Unfinished creature designed to live on Mars

 

One aspect of “messy” learning that not everyone gets are the disconnects … the misconceptions and fuzzy thinking that were really not the target of your plan that come up or become apparent as students work. Today as part of getting ready to take a trip to Mars, students were asked to demonstrate their learning about the conditions and composition of Mars by designing a creature that could survive there based on what is available to eat and drink and breathe and the weather conditions … you get the point.

When I explained the project the other day I pointed out several posters we have up around the room that display photos of Mars. One photo is very high quality and it really shows the color of the Martian surface. There are several others available for reference, along with searches for photos students did on their laptops. I stressed that when it came time to color their drawings they needed to pay attention to coloring the ground and sky accurately. The creatures were mostly being designed well, students have to be able to explain the design of every part of their creature … how does that mouth, nose, appendage, whatever help the creature survive on Mars?

As students were getting to the coloring-in stage I noted over and over how students were NOT choosing accurate colors. I would stop the class, show them a drawing and ask them if the sky or ground color was accurate. They would note it was not, I would then demonstrate again, how to try colors and mix colors on scrap paper that you could hold up to a photo to check for tone and shade and then color in your background as close to the real colors as possible. Students would nod their heads in understanding … AND I would get the usual questions from unsure students not willing to make a judgement on their own … but instead of giving them my opinion I would send them over to check for themselves. Many made poor decisions. 

Is this a good color match? The student thought so.

It finally became apparent that this approach was not working, so we stopped everyone and took 10 minutes to really talk about what they weren’t understanding. “Well we’ve learned that the surface of Mars is red and I used a red pencil so shouldn’t that be right?” questioned a student … several students nodded their agreement. So I took their drawings over to the photo and asked them if the colors seemed the same (see photo). They would get puzzled expressions and say no, and you could tell they just couldn’t get why that didn’t work. Red is red after all.

I quickly grabbed a few drawings that were a better match and asked the struggling students (more than half the class) what was different. They noted mixed colors, different shadings and so on. I quickly made sure no one threw out their drawings … I showed them how to cut them out of the “flawed” background, paste it on a new paper and continue. As they worked, these puzzled students became excited students, and I was continually approached by artists showing me how much better a match their colors were and that lead to them being re-excited about their drawing because they could see it was a more accurate depiction. Now if you think this was terrible on my part … “art should be done for art sake and who are you to decide the correct colors” … I would often agree. However, this was art for science sake, the problem solving and thinking was the point.

 

Learning is messy!

I haven’t given up … but, the funding I was counting on to go to NECC this year went with the newest budget cuts. Soooo, my search is back on … stay tuned!

Tags: NECC2008

I was asked early last fall to write an article for eSchool News about our “Inclusion” experience last year. I submitted one and finally today it was published. They gave it a new title:

“Video conferencing, web 2.0 apps help distance learners feel included”

Free services let homebound students enjoy classroom routines

If you follow this blog you probably know the story and there probably isn’t much new here, but I get encouragement from many fronts to continue to spread the word as an example of the power of web based FREE tools among other things … and I would have to agree with that notion. I’ll be teaching a class to teachers about Web 2.0 tools beginning next week and it will be interesting to see how many of them will know much about any of them. Getting the word out is still, unfortunately, one of the things we need to be doing.

Learning is messy

So today this blog turned 2 years old … somehow it seems older, but March 5, 2006, was the first post. To mark that occasion I am re-posting that first post. Learning is messy!

Why Field Trips, Technology and Project Based Learning?
Originally posted March 5, 2006

Why Field Trips and technology and project based learning? They build schema and experience many of our students don’t have.

School mission statements have revolved around developing students that know how to learn or teach themselves for many years.

“Students will develop the skills required to become lifelong learners,” has become almost a mantra in education. Then we go about this by doing what we have been doing forever – just more focused, organized and, “research based.” NCLB added “the stick” because obviously what was missing was strict accountability.

Language and math “literacy” have become the focus because the thinking is that underachieving students will never make it without the “3R’s.” OK, fair enough – and some of those programs have made a difference – especially in primary grade reading and math test scores. However, as soon as students get to 3rd or 4th grade those scores drop and continue to drop more each grade level thereafter.

Why? Partly because the programs being mandated are so time consuming that there is no time for anything else (field trips, real science, real social studies, art, technology, PE, etc.) where students might experience at least some of the vocabulary and background knowledge required to make sense of what they read – and make it interesting. When students hit upper elementary, reading and math questions stress more and more analytical skills and vocabulary and students often just don’t have the schema in those areas to be successful. Reading then is too often meaningless and boring.
Technology has become a new tool of literacy – like it or not. Just like long ago:

At a teacher’s conference in 1703, it was reported that
students could no longer prepare bark to calculate problems. They depended instead on expensive slates. What would students do when the slate was dropped and broken?

According to the Rural American Teacher in 1928,
students depended too much on store bought ink. They did not
know how to make their own. What would happen when they
ran out? They wouldn’t be able to write until their next trip to
the settlement.

We are not doing our students justice by not giving them experience with the new tools of literacy because we don’t feel they know the old ones well enough. Technology is a gateway to learning that without the knowledge of its use students will be at a disadvantage compared to those that do.
Don’t believe that yet? We will continue to convince you.

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Tags: blogs

I’ve noted lately there seem to be more and more studies and reports like this one. Check out this quote:

Here’s a link to the article in eSchoolnews:

U.S. educators seek lessons from Scandinavia
High-scoring nations on an international exam say success stems from autonomy, project-based learning
By Meris Stansbury, Assistant Editor, eSchool News

What they didn’t find is just as interesting:

Makes you want to find out more huh?!

Learning is messy!

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Heard from a 3rd grader on the playground yesterday before the lunar eclipse – “My Mom says we’re busy tonight so we’re going to look at the eclipse tomorrow night. The weather is supposed to be better anyhow.”

Comment left on one of my student’s blog – she only speaks and writes in Spanish: “I would like to read your writing so I sent it to my friend who knows french. She is still trying to get back to me so I will know soon!”
I mean this is SO COOL on the one hand … but I can’t stop laughing on the other. : )

Learning is messy!!!

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<>blockedblog.JPG <>Originally uploaded by BCrosby

UPDATE: IT has informed me this evening that this was a “filter issue” and that it has been repaired and they do not plan on blocking blogs. YEAH!!!!

This was the message we got today when we tried to log-in to our class blog.

“Website denied based on WCSD Internet acceptable use policy”