Comments on: North Star Constructivism http://www.thenorthstarcommunity.org/home/2007/07/30/north-star-constructivism/ A community of practice inspired by Peter H Reynolds' Book "The North Star" Tue, 06 Jan 2009 02:34:27 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Marli http://www.thenorthstarcommunity.org/home/2007/07/30/north-star-constructivism/#comment-187 Marli Thu, 02 Aug 2007 14:42:42 +0000 http://www.thenorthstarcommunity.org/home/2007/07/30/north-star-constructivism/#comment-187 I just found another great sample of hands-on lessons. Alfred University is apparently creating a whole collection of science lessons for high school classrooms, which relate to the Adirondack Mountains! It's a limited area of the country, but for classrooms around the mountain range (where I grew up, so I have a particular connection to this idea) it's a fantastic opportunity to take the abstract and put it into applicable, authentic scenarios. (I found the article here: http://www.alfred.edu/pressreleases/viewrelease.cfm?&ID=4095) My science classes were categorized by memorization which didn't take, and teachers telling me I'd "go far" in science if I could just get my head around those basic concepts. According to them, bio and physics and environmental science were all applicable to things I enjoyed and could relate to, if I only tried. Somehow, reading the boring, old, books of formulas didn't grab me quite the way this idea does! I just found another great sample of hands-on lessons. Alfred University is apparently creating a whole collection of science lessons for high school classrooms, which relate to the Adirondack Mountains! It’s a limited area of the country, but for classrooms around the mountain range (where I grew up, so I have a particular connection to this idea) it’s a fantastic opportunity to take the abstract and put it into applicable, authentic scenarios.

(I found the article here: http://www.alfred.edu/pressreleases/viewrelease.cfm?&ID=4095)

My science classes were categorized by memorization which didn’t take, and teachers telling me I’d “go far” in science if I could just get my head around those basic concepts. According to them, bio and physics and environmental science were all applicable to things I enjoyed and could relate to, if I only tried. Somehow, reading the boring, old, books of formulas didn’t grab me quite the way this idea does!

]]> By: Marli http://www.thenorthstarcommunity.org/home/2007/07/30/north-star-constructivism/#comment-186 Marli Wed, 01 Aug 2007 21:03:40 +0000 http://www.thenorthstarcommunity.org/home/2007/07/30/north-star-constructivism/#comment-186 It was a fantastic conference - lots of new things to learn, ways of using rubrics to assess, and using new sorts of organization strategies or group work to reach more students. All very North Star. I'll never forget being in a history class where I was allowed to sing a period piece - I had to explain everything I did, from why we chose that piece to why we sang certain sections the way we did, to what we were wearing in terms of the culture and facts of the time. I know WW2 history a lot better than any other time period, thanks to that project! It was a fantastic conference - lots of new things to learn, ways of using rubrics to assess, and using new sorts of organization strategies or group work to reach more students. All very North Star.

I’ll never forget being in a history class where I was allowed to sing a period piece - I had to explain everything I did, from why we chose that piece to why we sang certain sections the way we did, to what we were wearing in terms of the culture and facts of the time. I know WW2 history a lot better than any other time period, thanks to that project!

]]> By: JohnL http://www.thenorthstarcommunity.org/home/2007/07/30/north-star-constructivism/#comment-184 JohnL Tue, 31 Jul 2007 20:12:11 +0000 http://www.thenorthstarcommunity.org/home/2007/07/30/north-star-constructivism/#comment-184 Sounds like a great conference! That 8-year-old could teach me a thing or two. I’ve often heard that when students are put in the role of teacher, they actually learn more, and feel more invested in the process. Peter Reynolds often tells how his math teacher once enlisted him to help teach math using animation. This is a very “North Star” technique. Does anyone else have stories about students being more actively involved in the learning process? Sounds like a great conference! That 8-year-old could teach me a thing or two. I’ve often heard that when students are put in the role of teacher, they actually learn more, and feel more invested in the process. Peter Reynolds often tells how his math teacher once enlisted him to help teach math using animation. This is a very “North Star” technique. Does anyone else have stories about students being more actively involved in the learning process?

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