Roots of Learning » educational opportunities

Creativity and the Education System

admin — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 01:19:26 +0000

This is worth the 20 minutes it takes to watch.

The Merits of Single Sex Education

admin — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 02:30:17 +0000

I just read an article from the Washington Post describing how a middle school in Northern Virginia will be piloting a voluntary program wherein students will attend single sex classes in the core academic areas. I laud this effort. Many students, both boys and girls, will – in my opinion – likely flourish in this new setting. I hope that this growing trend in K-12 education keeps growing. Unlike some critics of the idea, I do not believe that single-sex instruction leads to a confirmation of stereotypes. Rather, teachers are less able to ‘gloss’ over divergent learning styles. If a teacher knows that she is facing a class of all girls, or all boys, each day, then she will tailor her teaching to their styles. This brings up my only concern with this program. I hope that those in charge who have made the decision to go forward with the single-sex instruction have not neglected to invest in appropriate training for the teachers to prepare them for the different methods that they will need to employ. I hope to hear more examples of this, and will update my blog as I find them. For those reading this, if you know of a program such as this, please let me know!

Heather

Performance Assessments Would Address Basic Knowledge and Skills as well as “21st C. Skills”

admin — Wed, 26 May 2010 19:52:34 +0000

I don’t know when they began calling critical thinking skills “21st Century Skills” – I used them and taught them plenty during the 20th century, but no matter. It seems to be the educational buzzword of the day. And if the trend results in teachers and parents focusing more on communication, collaboration, critical thinking, problem solving, innovation and use of technology, then I’m all for it. One thing that articles and reports focusing on 21st century skills – as well as those focusing on No Child Left Behind and state assessments – tend to neglect is the concept of performance assessment. Performance assessments can help school divisions, private schools, and homeschooling parents determine not only their students’ mastery of basic knowledge and skills, but also their capacity with those skills deemed “21st century skills.” However, we rarely hear of performance assessment being used in a widespread manner.

It is not a new invention, either. In the mid to late 1990′s, some states used performance assessment measures to assess every student for all types of skills and capacities. These assessments can, however, be costly. Perhaps that is the issue during this time of ever tightening budgets. A performance assessment cannot be run through a scantron for scoring. It requires manpower. So while we may not see widespread performance assessment in the near future, we can all encourage the educators that we work with to use them in their own classrooms for formal and informal assessment of students. Before the end of the 21st century, they’ll thank you.

Word Processing and Formatting for Youngsters?

admin — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 20:00:56 +0000

I was talking with a parent of a fifth grader who is attending our local “gifted zone center” program. Her daughter was assigned a paper that needed to be two pages, double spaced. Her daughter does not type well, so this assignment was taking a while. At one juncture, the parent noticed that her daughter was not double-spacing the paper. “Oh yes, I am,” responded the student. “I am putting two spaces between each word.” Clearly, this student had not learned about basic formatting in a word processing program.

So this got me thinking – there are plenty of great typing programs out there for students, such as the BBC’s Dance Mat Typing, but are there resources (books, software programs, etc.?) that help teach word processing conventions and formatting ‘rules?’ If you know of any, I’d love to hear from you! If I come across any, I may do some field-testing and review them for you here.

- Heather

The Importance of High Expectations

admin — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 01:27:58 +0000

In my years as an educator, I have repeatedly experienced examples proving what intuition has always told me: People – children included – will “rise to the occasion” when high expectations set for them, assuming those expectations are reasonable, and support is provided. Even very young students know when someone accepts less than best efforts, and certainly employees perform better for an employer who expects excellence in performance.

Working at home with our children, we, as parents, face the age-old dilemma. Doing things the way we know is “right” is much more difficult than taking the ‘easy’ route, a route taken by many others. If we are going to follow the “road less traveled,” we must put on the appropriate hiking boots. Having firmly fixed, high expectations for our childrens’ performance (as well as for their good character) definitely helps during trying times when the pull of commonplace diversions, peer pressure, and the kids’ desires threatens to blow us off course.

One exercise that is helpful within the family is to make those expectations, as well as the reasons for them, clear to the kids. Involve them in a family meeting, where parents can discuss short and long term goals for learning and behavior, and the rationalization behind them. Likewise, this is an opportunity for the kids to formulate and record their own goals, evaluate how they perceive their performance, and ask questions about parents’ goals and objectives. Bringing kids “into the fold” ensures that they not only understand your high expectations, but it encourages that they “buy in” to the entire process.

As this school year begins, what time is better than now to sit down with your kids and have that family meeting?

-Heather

Great Listing of Great Books!

admin — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 03:04:04 +0000

This list from an article in the July 2009 ASCD Educational Leadership magazine includes books by age level that are good for teaching social responsibility. If anyone has used any of these or done any specific activities with their kids to encourage social responsibility, I’d love to hear about it!

- Heather

Trip Trepidation

admin — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 14:30:49 +0000

For a summer trip, my family is going on a two week road trip to Canada. I painstakingly planned all aspects of this trip, which I know will provide an invaluable experiential learning opportunity for our three kids - now it is less than a week away. Needless to say, we are all getting excited. However, I have a few trepidations. I made a few deliberate decisions in my trip planning that, in theory, I believe in firmly. However, in reality, I’m not quite as confident. I’m sticking to my guns, but I thought I’d use this space to discuss my concerns, and report back after the trip to tell how it all went…..

1. We are driving 9 hours with three kids, and we have decided to leave all electronic devices at home. We are going “unplugged” for two weeks. For me, this is wonderful. I work from home and am attached to a laptop more than I’d like. My husband, who is in IT, feels the same. But on the long ‘legs’ of our trip with the kids, will we regret the lack of Leapster, the dearth of DVD’s? In theory, I want them to stay ‘in the now’ and find new ways to entertain themselves. Everyone got a new book last week for the trip, and I bought three portable white boards. I’m also going to invest in some pipecleaners (kids love to make stuff from pipecleaners, and I’ve found them to be ‘magic’ during any long trip). These, plus games they make up (the latest is called “MINE!” where they look for yellow cars and whoever sees them first gets points), are all I have in my bag of tricks. I may regret this. I may not. We’ll see. (Don’t get me wrong, my kids do not spend a lot of time ‘plugged in’ at home; I just wonder if the bickering will get to me, or whether the forced time together will elicit “greater sibling to sibling tolerance” – is this a pipe (cleaner) dream?)

2. We are cutting costs and making the trip one that is ‘closer to nature’ by camping. We’re not camping the entire two weeks, I have combined camping stays with hotel stays so that we all have a break (and laundry, and a bed) every couple of days. I have camped plenty, but never with my three young kids. Our last camping plans got rained out by a hurricane. Before then, we only had two kids and one was in the tent in a pack-and-play. So needless to say, this will be a new experience. Will I crawl into the car at night? Will my third be scared if we have a thunderstorm (YES)? Will I generally regret this seemingly-sound decision?

I’d love to hear from brave parents who have underaken this type of endeavor. I know that the trip will offer unbounded opportunities for my kids to learn about different cultures, languages, foreign money, city life, the outdoors, and more. The kids always have developmental (intellectual) ‘growth spurts’ after trips and experiences that are so new to them – that is probably the single most motivating factor for me – the chance to witness that.

- Heather

Museums as Educational Partners

admin — Fri, 01 May 2009 17:51:45 +0000

Whether you send your child to public school, private school, or whether you home school, your community no doubt has some treasures – museums, historical societies, science centers, or parks. Here in Virginia, the communities are rich with such treasures, but very few take advantage of these opportunities to learn.

When I conduct presentations for museum educators (link takes you to the most recent), they are usually centered around how they can engage the school audience and meet the needs of teachers and schools. I also make it a point to emphasize the importance of engaging alternative audiences such as independent schools, home schoolers, and scouting groups and clubs. If you are involved in such groups, you know that they have more flexibility and autonomy to engage in the community than do public schools.

My question to parents is, how do you view museums and other community ‘assets’? Do they meet your needs or do they leave something to be desired? Do you see them as a vehicle for learning for your children? Have you seen great partnerships between schools or homeschool groups and museums and cultural centers?

I’d love to read your input!

- Heather

What Would You Do?

admin — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 20:37:33 +0000

What would you do (assuming your children go to school and are not home-schooled) if your school switched to a four day a week schedule? Last summer’s gas prices caused more schools than ever to switch to a four day schedule, and especially in rural areas, the four day school week has caught on as an overall ‘good idea’.

From a parents’ perspective, though, it can be problematic, and a great opportunity. If I knew I’d have my children home an additional day each week, I think I’d try and plan more regional trips to historic places such as Mount Vernon or Colonial Williamsburg, and do more ‘day’ trips as a family. Currently, weekends are filled with ‘catching up’ and with kids’ sports activities. Certainly, an extra day at home would be an educational opportunity. What would you do with this time?