Final C4T by Me

Post #1

How Engaged are Students and Teachers in American Schools?

This blog post discusses a Gallup Poll that measures student's engagement in school. This interests me because engaged students learn and retain more than non-engaged students. I want to make sure my students are engaged! So, I found this interesting. What was very tragic was that 70% of teachers believe their students are not engaged in learning!! SEVENTY PERCENT!!!! What the heck?! This makes me very sad. It also reiterates why our professors continually tell us that we need to actively engage our students in learning. It is imperative that our students are interested in what we are teaching them. 

"Surveys and polls aren’t perfect, of course. But overall, the message of this research is a powerful indicator that we need to do a better job at looking at the full range of factors that affect school performance. Gallup is promoting its student poll to districts as another means of making decisions about what really counts in school." 

I hope that you will take a look at this blog post. It was interesting and very thought provoking!

Post #2 

Are Existing Tech Tools Effective for Teachers and Students?

Teachers seem to be looking for tech tools that align with Common Core Standards. There seem to be many tools out there - but students and teachers alike are saying that the tools are ineffective. It seems that many of the ineffective tools are the Math and English tools. The blog states that the Social Studies tools seem to be the most effective. 

I also found this to be helpful. 

Post #3

This last post is amazing... I am so glad that it is the last post that I read. I think it sums up what we want for our students. Although this may not be feasible in Mobile County classrooms - I think some of the ideas are well worth the time it would take to implement. I can not do justice to this blog post. So I encourage you to go and read it!

No Courses, No Classrooms, No Grades — Just Learning

This blog focuses on NuVu Studios which is a PBL program that pairs students with real world problems. NuVu is the brainchild of Saeed Arida, a former PhD student from MIT who believes that young people should be taught to solve real-world problems, like using new materials to design higher-quality prosthetics. 

Here’s How NuVu describes the program:

NuVu is a full-time magnet innovation center for middle and high school students. NuVu’s pedagogy is based on the architectural Studio model and geared around multi-disciplinary, collaborative projects. We basically teach students how to navigate the messiness of the creative process, from inception to completion.

No Courses: Instead, we have studios. Around 12 kids work closely with their 2 coaches on solving big (and small) open-ended problems.

No Subjects: Instead, everything is fused together. Students find themselves moving between a studio that requires them to design a telepresence robot to another that requires them to re-imagine Boston with a cable car system.

No Classrooms: Instead, we have an open space that changes all the time to adapt to the needs of every studio.

No One-Hour Schedule: Instead, students spend two weeks from 9-3 solving one problem.

No Grades: Instead, we have portfolios that document students’ design decisions and show their final products.

I definitely enjoyed this blog! I hope you will too!