Teach42

A great resource for incorporating technology into the classroom. Great ideas for making learning more fun and exciting!
http://www.teach42.com/

Beyond School

Although this blog is geared more towards higher level education, I think that educators may find some humor in it. I sure enjoyed the poetry slams :)
http://beyond-school.org/

The Open Classroom

Bringing technology full circle in this blog, the author writes and addresses ideas that stem from questions on Twitter, different videos and other blogs available online. It is very well put together and it's diversity is very beneficial for educators of any age group.
http://theopenclassroom.blogspot.com/

Blog of Proximal Development

This clever author, has designed a blog that addresses different aspects of education that encompass what they believe to be of value in education. Very insightful, and really gives the reader reason to come back for more.
http://www.teachandlearn.ca/blog/

Schools Matter

Here is the link for another blog that addresses many of the problems present in education, today. Although I may not agree with the problems/solutions represented in all of these posts, I think that as educators it is important to be aware of what is going on in other states. It is important to see things from another perspective to gain your own understanding and opinion of an issue.
http://www.schoolsmatter.info/

Blast From the Past

Have you ever found dressing up from another decade to be a fun activity? I don't know too many children who don't enjoy dressing up, so why not incorporate it into your classroom activities. Students can gather clothes from home, or it can be a project that you plan over the summer hitting up Goodwill 50% off Saturdays.
Our class was split into five different groups and each group got to choose a decade. We gathered memorabilia from that time period, put together a poster board, and composed a powerpoint to present to whoever passed through our local lounge. Each group dressed like they were from their decade, and tried to incorporate proper body language and popular words associated with that time period as well. What a great way for us to learn about history!? History is so often made boring in the classrooms, and we wonder why kids have no desire to pay attention to it. We know that history repeats itself and the past 5 years, here in America we have been experiencing this first hand. If history is made fun and students get to learn about the exciting parts of it, as well as the factual necessity, they will leave with a better understanding of the content.

The Value of Trade

What would you be willing to trade if your family depended on you to get them food, and you were without any money? When approaching this question, I have a hard time answering it. It's hard to imagine your life with such little, when you aren't in that position. Children have such ego-centric minds in many ways, but if forced to answer this question, I'm sure they could. We often underestimate the power of our children, what they consider to be of worth, how they feel about other people and what they hold dear. If we can set the mood in our classrooms so that the kids can know what it "really" feels like to have little to nothing left, an activity like this would be perfect! Have a trade fair. The children can make items, they can bring in old stuff from home (with their parents permission) or they can try to barter with the bare necessities. Set the stage for them with accounts from different settlers that had to give up everything to move on for something. The students can make the rules, establishing what is fair trade and using strategy to get what their family "needs". After the children trade, bring the activity full circle. Ask them why trading like this would be necessary in those times, is there any reason today that people would still have to trade for food, clothes or shelter? Is anybody leaving with absolutely nothing? How would that be prevalent in today's culture?
Questions are the very framework of successful activities in the classroom. They give students a reason to think, and offer opportunity for them to see things through somebody else's eyes. So what is the value of trade? Life, life can be the value of trade.

What Defines Us?

The first activity that I would like to share is one of simplicity, yet importance. Our class was asked to bring in artifacts that defined who we are culturally. This seems like a fairly simple task, but I found it quite difficult because there are so many things I enjoy sharing with people. As we observed our artifacts, we found that although we were very similar in many ways, we were also much different.
We lined up all of our artifacts on a table, and asked ourselves, "If people found these artifacts years down the road, what would they say about them?" I'd like to ask you the same question. If people found what you consider to be the most important artifacts in your life, what you they have to say about them? Would they admire our love for culture? The fact that even though we have technology, we still love the smell of an old book? Most of all, would they have respect for what was?
Even though we are surrounded by differences in our cultures, we are all still people. America isn't about being a melting pot anymore. It's a salad bowl. Think about it...when you sit down to eat, would you want everything to taste the same? Or do you value the unique taste all the different foods have? That's what should be happening in our classrooms. We should value the differences our children have and embrace them foremost by being willing to learn about them.
JLB 1/26/12