LEGOS!

In class we had the wonderful opportunity to play with one of my most missed aspects of childhood-Legos! Legos are always fun to play with but we were also able to use them in a productive way. We used the Legos to pretend we were teaching different concepts or ideas to imaginary children at different stages in development. We applied Piaget's concepts to this experience. I enjoyed this experience, not only because we were able to play with legos but because it forced us to think creatively in order to teach or explain a concept. Unfortunately for me, being a high school bio teacher, I will not be able to simply "play" with legos as often as would a kindergarten tecaher. However, there still may be ways in which I could use legos or other more hands-on and atypical methods of teaching or learning both in and outside of the classroom.

Lions for Lambs

We just watched Lions for Lambs starring Tom Cruise and Robert Redford. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and the fact that Robert Redford's character was an effective professor made this movie quite pertinent to our class. I feel that Robert Redford did a great job at connecting with his students especially the unmotivated but gifted student that he met with in his office. I think that Redford succeeded in being a "salesman" which he stated was the real job of the teacher. By the end of the movie it seems obvious that he made a sale to this underachieving student. This student finally seems to realize that he is talented and his skills could accomplish big things. The idea that he will finally engage himself in what he has learned and start to apply it to current world issues is portrayed when he is so interested in the news about the war in the movie's last scene.

FRESH BLOG

I am officially a blogger. Kinda cool. I am excited to start blogging on my own and reading other blogs both for educational and entertainment purposes.