Problem-solving processes

This past Thursday was a highlight of my week. That day at my practicum placement (6th grade social studies geography class) I had the privilege of leading the lessons for second period. This type of role is always a treat for me because the regular teacher plans and executes the lesson for the first period while I observe. Second period I play her part. I got to incorporate a reading strategy into my lesson delivery that the primary teacher did not use. The kids paid attention exceptionally well and with the "narrate/summarize-it-back" reading comprehension strategy I was able to hold the class accountable and formatively assess their understanding. I love hearing what stands out from each paragraph to them. This process also allows me to unpack points that they might easily gloss over.

For example the chapter "Russia and Eurasian Countries" the text states that 74% of Russia's population lives west of the Ural Mtns. So I stopped here and asked the kids why they thought this was. To model solving this problem I posed the following questions in quick succession as students shouted out the obvious answers... eventually leading us a probable solution. The reasoning trail looked like this: West of the Ural Mtns lies the West European plain = fertile soil --> good farming --> food --> eating --> people surviving. People like to live near steady food sources.

Using blogs in the classroom

Although I believe it is important for students to efficiently pracice using technology, at this point requiring student blogging seems potentially chaotic in my mind. Besides privacy concerns parents may have, I feel that it may be challenging for students to organize posts in a way that that I can clearly read and evaluate. Of course the great perk of student blogs is the fact that they are public. This often motivates students to produce higher quality work before posting to the World Wide Web. :-)

As far as incorporating blogs into classroom curricula, a teacher could require all students to use them as "learning logs", posting weekly about the highlights of the week's topic, etc. From a teacher's perspective it would be great to hear from each student personally - learning what captures their attention and what confuses them. The teacher could post comments to encourage and direct them. This could serve as a sort of formative assessment allowing the teacher to tweek upcoming lessons in response to students' posts.

Welcome

For the love of learning, changing and growing, welcome to my blog! Come on in and make yourself at home.
I don't know about you, but I've always thought dandelion's were awfully cheerful little plants...I'll never forget driving through upper Michigan on a long awaited family get-a-way in late spring. We lived in that state and if you're not acquainted with the place you should know winters are very long there. So we're driving north into trillium country right as the snow and heavy cloud coverage were surrendering to spring, when all of the sudden we round a bend in the road. There, out my car window, I see an ocean of sunshine flooding the acreage around an old barn. The yard was filled with "sun drops"!
It's all in your perspective - life's beauties and "aha" moments...they're all in your perspective. This is a place where I hope to regain and offer perspective on some of the "mundane" and memorable moments of my teaching experience. Life is a journey, so step on in! Let's learn, change and grow together. If you're not ready to join the dialogue you're more than welcome to just read and come along for the ride.