Solar Power 2007 Conference

I was fortunate enough to attend the Solar Power 2007 industry conference in Long Beach, CA through a grant I received from the renewable energy department at WE Energies. I was at the conference from September 23rd-September 27th.

Pictures, videos, notes and reflections may be viewed at the following website:
http://solarpowerwegrant.blogspot.com/

Summer Service Project

This past July, several members of the USM community* were involved in a FIRST EVER summer service -learning project at Gray's Academy in Milwaukee. In three short mornings, a beautiful flower bed surrounding the flag pole was prepared and planted, a second floor class room was painted, and a baseball field was measured and the baseline "carved out" via a sod cutter. All participants agreed that it was time well spent "doing good".

*
Geralyn and Conor Cannon
Harriette and Kathy Hauske
Anne and Matthew Schumaker
Jim Walzac (Landscape Architect) and his helper Brian
Chuck Kendall (Friend of USM)
Cheryl Bair
Dolores Kendall

LMAIS Technology Group-Spring Meeting

Our spring meeting for the LMAIS Tech Group that I'm part of took place at Lake Forest Country Day School on Thursday, April 19th. Our meetings provide a nice opportunity for everyone to get together to exchange ideas and talk about what everyone has been up to in the area of educational technology. I won't bore anyone with the details...instead I'll leave a link below for a summary of the meeting:

Spring Meeting Summary Link

As a side note, LFCDS recently completed a major addition and remodel project. As we prepare for phase II of our remodel, I would recommend that they be used as a resource. They did incorporate many green concepts and techniques (eg-bamboo flooring) during their process, even though it wasn't a LEED certified building.

Alfie Kohn and Michael Thompson

Pam and I recently attended a two day workshop with two dynamic presenters: Alfie Kohn and Michael Thompson. Alfie spoke about homework and also about learning and rigor. Michael Thompson spoke about the social lives of children and also about the changing roles of independent school parents. Here's a quick summary of my ( Gregg's) notes on Alfie's presentation: (I will share some of Michael Thompson's insights at a future faculty meeting)

Alfie Kohn - Homework

• No study has found any meaningful benefit in homework before HS. Does homework help with the love of learning?
  

Why is homework given if it does not have value?

1. We don’t ask meaningful questions about homework or anything. That’s the way it is!
2. We don’t trust children on how to use free time.
3. Attitude about use to research
4. Better get used to it – it will happen soon in US
5. Tougher standards – parents should not complain if no homework
6. Homework persists because we do not understand how learning happens

Do not give homework unless you can make a good case for it. Homework is OK if:

1. The assignment is likely to get kids to think more deeply and understand the material
2. If kids get more excited about the topic. Will kids like math more because of this?
3. If you did not design the homework, don’t assign it!
4. Ask kids their view – what did you think about the homework?
5. Try a week or unit with no homework. How did it affect kids?
   

Learning and Rigor

What one is doing vs. how well one is doing. - is the key question!

“An over emphasis on assessment can actually undermine the pursuit of excellence.” ( Carol Midgley, Martin Maen)

Effects of getting kids too focused on how well they are doing:

1. Less interested in learning itself
2. Preoccupied with their ability ( There are four reasons kids do well: effort, ability, luck, task difficulty)
3. Prefer easy tasks and quick completion
4. Devastated by failure
5. Quality of learning suffers
Research says giving grades will cause 1, 3 and 5

Other interesting notes from Alfie:
Good way to communicate to parents: Narrative reports
Great way to provide info: Conference with parents

Kids should collect information and share info with parents at conferences

Not the amount of motivation that’s important, it’s the type:

Intrinsic ( I like doing it) Extrinsic ( I am doing it for a reward e.g. grade)

-Extrinsic motivation erodes intrinsic motivation
-The more you reward students the more intrinsic motivation goes down
-Rewards lead to less generosity among peers

Reaching the Needs of 21st Century Learners

I just completed a fabulous Stritch class on nature and nurture of leadership and read a fascinating article about "digital natives and digital immigrants." One student's inquiry today asking, "did the Internet didn't always exist?" made me really reflect on this article. I thought I'd share it with you.

The premise is that the current group of students are digital natives... always having lived with the Internet and digital media as part of their lives. We, the adults, are digital immigrants (learning to use new technology as it is developed). Prensky touches on the idea of "twitch speed" processing for students to acquire information. Whether you're a big advocate of educational technology or more of a skeptic, there are some interesting discussion points in this article regarding how cognitive processing figures into all this.

~Will

http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf

Schwieters Returns From Space Camp- Out of this World

I attended Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama from December 28th to December 31st of 2006. While at Space Camp, I attended the US Space Camp museum which chronicles the history of the US space program and the formation of NASA. The museum also contained life-size collections of all the rockets used by NASA as well as the current space shuttle.
The weekend program was outstanding with participants using the actually equipment used to train astronauts. The equipment included the 1/6 gravity chair, manned maneuvering unit, g-force accelerator and space shuttle simulator.

The weekend at Space Camp was excellent. The staff, facilities and program was better than I hoped and the weekend was one of the best professional experiences I have had. I plan to return in the next couple of years to attend another program.

Professional Growth Opportunity: The Middle School Institute at Gordon

This looks like a great opportunity. It's a working retreat for teachers who value feedback from their peers, believe that the multicultural classroom works best for all students and know that teaching is most effective when it is connected with the world beyond the classroom. You will have opportunities to present your curriculuar works-in-progress for critique by supportive peers. You will also develop ways that middle school students can become positive forces for community change. Finally, you will return to your classroom in the fall with practical ideas for sharpening your practice. The workshop takes place June 18-20, 2007 at The Gordon School in East Providence, Rhode Island. For more information see Gregg or visit the website www.gordonschool.org