Well, today’s the last day of exams. I have to show up tomorrow to clean up and organize my room, but at 2:30 this afternoon my teaching duties will be over until September. That’s a very good thing.
Jon, a graduate that I taught this year, stopped in for a chat yesterday and made me think about how much I (the teacher) have learned. I was telling him that even after formally studying Psychology in college for two years, 90% of what I now know about that subject was learned this year! That’s no exaggeration.
There’s a lesson in the above statement, I think. If you consider all the years that people spend in college, and divide that by the amount of time actually spent studying the content they so earnestly devoted themselves to learning, how much knowledge does one really end up with in the end? With the exception of the exceptional, not much, right?
Now, multiply that knowledge by the motivation to deliver that studied content to a group of seventeen-year-old students. Suddenly, you end up with a remarkable ability to recall information!
The more I teach, the more I realize that if I want my students to learn, I have to engage them in sharing what they know with others. Otherwise, what’s the point of remembering?
Happy summer.
Exams start tomorrow, and it is blistering hot in my classroom. I conducted my U.S. History class in the grass outside of school today. With the exception of a few minor distractions (soon-to-be-graduated seniors playing ultimate frisbee nearby), I think the class went much more smoothly than it would have had we stayed in the heat inside.
Six Days ’til summer!
3 x 30inch Apple Cinema Displays: $5,397
Being a member of the board at Apple, Inc.: priceless
This photo was taken by Steve Pyke for Time Magazine Wednesday, May 16, 2007.
As someone put it last night at Niles High School’s Honors Ceremony, “it was an honor to honor such great students.”
Niles does this pretty neat thing for their honors students (students graduating with 3.0 or above, top 10, National Honors Society, etc.) where each student being honored invites one teacher who has helped him/her throughout the years. This can be a teacher from high school, middle school, or even elementary. I can’t imagine any greater thanks than inviting your first grade teacher to receive your honors cords with you before you graduate!
Commencements are this Thursday, and I must admit that I’ll miss this class of students. I don’t know if its because some of them have been through my AP class and we bonded as a result of common suffering :), or if its because I’ve known these students as long as I’ve been a teacher, or if it’s just that they are that great!, but school won’t quite feel the same without them.
Good luck class of 2007.
This year, for the first time ever, the CollegeBoard is requiring that all courses using “Advanced Placement”® (AP®) in their name be subject to an audit of curriculum. What this means is that three weeks ago, I sent the CollegeBoard a copy of my syllabus. Then, someone at their organization apparently read it. And, I can now legally use their registered trademark on my course offering.
Dear Patrick Malley,
The College Board is pleased to announce that your Psychology course is authorized to use the “AP®” designation for the 2007-08 academic year. The College Board applauds and recognizes your efforts to provide your students with the academic rigor and college-level experience that is the promise of AP. I thank you for the time and effort you put into participating in the AP Course Audit.
Being a new teacher of an Advanced Placement class, I prepared my syllabus last summer with this audit in mind; I knew what they’d be looking for. I can’t imagine what it would feel like to be a veteran teacher who, after 20 years of teaching an AP course, was asked to submit a syllabus for the right to use the AP name. Did you say “sweatin’ bullets?”
Anyway, yay for me.
An excerpt from Al Gore’s new book “The Assault of Reason” has been published on Time.com. This guy really amazes me lately and makes me wish that his candor and sincerity would have come out back in 2000. This excerpt is a must read for anyone concerned with the current direction that our republic (and its people) is heading.
I’ll stay out of the political fray of Gore’s arguments and stick to what I know best - technology and education.
In the world of television, the massive flows of information are largely in only one direction, which makes it virtually impossible for individuals to take part in what passes for a national conversation. Individuals receive, but they cannot send. They hear, but they do not speak. The “well-informed citizenry” is in danger of becoming the “well-amused audience.”
I have to point out that, when asked, very few of my students report watching much television. Most of them use thier TV for video games, and these students tell me that they spend more time on their computer than they do plopped in front of the old tube.
So, when I write about things that appear to be sensational happenings on Digg.com, or the democratic nature of web 2.0, I do so from the point of view that a shift appears to be occurring in the habits (and perhaps minds) of the American youth.
What’s worse: sitting in front of a television, passively taking in American Idol, or sitting in front of a computer, actively taking in and commenting on others’ thoughts and opinions? I know that any media in excess is unacceptable, but, at the end of the day, which one makes a more informed electorate?
I found a site that may interest teachers like me who are interested in integrating technology into the classroom. It is Utah State University’s “National Library of Virtual Manipulatives.” Basically, it’s a site filled with java-based applications that help students manipulate data. It has tools that could be used in K-12 classrooms for math, science, statistics, economics, and even civics.
This student scores zero on a 100-question true/false test. Be sure to read what the professor had to say at the bottom.
His professor sent him an e-mail the following day:
Dear Michael,
Every year I attempt to boost my students’ final grades by giving them this relatively simple exam consisting of 100 True/False questions from only 3 chapters of material. For the past 20 years that I have taught Intro Communications 101 at this institution I have never once seen someone score below a 65 on this exam. Consequently, your score of a zero is the first in history and ultimately brought the entire class average down a whole 8 points.
There were two possible answer choices: A (True) and B (False). You chose C for all 100 questions in an obvious attempt to get lucky with a least a quarter of the answers. It’s as if you didn’t look at a single question. Unfortunately, this brings your final grade in this class to failing. See you next year!
May God have mercy on your soul.
Sincerely,
Professor William Turner
P.S. If all else fails, go with B from now on.
B is the new C
Source: CollegeHumor.com
This is total nonsense. Watch Pat Sayjack’s face when this girl loses $10,000.
I found this in the Moodle Lounge today. Well worth a listen for anyone with interests in online learning and teaching in the 21st century.
http://www.edtechlive.com/audio/OReilly.mp3
Until educators actually use these tools of web 2.0, they have a hard time understanding exactly what’s taking place, and once they do … they become so engaged and excited, they’re able to look at education with fresh eyes and start asking “Why isn’t education more engaging?”
Tim O’Reilly is the founder of O’Reilly Media and supporter of free software and open source.
Or, check out EdTechLive, in general … a lot of resources there.
