Corrigan Explores Education
Warning: this may get ugly. This is a very touchy subject for many people. But of course that means we should entertain a discussion on it right? Okay…Just consider yourself warned..,
When people ask me about cheat days or cheat meals or rewarding yourself with a “treat”. I cringe at the thought….
Donalyn Miller is a 6th grade teacher who challenged her class to read 40 books in one school year. These 40 books were theirs to choose, not Miller, although she recommend and “ply” her students with books. Also important, these books were not tied to any book reports, book logs, and inane comprehension worksheets. By having her students fill out detailed preference surveys, she was able to introduce them to reading, but ultimately they discover a joy for reading by simply doing that.
She assessed them through more authentic means such as conferences, book commercials, book reviews, discussion, and a reader’s notebook. She sees her students as readers, whether they are developing, dormant, or underground. Miller discusses how each reader’s needs can be met and how each precious moment of time can be used to reach those needs.
What I enjoyed about The Book Whisperer is Miller’s obvious love of reading. Her students obviously loved it and were inspired by it. It was quick, but a must read for teachers.
Isaac Asimov on Creativity in Education & The Future of Science
Isaac Asimov was born on January 2, 1920 (maybe). To celebrate his birthday, here he is talking to Bill Moyers in a rare 1988 interview that details the need to reintroduce creativity to science education, and in which he foresees the future we live in today, and why science was and will be the key to our success as a culture.
“Science does not purvey absolute truth, science is a mechanism. It’s a way of trying to improve your knowledge of nature, it’s a system for testing your thoughts against the universe and seeing whether they match.”
True then, true today, true forever. Click here for the whole interview.
via jtotheizzoe
![neurolove:
Have you ever wondered why people say when you see a bear you should stand still? Just from a logical standpoint, it sounds pretty stupid to stay still when something might attack you. However, when you learn a bit more about the visual system, it might not be such bad advice.
We process visual information in two pathways: the ventral and dorsal streams. The ventral stream processes color and form- the “what” of an object. The dorsal stream processes the “where”- movement and depth (how far away) of an object. We take both of these things and their combination into the way we view the world completely for granted.
There is evidence that predators (like bears) may not have much of a ventral pathway and rely mostly on the dorsal stream… and this makes sense. They need to know where the prey is in relation to themselves, so they can get to it and eat it quickly before it can run for cover. The exact form of the prey is not so significant (you don’t need to know that a particular rabbit’s head is rounder than most rabbits to know that it could make a good next meal). Therefore, if you stand still, the bear would not be very good at picking you out from the trees and landscape. That is, until you move, and then it knows that a possible meal could be over that way and it can focus on where you are and if you might make decent prey.
[Image Source]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ltqihj5P4V1qb6etto1_1280.jpg)
Have you ever wondered why people say when you see a bear you should stand still? Just from a logical standpoint, it sounds pretty stupid to stay still when something might attack you. However, when you learn a bit more about the visual system, it might not be such bad advice.
We process visual information in two pathways: the ventral and dorsal streams. The ventral stream processes color and form- the “what” of an object. The dorsal stream processes the “where”- movement and depth (how far away) of an object. We take both of these things and their combination into the way we view the world completely for granted.
There is evidence that predators (like bears) may not have much of a ventral pathway and rely mostly on the dorsal stream… and this makes sense. They need to know where the prey is in relation to themselves, so they can get to it and eat it quickly before it can run for cover. The exact form of the prey is not so significant (you don’t need to know that a particular rabbit’s head is rounder than most rabbits to know that it could make a good next meal). Therefore, if you stand still, the bear would not be very good at picking you out from the trees and landscape. That is, until you move, and then it knows that a possible meal could be over that way and it can focus on where you are and if you might make decent prey.
[Image Source]
100 Years in 10 Minutes
That we have 100+ years of history in FILM never ceases to amaze me.
Let’s be honest, Carl Sagan is probably the best human being ever.
Corrigan Vaughan is the Community Manager for Currix, a site where Educators in K-12 and Higher Education can quickly find engaging material created by top educators, filmmakers and artists in the Currix marketplace. Currix provides educators with fully developed engaging presentations, video, audio clips, games, activities, learning management system courses and blog templates to meet specific educational learning objectives. Corrigan’s latest blog post, 5 years on Mars in 2.5 minutes, highlights a time lapse video of the Mars rover Spirit, condensing its five year mission into about two and a half minutes. Follow Corrigan on Twitter @CorAtCurrix. (via Thank a Teacher Thursday #19)
A new report concludes that contrary to popular perception most U.S. public schools require at least as much or even more instructional time for students than countries touted for their high performance on international tests, including Finland, Japan and South Korea.
The report was issued by the National School Boards Association’s Center for Public Education, which measured time based on the minimum number of hours of instruction per year countries require their public schools to provide in a formal classroom setting.
(via gjmueller)
This is amazing - Honda’s ASIMO has been upgraded and unlocked bartender mode. He can also run at 9kph and hop on one or both “legs”.
If you follow us here at Currix, you probably know that we’re enthusiasts for empowering women and girls in education. That’s why we’re always on the lookout for good news about the changing and improving roles of women in our society. As much as we love good news, though, Economy Watch’s new infographic, “Women Are Finally Taking Over,” just might be too good to be true. The accompanying article begins, “The feminism movement over the past few decades may have finally attained its goals. In business, education, and even in family and personal life, women are gaining more control and even usurping males in roles and power.” The infographic then brings up some great evidence to that point. More women are graduating from college and getting Masters degrees than men; the majority of “As” in the classroom are earned by girls, while the majority of failing grades are received by boys; women make up more of the workforce than men. These are all great strides–well, aside from the fact that we need to do something about the fact that boys are falling behind in education. The same infographic, though, acknowledges that women are still paid less than men, despite doing better in the academic realm. A real reality check, however, came to us today through a twitter post from teacher, Jason Flom:
Sure, more women own businesses and are more valued in some cultures than they once were, but what are they being valued for? We applaud Jason today for saying something, in class and on twitter. His picture ignited a conversation with his students in his 5th grade class and mine in university. Maybe its time for you to start one too? (via Do We Still Have A Lot of Work To Do? - Currix)
