Comments for Mlspencer's Weblog

Comment on I need some blogging advice…. by Diana Jackson

Diana Jackson — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 01:55:06 +0000

You should have a page option at the bottom. Once you’re finished writing a post, scroll down and select the page you would like for it to appear on. That’s worked for me so far. Hope this helps!

Comment on Capstone Project Progress by Nate

Nate — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 12:29:55 +0000

Some quick tips.

Go to the Admin > Options page and change the “Just another WordPress blog” line to something catchier.

Learn how to make the link apply to the text and not as a separate entity on the page. The “loose links” make the page look clunky and break up the reading flow. (It’s easy. IM me if you need help with it.)

Consider inviting people outside your school and district. Like maybe members of http://classroom20.ning.com …

Comment on Final Project by Shonda Ash

Shonda Ash — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 19:12:20 +0000

This seems like a great project. I know a few teachers in my school who would be interested in doing something like this. You’ll have to let us know how your students respond to it. If it works well I’ll have to suggest to our fourth grade teachers to try a carbon footprint lesson/activity with their students.

Comment on Topic For Further Research – Investment of Time into Online Instruction by Nate

Nate — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 12:17:32 +0000

This is an interesting idea and a lot of research has been done on it already — mostly as a justification for abandoning efforts to teach online.

The critical factor that is most often overlooked is the instructor’s fluency and familiarity in using the tools. Since most people are far from expert in dealing with online tools, my suspicion is that the numbers are vastly over stated. Specifically, items like “making a web page” should be done relatively rapidly — including the development graphical content (if any). My sense is that most online teachers do not find putting text and graphics together on a web page to be a trivial matter and it should be.

Comment on What Do We Know About Theory? by Ronn Varney

Ronn Varney — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 02:56:26 +0000

I think theories should be molded by individual teachers to form their style. The theories aren’t going to be exact, but they do give us things to think about when planning instruction.

Comment on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs at Learning Theories by carla

carla — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 23:56:07 +0000

I totally agree with your ‘limb’. If children are not getting the basic needs at home, than school work will be the last thing on their mind. I am sure we don’t want to see how some of our students live. I had a student last year, and when i got to know him I found out so much of how his life affected his school work. This student was extremely brilliant but…. he actually had to walk 1 1/2 miles to meet the bus; rain, snow, everything. I could count on, bad weather he was absent. He was an avid drug user and he and I discussed it. His parents got him using. To say the least, school work was the least of his worries.

Comment on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs at Learning Theories by Elizabeth Freeman

Elizabeth Freeman — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 15:21:48 +0000

I think that students that stay in the lower level of the hierarachy often have struggles that influence their education. We have kids that did not get dinner the night before, had to hide from their drunk dad, wonder if mom and dad will be home, think about when will dad get out of jail, and wonder why no one loves them. When we have students with these things on their minds, it is no wonder we cannot always get them to focus in class and why they never bring back homework. Yet all students are suppose to reach proficiency. I think that before all of the “big shots” develop these testing policies, they need to go back and read about some theories to get a true understanding of students.

Comment on IgnitePhilly — Five Minutes To Communicate – Practical Theory by amy03

amy03 — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 02:19:28 +0000

I thought this slide show and video had some strong comments. I find that the slides were well organized and inspiring. The big thing that Chris commented was that we need to stop blaming teachers and tests and start blaming the schools. The system needs to change and give students projects and room to play. I reall hope others watch the video.

Comment on BBC NEWS | UK | Education | Selling beds is now degree course by amy03

amy03 — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 02:02:47 +0000

I really see this working for non traditional students. I went to college right after high school and did not go back my second semester. I had no idea what I wanted to do as a career. I went into the workforce and found later that I wanted to teach. Pairing with industry makes classes more appealing to current employees and those that do not want to go throuhg uneeded courses. I am glad you read the article and I loved getting your insight on the article. Do you feel that this could catch on more in the US and work on increaseing degrees in the workforce?

Comment on Expanding the Teacher’s Toolkit by Ronn Varney

Ronn Varney — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 05:03:25 +0000

Would you want TappedIn being used during school or at home? Can everyone access this at home?