Post #5

Krissy Venosale is a very passionate science teacher. After an afternoon of extra-curricular robot building she says, "I leave a day like today thinking about all the times I hear that there is no ‘time to teach science’ in America’s classrooms today." She wants her students to WANT to learn. She quotes WB Yeats saying, “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” Light it. She also believes in hard work. She says "Rigor is deep thinking, often, and consistently. Even rigor can be fun." Krissy is a hard working passionate teacher who loves her students and loves her job.
Here are a few things Krissy says about her school: Creativity would ooze from every pore in the building. There would be colorful walls, comfy seating, nooks, and crannies where kids could collaborate, discuss, dream, and learn. State tests? Cancelled. We’d learn to read for the joy of reading, do math because problem solving is important, and learn because we love it.Seriously, there would be a big treehouse, IN the library. I love all of these ideas that make school an inviting place so that kids want to come and learn. I also like the idea that there be a special place where kids can show their appreciation for their teacher because teachers want to know they are making a difference. School is such a pivotal part of our children's lives. We need to strive from them to love it! Encourage and nourish their desire to learn new things and allow them to explore further when a subject interests them. In a dream world imagine all the things we could do! But seriously we don't live in a dream world so, we could start small. We could miniaturize all these plans to fit our classrooms and go from there.

Eric Whitacre
These two posts discuss the way this video is put together. It is amazing the way so many people can be "brought together" through the use of technology. I was just amazed.

Kevin Roberts:Teaching In The 21st Century.
Kevin makes a lot of very valid points. Kids don't really need us for information. They can get that "anywhere, anytime" their access to information is widespread. I agree we have to teach them how to validate, cross refernce and use the information they find. I also agree they must know how to apply all of this to real world applications.
Students must be "engaged." I very much concur. If students are not actively participating they will lose what they've been learning. If we don't engage them and challenge them then we are fostering the burp-back mentality that Dr. Strange speaks of so often. We must stoke the fires of excitement to learn. explore, analyze, and apply all the information they have available to them.
Flipping the Classroom
In theory I like this approach for one or two subjects when integrating it. An all at once transition may be overwhelming for students and parents alike. But I really like the idea of previewing the lesson before class so that the student can watch and rewatch the lesson. They can try sample problems and come to class with substantive questions. As long as students who need to can have time to view the lessons at school this could be an invaluable tool.