Category Archives: InTASC 3

Problem-Based Learning: Unit Plan

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Students complain that school isn’t relatable.  Employers complain that we don’t generate problem solvers.  Problem Based Learning answers the complexities of both of these issues in one fell swoop, all the while being aligned to state curriculum standards.

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Alexandria received a grant of $335,000 from the state of Indiana as part of the Hardest Hit Fund Blight Elimination Program to help with the demolition of eyesore properties around town.  The question remains: was this a good deal for the city?  A slideshow outlining the entire project may be viewed at: https://www.emaze.com/@AFRWRLTW/razed-and-rising

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Kinesthetic Chemical Nomenclature Activity

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IMG_9423Traditional methods of practicing chemical nomenclature offer little interactivity among students.  I attempted to energize this topic by physically engaging the students with beachballs labeled with chemical compound names that were categorized according to naming type, including Type I & II ionic compounds, as well as binary covalent compounds.  Names of each category were written on a particular ball, which was then tossed in the classroom from student to student.  Whomever caught the ball then had to properly name the compound where their left thumb landed.  The activity continued until all 10 compounds on each ball were named.  Student feedback was favorable in that they commented on how “fun” the activity was.

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Discussion: Special Ed v. Bilingual Ed

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I lead the class discussion over two readings covering the areas of both special education and bilingual education, including Hochschild & Scovronick’s chapter on separation and inclusion from their book The American Dream and Public Schools and Olneck’s article “What Have Immigrants Wanted From American Schools? What Do They Want Now?  Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on Immigrants, Language and American Schooling.”  I offered the group a list of 35 traits of special ed and bilingual ed and asked the class to divide them according to what they felt were controversies and successes of each, without repeating topics.   The relay of this information was done electronically, with a goal to construct a real time web of concepts utilizing bubble.us to showcase a potential technology to my cohort fellows.  The map that they constructed during the discussion is below: Continue reading Discussion: Special Ed v. Bilingual Ed →