Roots of Learning » engaging the senses

Creativity and the Education System

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

This is worth the 20 minutes it takes to watch.

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.

US History Lessons in the Age of New Media

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 23:45:57 +0000

Engaging the student, utilizing knowledge of various senses, taking advantage of free online tools, my son’s fourth grade social studies teacher did all these things when she showed the kids the following in class today:

Experiential Learning at its Best!

admin — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:56:46 +0000

I love this – it has all the elements of perfect learning:

1. Science tools.

2. Dirty kids.

3. Excitement.

4. Mystery.

5. Discovery.

6.Higher-Level Thinking.

In fact, one student said, “This is probably the best science class ever,” (Angus Stewart). What is all this referring to? One teacher teaching science the way it should be taught: in the field. Here’s an excerpt from Anderson, South Carolina’s Independent Mail:

Teacher Nancy Hughes said all of her third-grade students would be digging up the past as part of their science lessons. “We’ve just finished a unit on rocks and fossils, and we’re getting ready to start a unit on soil, so this exercise sort of bridges both of those units,” she said. “And we’ve talked about being paleontologists and archaeologists so this gives them a chance to see what it’s like to do a real dig.”

DIG IT?

- Heather

Cool New Use for Toe-Moulding?

admin — Mon, 11 May 2009 02:40:51 +0000

We were outside eating dinner at the picnic table when my youngest, who is 3, began playing with large, thin pieces of wood we have out back (we are building a tree fort). He crossed them and said, “Did I make an X?” He had, so we asked him if he could make a “T” – he did, and an “L” – we are in the process of cutting some old toe moulding down to various sizes so that he can continue to create. The pieces are large enough so that when the letter is ‘built,’ it is as large as our son. This proved to be a great sensory experience – I’ll add updates on how this experiment evolves! If anyone else has tried new or innovative ways for young learners to experience language, please comment!

- Heather