Spiral Notebook Blogs
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The Classroom Booster Club: Recruiting Academic Supporters
by Jim Moulton
8/19/08I'm heading home from Columbus, Ohio, on a fine, clear summer morning. I am in a window seat on the plane, as always, and on takeoff we fly right past downtown, en route to Cincinnati. On this flight path I get a wonderful view down into the Ohio State football stadium, where the word Buckeyes is emblazoned across the end zone, bold white text on a crimson background.
Improving the Training: Educators Evaluate the Program That Teaches Them STEM Skills
by Katie Klinger
8/15/08As a professional-development incentive, teachers who participate in the eighty hours of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) institutes aligned to the Hawaii Content and Performance Standards will receive a letter of completion. To receive the letter, teachers will have to submit for review an e-portfolio with their STEM projects.
Global Connections: Storytelling Builds Bridges Between Cultures
by Suzie Boss
8/13/08I first met Greg Tuke a decade ago when he was running a program called Powerful Schools. The nonprofit organization was working to strengthen schools serving some of the lowest-income and most culturally diverse neighborhoods in Seattle.
"Have You Seen This Web Site?": The Value of Exchanging Tips About Online Resources
by Jim Moulton
8/11/08I love working with teachers. Part of it is the importance of the work they do and the sense of satisfaction, both professional and personal, I feel when I am able to make them more powerful and effective. But another reason is that teachers are people who feel compelled to share their best ideas. And because of this trait, it is not unusual for a teacher, generally during a break, to come up to me and say, "Have you seen this Web site, Jim?" And then they give me a URL, and very often the site they pass along is great.
Make Like a Goat: The Art of Distracting Unruly Students
by Ben Johnson
8/5/08I have 17 acres in south Texas, and half of the acreage is wooded. Particularly in the northern part of my property, there is an obnoxious vine in the lily family, called greenbrier, that grows everywhere.
Telling Our Stories: Students Recount Personal Tales
by Stephen Hurley
8/4/08The theme for this first year of our arts@newman program could best be expressed with the statement "We live storied lives." Throughout the year, we have been exploring how the arts can help us both understand our stories more deeply and express those stories to others.
Learning to Teach STEM: Teachers Bring Back New Knowledge to Their School
by Katie Klinger
8/1/08This is the second part of a three-part entry. Read part one.
In Hawaii, there will be eighty hours of training at science, technology, engineering, and math institutes during the school year. At these institutes, university professors will guide teachers in how to scale STEM projects to the appropriate grade level. The institutes will employ middle school math and science benchmarks and standards from the Hawaii Content and Performance Standards as the basis for what to cover.
Authentic Assessment: New Ways to Measure Student Performance
by Anthony Cody
7/30/08From an Edutopia reader comes this question: "With so many of today's schools focused on state achievement tests, many teachers are 'teaching to the test.' However, this does not adequately prepare students for life outside of school. Does anyone have any suggestions for the alternate assessment that this article was describing? I am looking for some way to increase student learning while maintaining state standards at the same time."
Play to Learn: The Scratch Programming Language Sneaks Serious Fun into the Classroom
by James Daly
7/28/08Everybody loves Toy Story, the animated buddy pic that Pixar released in 1995. But Mitchel Resnick thinks the filmmakers got something very wrong in the movie.
Seeding STEM: One School Designs a Grant to Break the Cycle of Poverty
by Katie Klinger
7/25/08Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, recently discussed a report from Public Agenda titled "Important, But Not for Me: Parents and Students in Kansas and Missouri Talk About Math, Science, and Technology Education." The report found that even though parents and students say that they understand the importance of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education, they don't see how it applies to them personally.
