Blog Post #9

What can we learn about teaching and learning from these teachers?

1.) Brian Crosby, Agnes Risley Elementary School, Sparks, Nevada
http://learningismessy.com/blog/?p=854

In Brian Crosby's video lecture he shared what his 4th grade class was doing to learn science. Through his lecture, we have found that there is a lot to learn. He said how he was able to turn a class of high-risk, non-English speakers into a high-achieving class. This alone is amazing! He continues to say how this class was able to complete a massive project based on sending a balloon up with a camera and radio in order to observe the different layers of the atmosphere. This project was achieved by using technology and working with students at a local university. Not only did the students have to set up and complete this project, but they also had to then write about it. Each student made a story based on his or her observations after viewing the video. The stories were about the experience of going up into the air as the balloon.

The most important lesson here to learn is that any student, no matter where he or she comes from or what his or her background is, can achieve anything. The lesson for any teacher or future teacher is that it is our responsibility to provide the opportunity and help to these children. Teaching is a very difficult job, but in order to properly teach one must be willing to work with students as much as needed and not to give up just because students may not know much at first. In this video Brian Crosby starts off telling the audience that most of his students did not know what city, state, country, or street they lived in, nor what their own phone numbers were. This can be very discouraging to any teacher. But he did not let this lack of knowledge stop him or his students! He was able to help them learn and head towards a brighter future. This is the ways teaching should be, motivating all students to succeed and learn. This also shows that learning is not as many people view it. Learning can be achieved by anyone as long as he or she is willing to work.

The last part of the video shows Crosby's determination to teach and help every student learn. He was informed that he would have a new student join his class, the only problem was that she couldn't come to school because she suffered from Leukemia and her immune system was gone. Instead of just dismissing her, Crosby thought of a plan. She could come to class via Skype. The end shows one of the Skyped classes were she was able to learn alongside her classmates. This is truly remarkable and should be an example for every teacher to learn by. No matter the obstacle a student may face, the teacher should never give up or dismiss a student.


 2.) Mr. Paul Anderson: High School AP Biology Elementary School Teacher also known as "Bozeman science". He has a website bozemanscience.com that explains what he has been doing for the past 20 years as a science teacher. He has created over 100 science videos that students can view via the web. His videos are made in a way that will grab each students attention and have been viewed over a million times. On most of his videos he has created a small box that shows him actually lecturing while the video is still in motion. He explains each module and diagram, while talking inside the box.

His videos include:
AP Biology, AP chemistry, Anatomy and Physiology, Biology, Chemistry, Earth Science, Educational, Next generations science standards, Physics, Statistics and Graphing.

This is a great resource that he is contributing to the world of education. Each student, teacher, or professor can watch these videos and have a tutor in one click. By allowing his videos to be on the web he has made having to pay a tutor and spending time to meet up with your tutor, extinct. His work doesn't stop there, each video can be translated to Spanish, Mongolian, or Japanese.

While looking around his page we found a "How to Use Video game Tactics in the Classroom". Click here to watch Mr. Anderson's video. This video will explain how to engage your students while teaching in your classroom. While the students are having fun they are also learning, this is the main goal of this teaching method.


Making Thinking Visible

3.) Mark Church is a 6th grader teacher at an International School in Amsterdam. Church asks his students to group together to discuss a video presented to them about the origins of society. Each group will better understand the material by discussing a puzzle and collaboratively they will come up with a headline that summarizes what it is all about. He says previously he has asked his students to think about how they their ideas and thinking has been extended. Now he asks them to think about the challenge the puzzle presents. Church gives each group a piece of paper to create a headline that captures what the challenge of the search of human origins is all about. The students continue to trade ideas and work together on their headlines through the remainder of the video. Church talks about each headline with the class and says in two weeks he will go back and talk about how things have changed. I think from Church we learn that working collaboratively is important in building social skills. It is also important to ensure that students are engaged and understand the material that is being taught to them.