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Tuesday, May 21, 2013
All this talk about giving students as many chances as it takes, yet it does not.......
work in the real world. I am sorry. Argue with me. Tell me I am wrong.
BUT, the way schools operate you cannot continue to give them chance after chance after chance. Yes, I know the real world gives us many chances. I agree. 100%
But we can only have so many chances. At what point is enough, enough?
I don't know that there is a magical number to the number of chances a person should get, but I think you lay out the final deadline ahead of time. Make it very clear this is it. Within that that window of time students and work and resubmit as often as they like. However, you don't budge on that deadline. You cannot make a statement and then not live up to it.
Overhearing a conversation between two students yesterday with no idea that I was listening because they are not in my class, but we were in the library.
This students said, "Yeah, I know right? He just lets us do the work as many times as we want. He does not care about us. He doesn't care."
Interesting perspective. I don't think this is true, but an interesting observation by a quality student.
What are your thoughts on give students as many chances as it takes?
BUT, the way schools operate you cannot continue to give them chance after chance after chance. Yes, I know the real world gives us many chances. I agree. 100%
But we can only have so many chances. At what point is enough, enough?
I don't know that there is a magical number to the number of chances a person should get, but I think you lay out the final deadline ahead of time. Make it very clear this is it. Within that that window of time students and work and resubmit as often as they like. However, you don't budge on that deadline. You cannot make a statement and then not live up to it.
Overhearing a conversation between two students yesterday with no idea that I was listening because they are not in my class, but we were in the library.
This students said, "Yeah, I know right? He just lets us do the work as many times as we want. He does not care about us. He doesn't care."
Interesting perspective. I don't think this is true, but an interesting observation by a quality student.
What are your thoughts on give students as many chances as it takes?
Monday, May 20, 2013
Quail Camera: Day 6
We have three quail remaining. Two looking good and little one has a leg that is not working real well. We will have to keep an eye on him.
Oreo is doing awesome. Need a name for the other one. I will mark them soon so you can identify them.
If you missed the post from the weekend about all of our quail adventures you might want to check it out.
Oreo is doing awesome. Need a name for the other one. I will mark them soon so you can identify them.
If you missed the post from the weekend about all of our quail adventures you might want to check it out.
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Quail Project: Updates 3 Alive and 2 Dead
Way back in the fall we started up a quail project where my 4th and 5th grade ELP students incubated and hatched quail eggs. This project has continued and we now have four mating pairs. From these pairs we have plenty of eggs and one of our 7th grade homerooms has taken on the challenge of hatching the eggs of our original quail.
This entire quail project has been quite interesting to follow. We are all in this together learning and figuring things out. We have quail all over in various cages at student homes, teacher homes, and school.
Recently we attempted to release some quail in a courtyard at one of our schools. It was an experiment because we were not sure if they would fly away or remain. We are happy to report that after a few weeks the quail have found the courtyard to be a place called home. We have lost only one baby quail so far, but still have a mating pair laying eggs daily and two younger quail.
This whole piece is interesting. The courtyard was created to remember a student who died. Nicole was a student at Hoover Elementary School. Nicole Wooldridge, 9, died in May 2001 after battling neuroblastoma cancer for most of her life.
A cool thing emerged from the courtyard and that was a pair of ducks who mated and raised ducklings in the courtyard each year. This year was the first time that the ducks did not return. We find it only ironic that we had a successful year of hatching quail and found it fitting to continue the tradition of nature and the life cycle.
While we are working through this whole experiment I had a 7th grade homeroom class take on the challenge of hatching quail. They would come in the morning, lunch, and after school to check the temperature and rotate the eggs. This past Wednesday, May 15th, was the 23rd day of incubation. We were not sure if any eggs would hatch because often times the first eggs quail lay are not the strongest and it takes time to develop good quality eggs.
We were thrilled to have three quail hatch. We then added a fourth on that Thursday and Friday we had to help one guy hatch giving us a total of five.
Three are doing quite well. One of the original quail that hatched died Friday. He had a serious neck problem. Saturday morning my son and I found the quail that needed help hatching had died also. This is part of nature and somethings that we can talk about and learn from as a class.
So, with one week left of school what are we going to do with the quail? My son wants to help raise them so with only three quail we will be building a cage to help take care of them at my house over the summer. This should be one interesting story to unfold.
During the week we do livestream the quail via Google Hangout and YouTube so be sure to tune in. We run it live starting around 8 - 8:30 am Central time.
The quail are now 5 days old and it is amazing how much stronger and bigger they have become in such a short amount of time.
Here are several videos and images from our quail adventures in the past few weeks. I will be adding to this set every couple of days.
And last a short video documenting the hatching of our quail named Oreo
This entire quail project has been quite interesting to follow. We are all in this together learning and figuring things out. We have quail all over in various cages at student homes, teacher homes, and school.
Recently we attempted to release some quail in a courtyard at one of our schools. It was an experiment because we were not sure if they would fly away or remain. We are happy to report that after a few weeks the quail have found the courtyard to be a place called home. We have lost only one baby quail so far, but still have a mating pair laying eggs daily and two younger quail.This whole piece is interesting. The courtyard was created to remember a student who died. Nicole was a student at Hoover Elementary School. Nicole Wooldridge, 9, died in May 2001 after battling neuroblastoma cancer for most of her life.
A cool thing emerged from the courtyard and that was a pair of ducks who mated and raised ducklings in the courtyard each year. This year was the first time that the ducks did not return. We find it only ironic that we had a successful year of hatching quail and found it fitting to continue the tradition of nature and the life cycle.
While we are working through this whole experiment I had a 7th grade homeroom class take on the challenge of hatching quail. They would come in the morning, lunch, and after school to check the temperature and rotate the eggs. This past Wednesday, May 15th, was the 23rd day of incubation. We were not sure if any eggs would hatch because often times the first eggs quail lay are not the strongest and it takes time to develop good quality eggs.
We were thrilled to have three quail hatch. We then added a fourth on that Thursday and Friday we had to help one guy hatch giving us a total of five.
Three are doing quite well. One of the original quail that hatched died Friday. He had a serious neck problem. Saturday morning my son and I found the quail that needed help hatching had died also. This is part of nature and somethings that we can talk about and learn from as a class.
So, with one week left of school what are we going to do with the quail? My son wants to help raise them so with only three quail we will be building a cage to help take care of them at my house over the summer. This should be one interesting story to unfold.
During the week we do livestream the quail via Google Hangout and YouTube so be sure to tune in. We run it live starting around 8 - 8:30 am Central time.
The quail are now 5 days old and it is amazing how much stronger and bigger they have become in such a short amount of time.
Here are several videos and images from our quail adventures in the past few weeks. I will be adding to this set every couple of days.
And last a short video documenting the hatching of our quail named Oreo
Bettendorf Students Build a Gaga Pit: This trumps foursquare
Bettendorf Middle School students took on the task of building a Gaga Pit
You never played?
Well you are missing out and this trumps foursquare and kickball any day of the week.
Here is a link to the rules of the game and a game in action.
http://youtu.be/QwSD26F2iMs
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Coffeechug Sources 05/17/2013
-
Gifted Ed chat - Sunday 9pm (4pmEST)-Topic="Gifted
#gtie Gifted Ed chat - Sunday 9pm (4pmEST)-Topic="Giftedness versus Talentness" #gtchat #gifted #spedchat #gtvoice #edchat #education
Do your kids get enough boredom? A thought provoking question and article
I read another article that made me stop and pause. The article discusses whether our children are having enough time being "bored".
Do your kids get enough boredom? http://t.co/6NgkhM4
I cannot help but think being bored is actually a good thing. I think to my son Aiden who complains about being "bored" within 10 seconds of not playing with a friend, playing a videogame, or watching tv. It bothers me that he has already begun to lose the creativity and imagination that he once used all the time to entertain himself. Or perhaps maybe it looks different now and I have not come to terms with this yet. He must be constantly entertained. He was one that could sit and create something out of nothing, but now that he has grown up to the ripe old age of 8 he is losing that critical skill.
The more I read about the future and how the world is flattening I cannot help but think that I need to put him and his sisters in situations where they are forced to be creative and problem solve. At night when Aiden and Addy go to bed we can hear them two hang out in Aiden's bedroom and just play and create these very cool(and humorous) games and pretend worlds. I don't want to be some extreme parent, but I want my kids to be able to entertain themselves. I don't worry about Addy because she still lives in Addy World and she can just do her own thing whenever.
I don't know what the answer is. Do we eliminate stimuli? I know I am guilty of the notion of always being entertained. I am trying hard to keep my phone away from me at times so I don't constantly check this app and that app. What I have found is when I move my phone away for certain parts of the day I am slowly getting my concentration back to read and explore other things.
Would I accomplish more without my phone? I think so, but I have gained so much from my Twitter conversations and networking with people. There is a time and place.
It is all about balance. Aiden no longer has that balance. I just don't know what to do with it. I just let him be bored and tell him it is good for him until he figures something out. So far, he just pouts until it is time for the next thing in our crazy schedule.
Thoughts?
Do your kids get enough boredom? http://t.co/6NgkhM4
I cannot help but think being bored is actually a good thing. I think to my son Aiden who complains about being "bored" within 10 seconds of not playing with a friend, playing a videogame, or watching tv. It bothers me that he has already begun to lose the creativity and imagination that he once used all the time to entertain himself. Or perhaps maybe it looks different now and I have not come to terms with this yet. He must be constantly entertained. He was one that could sit and create something out of nothing, but now that he has grown up to the ripe old age of 8 he is losing that critical skill.
The more I read about the future and how the world is flattening I cannot help but think that I need to put him and his sisters in situations where they are forced to be creative and problem solve. At night when Aiden and Addy go to bed we can hear them two hang out in Aiden's bedroom and just play and create these very cool(and humorous) games and pretend worlds. I don't want to be some extreme parent, but I want my kids to be able to entertain themselves. I don't worry about Addy because she still lives in Addy World and she can just do her own thing whenever.
I don't know what the answer is. Do we eliminate stimuli? I know I am guilty of the notion of always being entertained. I am trying hard to keep my phone away from me at times so I don't constantly check this app and that app. What I have found is when I move my phone away for certain parts of the day I am slowly getting my concentration back to read and explore other things.
Would I accomplish more without my phone? I think so, but I have gained so much from my Twitter conversations and networking with people. There is a time and place.
It is all about balance. Aiden no longer has that balance. I just don't know what to do with it. I just let him be bored and tell him it is good for him until he figures something out. So far, he just pouts until it is time for the next thing in our crazy schedule.
Thoughts?
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
#coffeechugPLN Twitter Chat Archive: Positive Reinforcement
What an AWESOME chat last night!
I could not believe how rapid fire the ideas and tweets were coming in last night. It was so much fun hearing from everyone. I am going to have to go back and read through it all as I was not able to keep up with all the conversations.
Last night we talked about Positive Reinforcement and how we should/should not use it when working to help students and others accomplish great things. What is interesting is how we all have the same goal in mind, but there are so many ways to achieve this way.
You can read all the chat here - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AmNBNr2UwLyIdFRhM3M1d0swX1QyUWtPRjBTaW0zM2c&usp=sharing
What was cool was that I checked the trending topics and our chat was #1
How cool to be trending number 1. You guys rock on the #coffeechugPLN network. Not bad for being a month old. twitter.com/coffeechugbook…
— Aaron Maurer (@coffeechugbooks) May 15, 2013
I did not get a chance to share out all my ideas and thoughts during the chat so I created an Evernote page link to share with you some further thoughts - https://www.evernote.com/shard/s31/sh/9281951a-f95d-42f3-b63b-222d332d5384/90ea5bd04af27bcffa9ed6014fdf4483
Take a look back at the archive and my Evernote page. If you have further questions or ideas please share on #coffeechugPLN on Twitter. I am working up the material for the next chat and if something good comes from all of this we can continue to the conversation.
Thanks everyone!
I look forward to adding some new faces to my PLN and connecting again in the future.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
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