Constructionism is very important.

I'll explain later.

Baseline Test Score

The first thing you need to do is take a full-length diagnostic test in the most testlike conditions possible.

Constructionism

Constructionist learning is inspired by the constructivist theory that individual learners construct mental models to understand the world around them. However, constructionism holds that learning can happen most effectively when people are also active in making tangible objects in the real world. In this sense, constructionism is connected with experiential learning and builds on some of the ideas of Jean Piaget.

After only 5 hours searching the internet ....

The most remarkable result of the experiment emerged when Small repeatd the tests six days later.  In the interim, the novices had agreed to spend an hour a day online, searching the Internet.  The new scans revealed that their brain activity had changed dramatically; it now resembled that of the veteran surfers. "Five hours on the Internet and the naive subjects had already rewired their brains."  source:  Wired, June, 2010

Florida's 2013 Graduation Requirements

Under new graduation requirement signed into law last month, students by 2013 will be required to take tough science and math courses and pass end-of-course exams to earn their high school diplomas.  I wonder what impact Marcelo Gleiser's book, A Tear at teh Edge of Creation, will have on this since it is about to obsolete science text books and how science is taught. Who said science was static?

Teacher Beating a Student

Some people should not be school teachers.

Teacher Beating a Student

All teachers should read this book!

                                A Tear at the Edge of Creation by Marcelo Gleiser

"Cherish this book.  With powerful clarity Gleiser argues that there is a profound link in Western science between monotheism and scientific search for a Theory of Everything.  He argues persuaively that we must give up this dream. This my auger a profound transformation in our understanding of the world."  source: Stuart Kaufan, a fellow of the Royal Society.

This is also going to have a profound effect on what and how you teach your students science.

Meet that author at this link: Marcelo-Gleiser.

Many home-schoolers are really dropouts!

More than 22,620 Texas secondary students who stopped showing up for class in 2008 were excluded from the state's dropout statistics because administrators said they were being home-schooled, according to Texas Education Agency figures.

But that's where the scrutiny of this growing population seems to end, leaving some experts convinced that schools are disguising thousands of middle and high school dropouts in this hands-off category.

You ain't seen nothing yet.

States have been struggling with huge budget gaps since 2008, but this year could be worse as federal stimulus funds wind down.



Until now, stimulus money spared governors and state lawmakers from making some of the most brutal budget cuts. But with this lifeline running out, officials are looking at making significant cutbacks to public services, particularly schools and health programs.   source:  CNNMoney.com

It is true!

Obama, who often chides journalists and cable news outlets for obsessing with political horse race coverage rather than serious issues, told a class of graduating university students that education was the key to progress.

School improvement and rating system

Hi Mike,


I found out that the purpose of grading student's has changed since we were students and teachers. The only people that can understand it are professional educators that are not distracted. I don't think it is possible for a K-12 student to understand it. If a student attempted to understand it, they would likely be told that 'it's none of their business'.

There is also a complicated method of grading schools. It's called the School improvement and rating system. I wonder who is behind that.

Stephen

Within education, what is the purpose of grading?

The answer to this question has changed since I was a teacher.  Now, there are many answers to that question in Florida and what the answers are and who is controlling is very important.

The evolution of the car radio.

The evolution of the car radio.

Our car did not have a radio when I was in grade school . We road in silence. No one said much other than something like ‘Turn right at the at the next corner.’ I was kept busy playing an alphabet game involving seeing something that began with a letter of the alphabet: The next letter is 'C'. Find something that begins with the letter 'C'. There is a cow.

Our first car radio was AM. That arrived when I was in High School. There were few stations at the time and most of them broadcasted a weak signal and the programming was worse. The nearest one to me was in Midland, Michigan. That was about 20 miles from Hope. Another one was in Saginaw. That would have been about 50 miles away. The reception was mostly static. When the reception was clear it would only last a few minutes and then drift back into static.

I got my first car after I graduated from high school. It's radio was AM. I seldom turned the radio on because the quality of the signal was so poor that it was best to leave it off.

When I was in college in the 70's the car radios were still mostly AM and the reception still had not improved much. However, at the time home receives had made a giant leap in quality. I recall wondering why they did it for the home and not car. They would about 20 years later.

Now the car radios are top quality. My truck's radio is beyond criticism. What came next were people like Rush, Sean Hannity and other radio talk show talkers. Recently I was drive in heavy traffic on US 19 and thought about all of us listening to a talker that wants to effect our thinking.

There was a time when we drove in silence. If we talked. It was to the passengers. Now we listen to a talker with a political, religious or some other agenda. I think of people like Rush as being political provocateur.

What would George Orwell think about this?

This is a video that you must watch.

The fear of science is killing us.

Editor's note: Michael Specter is a staff writer at The New Yorker and the author of "Denialism: How Irrational Thinking Hinders Scientific Progress, Harms the Planet and Threatens our Lives." TED, a nonprofit organization devoted to "Ideas Worth Spreading," hosts talks on many subjects and makes them available through its Web site, http://www.ted.com/

Florida education is going though major changes.

Here is a link to a YouTube video that was made by a Pasco teacher.  My first impression of it is that there just isn't something right about this teacher and his message.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rljPMN7Y_d8

It does not seem possible ...

It does not seem possible that there would be an interest at the Federal level to make the teaching profession more insecure then it is now.  That appears to be the case.

Florida political leaders appear to have passed SB6 as an attempt to get their Federal share of the $4.35 billion Race to the Top fund.  That was not enough to get the money.  The money went to Delaware and Tennesee.  They will get another opportunity later this year.

I can not envision how undermining the teaching profession can improve education. I am already at the point where I avoid teaching and advise others to do the same thing.

I doubt if any school administrator will ever do anything that will change my mind regard the teaching profession.  But, I'm open to that possibility.

Study: Home matters more than school reform

Two University of Florida researchers say it's confirmed:  Where you live and what you do with your parents influence school performance.  "The core philosophy of school reform today is that effective schools and quality teaching can correct all learning problems ...and if they fail, it's the educators 'fault,' says Harry Naniels, the study's lead investigator.  But "the most important factor ... may be the children's life style and the early learning opportunities they receive at home."

Under Florida SB 6 (Passed Senate, pending in House)

Teachers would serve a five year probationary period and then get single-year contracts, with pay based on evaluations.  Half of their pay wuld be linked to student test results.

Bonuses now given to teachers with National Board certification would be eliminated in 2014.

All studnets must take geometry, two years of algebra, biology, chemistry or physics and an additional "rigorous" science course.

Phase out the FCAT in hight schools by 2014 and replace it with an end-of-course tests. Students who fail the tests can move to the next grade, but graduation depends on passing.

Florida's Senate is still punishing teachers.

The Senate is poised to vote on SB 6, which envisions a future where any teacher hired after July 1 has no gaurantee of a job year-to-year. That would make it easier to get rid of a teacher without having to endure a laborious discipline proceeding.  It would also make the teachers even more insecure than they are now.

SB 6 will also do away with tenure.

Playing A Musical Instrument Makes You Smarter

Many studies have been conducted on the effects of music to the brain. Scientists say that children who are exposed to music, or those who play an instrument, do better in school than those who don’t. Recent research suggests exposure to music may benefit a child’s reading age, IQ and the development of certain parts of the brain. Adults can benefit from learning to play an instrument too because it helps the mind to be alert and remain active eventually helping to sharpen the memory.