Belmont Education Newsletter
Vol. 4 - January 2006
  Teaching: Nothing to Teach! No Way to Teach It! Together with the Obligation to Teach!
 

Here is a wonderful essay by David L. Miller, university professor, that I found both insightful and entertaining. The essay carries the lengthy title "Nothing to Teach! No Way to Teach It! Together with the Obligation to Teach!" Dilemmas in the Rhetoric of Assessment and Accountability and within it are a number of pearls about education that I have quoted below...

Quotes from "Nothing to Teach! No Way to Teach It! Together with the Obligation to Teach!" Dilemmas in the Rhetoric of Assessment and Accountability

  1. "School," Deleuze writes, "is being replaced by continuing education and exams by continuous assessment. It's the surest way of turning education into a business."
  2. "You cannot possibly understand the pedagogical perspectives of my colleagues and me if you cannot understand the phrase 'we have nothing to teach, no way to teach it, together with the obligation to teach.'" I meant, of course, that there are certain subject matters in arts and ideas whose nature is that they are not "things," no-things, and therefore the goals of education, at least in these particular instances, cannot be served up in a priori desired learning outcomes nor assessed as products or commodities by student-customers at the end of fourteen weeks.

    Read Full Article >>>
 

Classroom Science Experiments For The Space Age

By Tim Van Milligan

Are you looking for some topics to present that can add excitement to your science classroom? Rocketry and space exploration, like no other subject, have a way to captivate students that makes it easy for them to learn science. They are having so much fun, that they don't even realize they are learning basic science concepts.

To leverage the benefits of this area of study, you can use your school's computer to explore a lot of different science topics. In the January 2005 issue of the education magazine, "Tech Directions" (http://www.techdirections.com), there is an article by Spencer C. Wilson of J.R. Fugett Middle School in West Chester. In it, he describes how he uses a rocket design software, called RockSim (http://www.rocksim.com) to show students the process of engineering design.

In this article, I'd like to give you some other ideas on how to use the model rocket design software to demonstrate other basic science concepts

Full Article >>>



Make 2006 the Year you Get Published!
 


If you have always dreamed of writing, and being publish, 2006 could be the year you finally get to it! Thousands of people, many of them teachers are writing ebooks and marketing them online. If you don't think this is for you, think again.

Former teacher and Vice Principal Glenn Dietzel, now author and President of Teacher eBooks, provides everything you need for finding the author within! His website, www.teacherebooks.com, is well work visiting.

Visit Teachers Ebooks

Education and Rocket Science

 

What do we have against Rocket Scientists?

In actuality, we're big fans of rocket scientists. One of the reasons we push for effective education is to give our students the math and science (and english and history and geography as well) they need to become the next generation of rocket scientists.

We highly recommend you see (or read) October Sky, the true story of how a coal miner's son became a rocket scientist.

See, when the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics successfully launched Sputnik on October 4, 1957, it was a wake-up call here in the United States. We'd knew we had to get on the ball with regard to our educational system, which meant our schools needed to stop messing around and return to real teaching.

Progressive experts can spout wonderful theories and all sorts of child-centered pablum, but if we really want our students to learn math and science and English, we teach math and science and English.

With no apologies, by the way.

It is unfortunate that today there is no similar, singular mobilizing event such as Sputnik to help us get our act together.

But it is mildly ironic that the best way to ensure the development of future rocket scientists?or any other profession?is to stop making Education into rocket science.

People who pride themselves on their "complexity" and deride others for being "simplistic" should realize that the truth is often not very complicated. What gets complex is evading the truth.
-Thomas Sowell

(For more information on the event that started the Space Race, see NASA's Sputnik page.)


 Quoted From - ReformK12.com, dedicated to improving our schools by focusing on effective and practical education reform.
 


Becoming a Better Teacher
Teaching Fractions
 


Where to Start?  
The New Year is here and its a great time to look back on the last year and think about successes and failures, what worked and what didn't work.

This is a valuable exercise for any profession. To assist teachers, this is the first in a series of articles which explore becoming a better teacher.

For the first in the series, I thought I would do begin with a review of material available on becoming a better teacher. Bookstores and the Internet have dozens, even hundreds of books on how to become a better teacher and they all seem pretty much the same as the next one on the shelf.

Do the authors that write these books know what they are talking about? Have the ever been in a classroom? Difficult to say.

I had a good look around and recommend a book by veteran teacher Christine Morrison, who has spent 30 years in the classroom and seen every imaginable classroom situation possible. Christine's book, Teaching Secrets, is well worth a read for any new or experienced teacher, is available at her website,
http://www.teaching-secrets.com

 Subscribe to our weekly Math tips.  Every week you receive tips on teaching fractions to elementary school students. 

Includes tips such as:
  • Exploring versus Telling
  • Why are fractions difficult?
  • Ideas for teaching fractions
  • Teaching activities
How do you feel about Teaching Fractions?
 


As we all know, attitude is key to most things that we do, and teaching fractions is no exception. Before trying to teach something, it is important to sort out your own experiences first.

What do you think about math? When you were in school, do you hate math? Find it boring and useless? Does math make sense to you?

The answers to these questions may just be determining how effective a teacher you are.

Good teachers and effective teachers love the subject they are teaching, or at least aren't totally negative about it. If a teacher feels negatively toward math, children will pick up on subtle clues and they too will feel negatively towards math. Two major factors in the student's achievement
in math are the way it is taught and the way the teachers feel about math.

Full Article >>>


  Fractions Games and Activities
 
   
Harry Potter in the Classroom
   

This lesson explores the Hero Journey of Mythology and applies
it to Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone.

Includes:

  • 31 page Students Book
  • 14 page Teachers Guidebook


    • A complete lesson plan for teachers including:

  • Complete package for teachers
  • Saves time
  • Use over and over
  • Numerous student worksheets
  • Crossword puzzle
  • Self Evaluation
  • Multi disciplinary approach - Creative Writing, Art, Drama
  • Complete materials and information in one booklet.
  • Information for teachers to introduce, and guide discussion
  • Adaptable program for high or low levels
  • Adobe PDF format

    BONUS !

    Harry Potter Encyclopedia included at no charge.


    Only $14.99

    Harry Potter Characterization

    Characterization in Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone

    This innovative and interesting Lesson plan for teachers examines characterization and character and then looks at the various characters in Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone.

    Includes:

    • 33 page student book
    • 14 page teachers book


    Only $14.99

    • Rime of the Ancient Mariner Lesson Plans
     

    Veteran teacher and creator of the Ancient Mariner Unit, Peter Stocker, describes his creation, "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is very dry and difficult to understand. I wanted to make it understandable to my students." The Unit integrates all aspects of Language Arts, including exercises for representing, reading, writing, poetry, speaking, exploring structure, and viewing.

    "Literature, or any story that deals with the great themes or universal themes of human life speak to students at a very deep level, and their comprehension increases dramatically," Peter continues, "All of the themes in the Rime of the Ancient Mariner are explored very deeply."

    Approaching a subject from many different angles, such as written, orally, and representationally, as well as exploring themes in depth, incorporates Gardner's 1983 theory on Multiple Intelligence. The Intelligences Gardner recognizes include: verbal-linguistic, math-logic, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intra personal and naturalist.

    The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Unit, as well as accompanying Dore Graphics package, are available at a special price to newsletter subscribers www.literature-enrichment.com



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    Math Lessons
    Lesson Plans, manipulatives, and resources for teaching fractions and equivalent fractions.
    Literature Enrichment
    Rime of the Ancient Mariner Unit and well known fairy tales in Play format.
    Teacher Ebooks
    Ever thought of writing but don't know where to start? Glenn Dietzel will show you how to get it out in 29 days…Guaranteed!
    Characterization
    Lesson Plans on Character, including Characterization in Harry Potter, building character and more..
    Becoming a Better Teacher
    Tips and tricks, classroom secrets and more from Veteran teacher Christine Morrison.

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      The Belmont Education newsletter is published approximately once every two months.