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Let me bring into focus
the topic of education.
I see a need to develop a way in which to work with educators to help move them to a growth mindset. As much as we think we have this mindset, many have a fixed mindset of why so many things will not work. I was reading “Super Normal” by Dave Morin https://medium.com/p/c1d22838572a and I think the idea behind this article is what I have been trying to convey to educators without much success. Instead of creating something brand new we need to tweak what we have to make something better.
On the flipside I was reading this article, How Does ‘Lord of the Flies’ Fit Into Common Core? | MindShift http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2013/11/where-does-lord-of-the-flies-fit-into-common-core/ This article reminds me of the issue I see right now where we don't want to actually study what we are teaching and if it is worthwhile in the first place. Not saying this is right, but we need more honest reflection on what we are teaching on how we are teaching to improve education.
This issue is devoted to new teaching ideas. I have only shared teaching ideas that I think can hopefully spawn new ways of doing things.
I hope you enjoy and if you have a great idea please share! What are you doing in your classroom that is changing the way in which we teach?
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Thanks again for Otto for sharing these ideas. Great education prompts
One of the best ways to develop passion in students is to have them take on an activist cause, Here are a few that are not common but might stir some interest.
The issues can be researched directly in many ways. The solutions and answers they find would be highly practical for family members as well as themseles if they drove a car, etc. Fnd other causes that directly affect students and their families and they will be more likely to get involved. Imagine all the learning that will be done around the topics and also the skills used.
Police Scams
Spotted this by accident to day. Police scams that are legal in the USA.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/american-shakedown-police-won-t-charge-you-but-they-ll-grab-your-money-1.2760736
Find out what the policies are doing in other countries as well.
Parking/Speeding Tickets
In many countries, police give out parking and speeding tickets. However, most people don't know that these are given out sometimes unlawfully. Ignorance of the law is not a defense so many people get taken advantage of.
A ticket is a legal contract between the state and the person - or it seems and should be. In most cases, the tickets are illegal, especially if on private property.
Why? In any legal contract, the people who have legal rights to represent and sign are commissioned. I can't just walk up to you and give you a ticket for anything and expect you to pay it. On the other hand, most people don't question it when police officers do the same thing. They don't have any legal right to give you a ticket because they are not commissioned. In other words, highway robbery that is done beccause people are ignorant of the law. If an officer is going to give you a ticket, hou have the legal right to know if he/she is going to sign it. If so, you can ask to see their identification to verify the signature. If that is done, they must also prove that they have the legal right to give the ticket to you - commissoned. If not, the ticket is illegal. Most tickets are not legal contracts because nobody signed them stating that they have entered into a legally binding agreement. Try doing this kind of thing with a credit card? No way. Police tickets? Oh, it's okay I guess? It's not.
In court
Discussions have had it that if you are asked to state your name in court it puts you into a legal contract with the court. If you said: "Most people who know me call me....x " that is technically correct. Those that don't know you won't call you by that name. So who is right?
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The Flying Classroom, an interactive STEM+ learning adventure, launches today from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. National Geographic Emerging Explorer Captain Barrington Irving, who holds the Guinness World Record as the youngest person to fly solo around the world, will pilot the jet Inspiration III to North America, Asia, Indonesia and Australia.
Along the way, he and his crew will explore real-life applications of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, history, geography and the humanities. The Inspiration III crew will take 16 ground, air and sea expeditions, and an online portal originating on board the plane will share videos and a real-time storytelling blog with students around the world.
Inspiration III will travel to all seven continents over three consecutive school years. Students in schools that use the Flying Classroom curriculum, which is aligned to the Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards, will study STEM+ subjects relevant to each expedition as they track the Flying Classroom team. In Montana, for example, Captain Irving will meet a chef with a bionic arm and see how the human brain can control robotic limbs. In Australia, Captain Irving will illustrate how to balance an ecosystem by eradicating a poisonous toad. In Palau, he will track poisonous snakes to extract life-saving venom. Challenges during each journey will invite students to solve problems that may lead them to discover a career path in STEM+.
Teachers and students can follow Irving from today through Nov. 18 on the website, via Facebook or on Twitter at @CaptainIrving and using #flyingclassroom.
http://thejournal.com/articles/2014/09/23/the-flying-classroom-launches-on-a-mission-to-promote-stem.aspx
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I have been developing two pages on my website
I have developed a resource page for LEGO EV3 along with a link to tutorial page where I am creating videos to help people out. The goal is to move beyond basics to much more complicated programming.
http://coffeeforthebrain.com/lego-ev3/
http://coffeeforthebrain.com/lego-ev3-tutorials/
I just wanted to share. I find myself helping out more teachers all the time from all over the US so instead of reinventing the wheel over and over I have started to become not so dumb and create a focus point for them as I work with them.
I have found this little project very rewarding as it is forcing me to go back to figure out how to learn and teacher these concepts. Super excited to get into more advanced programming soon.
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