This article interested me because it stated that apps can be used for some children with autism. I found this interesting because I was always under the impression that technology was a difficult thing for those with autism to grasp. However, technology is used diligently because doctors do not want students with autism to use it as a crutch.
Greene then goes on to list strategies to work with and teach a student with autism. The first is using visuals such as "if/then" cards to promote good behavior because often times people with autism do not understand social cues and rules to be courteous in public. A structured day also helps a person with autism not to get distracted or feel uncomfortable moving about their day. To improve social skills, teachers can tell stories that make learning them relatable to the student. Two other strategies are keeping lessons simple and taking breaks as to not overwhelm a student.
Reading about these strategies was very interesting because they seem simple and like common sense for some people but integrating these strategies into teaching takes understanding and patience. The more I learn about autism, the more I would like to teach students in special needs classes.

website used: http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/supporting-students-autism-specturm-disorder

Undocument Students and Their Relationship with Schools

A recent lesson was taught in on of my education courses about undocumented students. In this class we heard a story about a student who found out he was undocumented when he went to go apply for a passport because his school was taking a trip to Japan. He was shocked to find out his documents were not real and turned to his favorite teacher for help. She immediately changed the trip destination from Japan to Hawaii so he could go. Teachers like these inspire me because when she found out she had an undocumented student, instead of turning him into the authorities, she did her job as an educator and did her best to educate him to the highest degree.

"The Silent Problem: The Plight of the Undocumented Student" by Nancy Barile sheds light on a problem that almost all undocumented students face. After graduation, many undocumented students are unable to receive scholarships to afford college, therefore they do not go to college. Barile's research found that an estimated 65,000 students out of the 2.8 million that graduate will not go to college based on being undocumented. Only ten states allow undocumented students to apply for in-state tuition , while the rest make these students pay the international cost.

The Dream Act is a bill that, if passed would help many undocumented students to obtain citizenship and attend college under the in-state tuition category within a six year time period.
As a future teacher I believe all kids deserve the chance to learn. Most undocumented students are brought tot he United States at a young age, they can not help if they do not have proper documentation. Helping them to get it would help hard working students to receive the opportunities they deserve and help the United States utilize all their hard working citizens.

website used: http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/classroom-solutions/2010/09/silent-problem-plight-undocumented-student