Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Back to School NIght
Back to School Night is an important for parents who choose to be involved and learn more about what the new school year holds for their children. This is where they can learn about their children's teachers and what will be taught throughout the year. Having a power point presentation is an important aide in this process, because most of the time it is more engaging for the parents than just hearing the teacher speak. In my presentation i incorporated that the students will learn both biology concepts and 21st century skills, because both should go hand in hand, so that the biology concepts learned can transcend into everyday life.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Podcast on the Experimental Design Process
The attached podcast is designed to help create an experiment, it details the Experimental Design Process step by step. In the field of science, the experimental process is one of the most important processes one has to master. This process can be applied to anything one sees around them, and that would like to test an observation. In science research, this is how discoveries are made, and theories are tested. Experimental design is used to support or challenge your findings or some else's work.
Students are required to listen to the podcast, and design their own experiment for homework. Then they will have the opportunity to carry out the experiment and write a report on it. This podcast is an aide at mastering these steps and applying your skills, at first it can seem overwhelming but the podcast is meant to aide in the process.
Students are required to listen to the podcast, and design their own experiment for homework. Then they will have the opportunity to carry out the experiment and write a report on it. This podcast is an aide at mastering these steps and applying your skills, at first it can seem overwhelming but the podcast is meant to aide in the process.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
21st. Century Skills
In Today's day and age, 21st. Century skills are skills needed in order to be able to compete in the workforce and be a well rounded individual. As stated in The Workplace Readiness Article in order to be successful once entering the workforce, a person must have the correct foundation, which most likely will have come from their schooling, and right now there is big gap between people who are high school graduates and people who attended a university.
As Maura Banta stated in The Value of Teaching 21st-century skills are the skills necessary in order to be connected to the world around us. 21st Century skills are about the world around us, they include knowing how to utilize technology, being able to collaborate, problem solve, applied skills, etc. How could there be no room in schools to teach these kind of skills ?
Some of these skills have already been in our schools for a long time and maybe some critics might not see it, i remember learning how to use a computer, and in grammar schools especially the younger children are taught how to work in groups. The problem is that classes such as computers are optional and not mandatory for high school students, and once we pass kindergarten the collaboration aspect disappears, because it is discouraged as if it was a bad thing, and doesn't come into play again until we are adults in college. Not having team work projects in schools, and especially applied projects cause students to not be engaged in what they are learning, and if something is not understood there is no one else to ask. From my experience, every time i had a subject that was not to my liking such as math or physics i would keep saying what is the point where am i going to use this. When i took physics during my undergraduate, i had anxiety went about taking physics again, but this time my professor would explain a concept during lecture and then we would go out an apply to something in our everyday lives. He explained work by comparing it to going up the stairs in science hall, and we had to figure out the angles and slopes of of the stairs. All of a sudden it was engaging and made sense, and i wanted to learn more.
The critics, such as in the article Critical thinking? You need knowledge by Diane Ravitch, think that by teaching 21st Century Skills other subjects will suffer by limiting the amount of knowledge and time that are spent on them. How could this be possible ? 21st Century skills can be applied to a subject such as science, when making an applied experiment such as the stairs, the student is learning skills and gaining knowledge the difference is that they are applying the knowledge and not just being lectured. Once school is over, and it is time to join the workforce how is that student going to thrive if they don't know how to apply the knowledge they acquired to the job they have. It cannot be just about cramming in tons of knowledge, because nowadays everyone has Google at their
fingertips. Testing the knowledge gained will always be under question, because there are many variables. One is that not all students do well in standardized tests. But, there should be a nationwide standard on testing. If other aspects should be considered they should be like the ones considered by The Urban Academy, such as test scores, attendance, and college acceptance.
Knowledge and 21st century skills are the answer to creating a well rounded individual, which is what schools have always strived to achieve. As Alvin Toffler was quoted in 21st Century Skills: Will Our Students Be Prepared? "'The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.'"
As Maura Banta stated in The Value of Teaching 21st-century skills are the skills necessary in order to be connected to the world around us. 21st Century skills are about the world around us, they include knowing how to utilize technology, being able to collaborate, problem solve, applied skills, etc. How could there be no room in schools to teach these kind of skills ?
Some of these skills have already been in our schools for a long time and maybe some critics might not see it, i remember learning how to use a computer, and in grammar schools especially the younger children are taught how to work in groups. The problem is that classes such as computers are optional and not mandatory for high school students, and once we pass kindergarten the collaboration aspect disappears, because it is discouraged as if it was a bad thing, and doesn't come into play again until we are adults in college. Not having team work projects in schools, and especially applied projects cause students to not be engaged in what they are learning, and if something is not understood there is no one else to ask. From my experience, every time i had a subject that was not to my liking such as math or physics i would keep saying what is the point where am i going to use this. When i took physics during my undergraduate, i had anxiety went about taking physics again, but this time my professor would explain a concept during lecture and then we would go out an apply to something in our everyday lives. He explained work by comparing it to going up the stairs in science hall, and we had to figure out the angles and slopes of of the stairs. All of a sudden it was engaging and made sense, and i wanted to learn more.
The critics, such as in the article Critical thinking? You need knowledge by Diane Ravitch, think that by teaching 21st Century Skills other subjects will suffer by limiting the amount of knowledge and time that are spent on them. How could this be possible ? 21st Century skills can be applied to a subject such as science, when making an applied experiment such as the stairs, the student is learning skills and gaining knowledge the difference is that they are applying the knowledge and not just being lectured. Once school is over, and it is time to join the workforce how is that student going to thrive if they don't know how to apply the knowledge they acquired to the job they have. It cannot be just about cramming in tons of knowledge, because nowadays everyone has Google at their
fingertips. Testing the knowledge gained will always be under question, because there are many variables. One is that not all students do well in standardized tests. But, there should be a nationwide standard on testing. If other aspects should be considered they should be like the ones considered by The Urban Academy, such as test scores, attendance, and college acceptance.
Knowledge and 21st century skills are the answer to creating a well rounded individual, which is what schools have always strived to achieve. As Alvin Toffler was quoted in 21st Century Skills: Will Our Students Be Prepared? "'The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.'"
Thursday, October 4, 2012
NJ Technology Standards
The 8.1 & 8.2 sections of the NJ Technology Standards outlines the technological knowledge students are expected to have by the time they finish a certain school grade, anywhere from K-12. I expect to be teaching High School, and following the technology standards that should be completed by grade 12 in the educational technology guidelines, I will discuss and integrate them into a Biology project to accomplish these goals.
The educational technology goals are broken down into six separate strands, the first being Technology Operations and Concepts. The goal for this strand for 12th grade is to be able to construct a spreadsheet using a desktop publishing software, which includes data compiling, math functions, and charts to be able to interpret the results. Students should participate in online communities such as a social network, and be able to create a digital portfolio.
In the Creativity and Innovation strand students are expected to know how to construct a digital game where they can demonstrate that they can relate their skills to work on or solve a real problem.
Under Communication and Collaboration students should be able to work with others in an online community forum, and share "innovative solutions " to a real world problem.
The educational technology goals are broken down into six separate strands, the first being Technology Operations and Concepts. The goal for this strand for 12th grade is to be able to construct a spreadsheet using a desktop publishing software, which includes data compiling, math functions, and charts to be able to interpret the results. Students should participate in online communities such as a social network, and be able to create a digital portfolio.
In the Creativity and Innovation strand students are expected to know how to construct a digital game where they can demonstrate that they can relate their skills to work on or solve a real problem.
Under Communication and Collaboration students should be able to work with others in an online community forum, and share "innovative solutions " to a real world problem.
| For the Digital Citizenship requirement students must be able to analyze policies on privacy disclosures, hacking and cyber crimes impact on society, and international government policies on censorship for different countries. While also understanding the appropriate use of copyrighted materials. | ||
| The Research and Information Literacy strand requires the development of a team and global expert investigation plan, to synthesize a new solution to a world problem. Considering in field research, hypothesize the impact on society because of improper tools usage. Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making requires students to use advanced research databases to find solutions to world problems. Students should also be able to analyze the good and bad aspects of emerging technologies such as cell phones and blogs on educational and personal needs.
In the scientific field, such as biology, everything that is learned applies to real life, after all biology is the study of life. In science it is very important to know how to work in teams, and communicate well with others since research takes places all over the world, and someone else's research might help you with yours. I want to plan a 2 person group
experiment where it is applied to a common problem that can be experienced
locally, and in other places around the world. Every winter when we have a snow
storm, the state sends out the plows to dispense salt pellets on the road. As
the snow melts, or cars drive over them they break down and end up in the
grass, plants, trees etc. How does all of this salt content affect the roots of the plants or
grass that where there before and will be there again as summer approaches
? I
would supply a few plants of the same kind, and they would need to water each plant
every time needed, with water and water mixed with different concentrations of
salt. At the beginning, I would ask them to hypothesize how the plants would
look every 1-3 months, using a program such as Photoshop. At the conclusion of
the experiment I would expect them to have a digital portfolio, including a
conclusion with supportive materials from other experts found online, a
spreadsheet with data collection, predictions, results in a chart, and answers
on how this problem affects the plants, and what impact it could have on
society. This kind of simple project has the ability to allow students to work as a team, build their knowledge, apply knowledge to a real world problem making science more interesting, and build on their technological skills.
| ||
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