=============================================================
THE EDUCATION COMPANION NEWSLETTER
July - August
1999 Issue
#4
=============================================================
The
companion newsletter to Mrs. Young's Super Charged
Educational Voyage
Janet Young, Newsletter Developer, Editor and
Co-Author
Subscribe: http://educationcompanion.listbot.com/
Archives:
http://www.fortunecity.com/millenium/garston/49/archives.html
=============================================================
==== IN THIS "EDUCATION COMPANION"
NEWSLETTER ==========
+ Welcome Message / Announcements
~
Janet R. Young
+ Team Member Updates
+ Mrs. Young's "New Pages
On..."
+ The Education Companion
Survey
~ Last month's poll results
~ The June
poll: Summer Homework
+ CONTENT AREAS --- Current trends,
opinions, tips, etc.
~ Bonnie Bracey's
Information Superhighway ~
TECHNOLOGY AND THE NEW PROFESSIONAL
TEACHER?
~ Dr. Robert Kizlik's Teacher Education 101
~
TEACHER SHORTAGE: IS IT REAL OR FANTASY?
~ Life is One Big Classroom with Joan Berger
~
IT WILL "WORM" ITS WAY INTO YOUR HEART
~ Technically Speaking with Kathleen A.
Catapano ~
LAPTOPS IN FOURTH GRADE...CARPE DIEM!
~ Including the Physically Challenged With
Sheila Estes ~
LITTLE THINGS MAKE A DIFFERENCE
~ Steve McCarty's East-West Perspectives from
Japan ~
MORE CULTURE CROSSED
+ Call for Ideas
==== WELCOME MESSAGE / ANNOUNCEMENTS
==============
Welcome to the July - August issue of The
Education Companion. Enjoy!
It is with great pleasure that I announce the creation of our
own
discussion list/web board-
http://www.egroups.com/group/the-education-companion/info.html
!
I hope it will provide everyone with a ready resource to
gather
information and share ideas, struggles and
successes.
a.. Looking for a lesson plan of something very
specific? Ask for it
here.
b.. If you are doing a
paper and need to gather data, you can use the
"Poll" feature to
gather a larger sampling for your research.
c.. Share your
tips for starting the year off smoothly!
d.. Find pen pals
for your class by finding a partner teacher from
the
list.
e.. Want a fresh approach to teaching
something? Send your request to
the whole list!
f.. Do you know of a special grant or contest another
member may be
interested in? You can share it with the
list.
I suggest that you set your "modify your subscription" to
"daily full-text
digest." This way on a busy day, you will
not be swamped with tons of
email, and you can just skim to the postings that
are of interest to you.
Then you can simply delete the message and keep your
mailbox clear.
This is new to me as well as you, so we are learning the components
of the
eGroupssite together. A great feature is the Calendar and
Conference
component. You can set up an online conference.
We can gather members
(using Greenwich Mean Time) to our own chat
session to discuss any issue
that comes up. You can use this feature to
brainstorm with colleagues
from around the world. The possibilities are
endless!
Although, we have a combined summer issue, I have not been
idle.
Besides setting up and moderating the discussion list, I have added
a
search engine on the web site. This will facilitate your
finding
information quickly.
IN THIS ISSUE:
Our articles in this issue have soomething for just about
everyone. A
tender spot is poked with this month's
survey. Which ever side you are
on, you are sure to have a set
opinion!
We start off with Sheila Estes sharing the wonders of little
accessability
options most any school can make. Dr. Robert Kizlik gets
explicit in his
observations on teacher needs to develop a "tough
bark." Get ready to
wiggle your way into science this time
with a wonderfully detailed, yet
creepy, lesson plan by Joan Berger.
Steve McCarty takes us deeper into
the shadows of cross cultural life, and
Kathleen A. Catapano sets the
stage for implementing laptops in the
classroom. Bonnie Bracey gives her low down on what educators need to be on top of in this era of
technology
in education.
The above articles will give you plenty of food for thought as
you prepare
to step back into the classroom in September!
~Janet R. Young (AKA: Mrs. Young)
>>>Feel free to forward this to friends and colleagues, if
copied in its
ENTIRETY.<<<
==== TEAM MEMBER UPDATES
============================
~ Janet Young has been busy setting up our web board and site
search
(mentioned in this months "Welcome Message."
~ Tammy Bailis is taking a short hiatus this summer to complete a
major
portion of her upcoming book (Title to be announced
soon...) She still
sends me wonderful suggestions for additions
to the web site. We look
forward to hearing from you in September
Tammy!
~ Chris Hastings is on the road, looking for producers for his play
and a
P.C donor. Anyone out there interested? Good luck
Chris!
~ Michelle Young has been writing up a storm on a few hot
projects,
to be mentioned in future issues.
==== WEB SITE REACTIONS
==========================
~ Web Site Productivity Survey ~
Take a few minutes to share
your needs regarding this web site.
AOL USERS PLEASE NOTE!!! Just send
a plain old fashioned email to
mailto:mrsy@jrydevelopment.com .
Your forms DO NOT get sent to me.
When you fill out the form, all AOL
send is a blank email.
So just start with the plain email and give me
a few sentences telling me
how to better meet your needs.
Offer article topic ideas to our
Education Companion authors. Be
heard!
http://www.fortunecity.com/millenium/garston/49/survey.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"THE EDUCATION COMPANION SURVEY!!!"
THE RESULTS OF THE LAST
POLL
THE QUESTION WAS:
Should children be
given homework assignments to be completed
while they are on
vacation?
POLL RESULTS:
The votes were 10:2 in favor of NOT giving homework over the
summer!
Here are come comments by
readers:
------------------------
J. Olson from Memphis wrote:
No- Students should neither be asked to or expected to complete
homework
assignments during the summer months. I do, however, have no
objection to
summer reading lists. My school treats these as optional. Those
who return
to school and write an acceptable book report on one or more of
the
assigned readings are eligible for extra credit points. Other than
reading
lists, assigning summer homework would be a waste of time and a
hassle for
students, parents, and teachers. Most of the work would not be
completed.
In addition, students would resent parents who forced them to
complete
summer assignments. Summer is a time for everyone to take a break,
to
visit historical sites on vacation, learn a new skill, take up a new
sport
or activity, read books for pleasure, or simply take more time with
one's
family.
------------------------
K. Vogel from Hood River, Oregon
said:
In reality, it depends on the type of homework given. I would
like to
think that students would choose to read good books during the summer
as
part of their leisure activities. Too many times, the assigned books
are
not read for enjoyment but simply because they are
assigned.
------------------------
Janet Guthrie, parent of 2 from San Angelo, TX
feels:
I feel that too much emphasis is put on homework. Children
have no time
to simply BE KIDS. Summer school should be only for kids
who have had
trouble during the school year, and need this extra
help.
_____________
C. Stevenson strongly says:
NO, NO, and NO. They do need to have something to do other
than staying
home alone, unsupervised. They do need directed, positive
activities that
cover whatever their interests are. This is an
excellent time to pursue
the arts, music, drama or sports that due to time or
money are not
available to them during the regular school year. And do not
overlook the
13-16 year olds. The majority of camps or special events
are geared for
the elementary ages or younger and the middle school to high
school age
kids are totally left out. NOT GOOD.
- - -
[ED. NOTE] None of the pollsters who voted
"yes" provided comments to
post. If you have an opinion you
would like posted, indicate it at the
top your "Poll Vote"
message. Make sure that you state 'how' you want
your comments
signed.
>>>END<<<
----------------------------
THE "July-
August" POLL!
----------------------------
What do you think?
Do you feel that the press is fair in reporting
education issues?
There are two camps.
1: Yes, the press is fair. The
public should be informed of any and all
items no matter how seemingly
unimportant. We must hold every person in
education today accountable
for everything they do no matter how
insignificant it may seem. If a
letter goes out that has an error in it,
we all have a right to know about it
and hold the source to public
scrutiny. If the Vice President can be
held up to public ridicule for a
spelling error, so should all other errors
by others (even if just obvious
typos) be made public. If a letter goes
out with a mistake in it, a
terrible message is given to studentsand parents
. It tells them that the
faculty member of their school responsible for
this, is careless or even
worse, unqualified to be in their current
position. All the little mistakes add up. No excuses. Heads must roll!
2: No, the press is unfair. The
press should demonstrate some common
sense and not waste paper, air or cyber
space reporting events such as a
few typos (as in the recent coverage of a
reading list with typos that
went out to incoming high school
students.) All they (the press) want to
do is sell papers
regardless of the seriousness of the event being
reported. A slow news
day is fodder for any kind of news. An article
sent to press with a
typo in it is merely a human error, an obvious typo.
A simple mention in the
next letter/issue is sufficient. A letter sent
out by a school
with spellings like "word" instead of "world", should be
given the importance it deserves. It should simply be
regarded a typo
that any student admitted to a "gifted" school (as this
was) should not
be confused by. Wouldn't it be advisable to point out that
every one
makes mistakes. Teachers are not perfect. We are all
learners. Let the
press concentrate on misappropriation of funds. Let them
report about
full time teachers who hardly ever teach students. Report on
out dated
textbooks that teach Ronald Reagan is the President of the
USA. This is
becoming a witch hunt. Let's get real! Surely there
must be some really
hot dirt to dig up. A few typos made into prime time sound
bites?
Humm... A slow news day?
How do you feel about
this?
Do you believe that the press should report all
errors made anywhere in
education?
Share your opinion now!
I will post relevant list member ideas on the next issue.
I do prefer to share opposing views. However, in order to
do
this, folks need to share their comments in addition to
just voting on the
current poll.
If you want your comments posted here follow
this procedure:
-->Be sure to include a short
signature tag to follow your comments.
This can include your name, location,
organization/company and other
information you feel would make you
accessible to others who may
want to exchange ideas with you
personally. Do not put any information
you want private (like an
email address or unlisted phone number!) I will
not post any comments
that are abusive, contain expletives or are not of a
"G"
quality. We all know what that means... I will also email you
back
to confirm that you want your comment posted.
To vote YES- I agree, the press was right to
report this kind of story, go
here:
E-mail: mrsy@jrydevelopment.com?subject=Aug_YES
To vote NO- I disagree, the press was not right
to report this kind of
story, click here:
E-mail: mrsy@jrydevelopment.com?subject=Aug_NO
The survey results will be posted in the next issue of The
Education
Companion!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
==== THE CONTENT AREAS
==================================
~ Bonnie Bracey's Information Superhighway
~
TECHNOLOGY AND THE NEW PROFESSIONAL
TEACHER?
Teaching is one of the most demanding careers one can choose. Yet
it can
also beone of the most rewarding. Choosing to teach is choosing
to make a
difference in the lives of children--to help them learn to read,
solve a
math problem, or discover how plants grow.
Teaching is about conveying a love of learning and discovery, and
giving
children the tools they can use throughout their lives to make their
own
discoveries. Today's teachers must be ready to play a variety of roles
in
the classroom: educator, motivator, guide, counselor, coach,
and
disciplinarian.
Teachers must also be prepared for the demands on their time
outside
the classroom: grading papers, planning lessons, dealing with
a myriad of
administrative tasks.
Teachers must be prepared to work as part of a team, combining
their
efforts with colleagues, supervisors, and parents to create the
best
possible learning environment for their students. In addition,
teachers
must continually educate themselves--learning about new advances
in
education, new technologies, and new ways to inspire students to
reach
their full potential.
There are several new ways in which teachers can gain help with
the
practical applications that create wonderful learning landscapes in
a
school. Here are some of them.
MULTIMEDIA SCHOOLS MAGAZINE
The bridge to understanding for the
use of technology is created when
people who are all working on the same
topic can find a place to go,
resources that unite, join, question, and give
some unity of thought,
ideational scaffolding, ways of thinking together for
those of us who are
pioneering the use of technology in today's
schools.
The editor has bravely altered the course of the magazine to
creat a
professional development vehicle, building bridges between
classroom
teachers and library/media specialists and technology
coordinators, and
administrators, on the common ground of information
literacy and authentic
learning. The editor is Ferdi Serim, the
magazine is MultiMedia Schools ,
a practical how-to magazine that addresses
multiple technologies used in
K-12 schools today—CD-ROM, multimedia,
online, and Internet resources.
Articles, columns, news, and product reviews
are contributed by practicing
educators who use new technologies in the
classroom and media center. You
have to have copies of this magazine
even if you just access it online.
There are other new ideas in teaching and learning as
well.
TEACHING MATTERS
Teaching Matters says it well."Technology
use is complicated. No one can
know it all? It is time to
collaborate. And who are our colleagues in
this part of the
educational process - faculty, administrators and
support
people. The responsibilities of faculty, administrators and
support
staff couldn't be more different. But the goal - the education of
students -
is shared.
Understanding of these roles is critical to the successful use
of
technology.
Faculty want access to the technology they need and it must be
reliable.
They need adequate and available support people, both technical
and
instructional, for the inevitable problems and complications that
using
technology brings; and time to figure out how to incorporate it
into
existing courses and blend it with teaching styles.
Administrators have an eye on the university's mission and
goals. They
have the onerous task of justifying increasing technology
expenditures at
a time of limited resources.
Technical and instructional support people need to be up on the
needs of
both groups. They will become the mediators, explainers, and
doers.
And a triumvirate is born. This calls for lots of
communication and trust
in various forms: mentoring, training, assistance,
one-on-one is always
best, though not always possible. Communication
and enterprise are the
foundations for successful
collaboration.
Linda Darling Hammond says, "Teachers need to know about
curriculum
resources and technologies to connect their students with sources
of
information and knowledge that allow them to explore ideas, acquire
and
synthesize information, and frame and solve problems. And teachers
need
to know about collaboration--how to structure interactions among
students;
how to collaborate with other teachers; and how to work with
parents to
shape supportive experiences at school and home.
There is no longer a question about whether the new technology will
be
used in schools. Nearly everyone agrees that students must have
access to
computers, video, and other technology in the classroom. Many
believe
these technologies are necessary because competency in their use is
an
important feature of career preparation; others see equally
important
outcomes for civic participation. Most importantly, a growing
research
base confirms technology's potential for enhancing student
achievement.
NCATE says "What is less certain is how and when these
technologies will
change the nature of schooling itself. For example,
the technologies are
already providing an alternative curriculum for students
that is scarcely
acknowledged by the formal school curriculum.
Nevertheless, they have
been mainly employed as additions to the existing
curriculum. Teachers
are employed who know how to use them, but
knowledge of and skill in the
use of technology has not been necessary for
all teachers. These
attitudes are surely short-sighted if technology
infusion is to take root."
The introduction of computers and other technologies into schools
is
occurring at the same time that three decades of research in the
cognitive
sciences, which has deepened our understanding of how people learn,
is
prompting a reappraisal of teaching practices. We know from this
research
that knowledge is not passively received, but actively constructed
by
learners from a base of prior knowledge, attitudes, and
values.
Dependence on a single source of information, typically a textbook,
must
give way to using a variety of information sources. As new
technologies
become more readily available and less expensive, they will
likely serve
as a catalyst for ensuring that new approaches to teaching gain
a firm
foothold in schools.
Despite the technology changes in society, being a teacher in
American
schools too often consists of helping children and youth
acquire
information from textbooks and acting as an additional source
of
expertise. Teachers are provided role models of this approach to
teaching
from kindergarten through graduate school; their teacher
education
courses provide hints for making textbook-oriented instruction
interesting
and productive, and as teaching interns, they both observe and
practice
instruction based upon mastering information found in
books.
Links of Interest:
Multimedia Schools Magazines
http://www.infotoday.com/MMSchools/
TeachingMatters Resource Page
http://aux.lincoln.edu/departments/imc/TeachingMatters.htm
Ten Steps to Effective Technology Staff Development by Barbara
Bray
http://www.glef.org/edutopia/newsletters/6.2/bray.html
NCATE'S TECHNOLOGY TASK FORCE REPORT
http://www.ncate.org/projects/tech/TECH.HTM
What Teachers Need to Know
http://www.glef.org/edutopia/newsletters/6.2/darling.html
~ Bonnie Bracey, Arlington, Virginia USA
Independent Consultant
http://www.bracey-pearl.org/
US
Educationalist & Presidential Advisor on Education & Technology.
The
President's National Information Infrastructure Advisory Board,
URL: http://www.iitf.doc.gov/members/members.html
read:
Minutes of the Committee on Applications and Technology .
URL: http://www-12.nist.gov/cat/cat-min/941027.html
Member
of Vice President Gore's Globe Institute
A member of the Challenger Center
Faculty:
A Christa McAuliffe Educator for the National Foundation of
Education.
URL: http://www.technos.net/journal/volume1/sb3grewa.htm
Author
of The Challenge of Introducing Technology.
=======================================
~ Including the Physically Handicapped with
Sheila Estes ~
LITTLE THINGS MAKE A BIG
DIFFERENCE
The best part of summer is the week Nate goes to MDA camp. He
always looks
forward to it and has attended for the past 13 years. He is
given an
attendant of his own and stays in a building for the campers
requiring the
most assistance. He has made several friends there and came
home with the
Camp Spirit trophy for the second time.
With all the extra equipment we have accumulated this past year,
I
threatened to rent a trailer to haul behind the van just for his
luggage.
The camp is well staffed so my husband and myself can have a week
of
worry-free vacation. ….Wonderful.
Nate will be a Senior in high school this year. He chose to
take
Government class during the summer months to lighten his work load
this
fall. His classes will begin soon and last for a month. The school
is
providing an assistant to help him with note taking and any extra
writing
he may need. Although he has a laptop computer which he uses
for a great
deal of his assignments, his physical limitations make it a slow
process.
Due to joint contractures the wrist angle can be an issue when
using a
regular keyboard. The school was able to get him an ergonomic
keyboard
which angles the keys more conveniently for his use. The keyboard
is
unplugged and moved to each necessary room for use on the
school’s
computers. It is a fairly inexpensive item and can be used by
other
students when not needed for one with special needs. These
small
adaptations have been a large help in making the school environment a
lot
more pleasant for Nate.
Sheila Estes, Greentown, Indiana USA
Writer and Guest
Inspirational Speaker.
Mother, caregiver and personal slave to son with
Muscular Dystrophy
Creator and author of Mr. Leviticus, the Library
Kitten.
E-mail: sher51es@netusa1.net
=======================================
~Dr.
Robert Kizlik's Teacher Education 101 ~TOUGH BARK
I'll never forget the day. It was during a final examination I
was
giving to a class of elementary education majors a few years ago.
The
exam consisted of several parts, one of which was a short essay on
some
topic. In the directions I said to be explicit when describing the
topic.
A short while into the exam a student came up to my desk and asked,
"What
does this word mean?" I asked what word she meant, and she
pointed to it
on the exam. The word was explicit. I explained what the word
meant, and
filed this incident away. I could not believe that a college
senior did
not know the meaning of explicit. I checked her records and
discovered she
had an SAT of 1040, which indicates a modest level of
proficiency, enough
at least, all other things being equal, to predict
success in a teacher
education program. Oh yes, and success as a teacher.
Maybe.
John Russell, the name of the character played by Paul Newman in
the
1967 movie "Hombre," was told, in the latter part of the film
by a man
he had just shot in order to protect a group of innocent, yet
cowardly
people, "Mister, you've got some tough bark on you."
Indeed he did,
because he was both physically tough and tough minded. He was
also
realistic, honest, fair, and understood that sometimes doing the
right
thing involves risk.. There is a lesson in all of this for
education
students.
Without a doubt, young men and women entering the teaching
profession
today need to have some "tough bark" on
them. If they don't, the small
wounds inflicted by dealing with
the everyday problems of teaching,
disciplining, planning, counseling,
dealing with administrators,
colleagues, parents, and so on, mount up. If
they're easily wounded by
disappointment, rudeness, and even unfairness, they
won't last because
these things happen.
Knowing the meaning of the word "explicit" may not be
important in order
to be a teacher, but I'll wager that those that don't know
this word don't
understand what "tough bark" is all
about.
~ Dr. Robert Kizlik, Boca Raton, Florida, USA
Associate
Professor, Florida Atlantic University
Social studies, curriculum,
educational technology, thinking skills
Member, Phi Delta Kappa, ASCD.
Editorial Board, International Journal of
Instructional Media
Publications
include articles on dropout prevention, thinking skills,
writing objectives,
teacher education and the popular culture, curriculum
innovation, and using
standardized test scores to predict academic success.
My web site is ADPRIMA:
Serious educational tools and information.
URL: http://www.adprima.com
E mail: bobk@adprima.com
======================================
~ Life is One Big Classroom with Joan Berger
~
IT WILL "WORM" ITS WAY INTO YOUR
HEART
No one, I repeat, NO ONE, is more repulsed by bugs and creepy
crawlies
than I am...and yet the lowly mealworm is given the distinct honor
of
crawling all over my hands and wending its way into three weeks
of
experiments and investigation as the first science unit of the new
term.
So read on, don’t let the word “worm” turn you away,
and find out how you,
too, can come to appreciate this tiny creature as a
vehicle for you to
teach “learning and behavior” and the
“scientific method” to start off
your school year in September.
What’s so wonderful about this study is
that it can be applied
to
any grade level, it is investigative, hands-on, and invites the student
to
design his/her own experiment to discover the behavior and
characteristics
of the mealworm. It is an introduction to the scientific
method and lays
the groundwork for the term’s work in all science
experimentation.
For this unit you will need:
1. mealworms (larvae of beetles) which you can purchase by the
cupful at a
local pet shop for about $1.75/per 100
2. a plastic shoebox to
keep them in- make air holes in the lid
3. a box of corn flakes will provide
all the nutrients the mealworm needs
4. each student will need a plastic
container to keep their personal
mealworms in (the kind that margarine comes
in)
5. a small piece of raw potato (for added moisture)
Place three mealworms and some cornflakes in each student’s
container.
Have them punch a few air holes in the lid with the point of a
scissors.
There are dozens of activities you may choose from, in any order
you wish
to present them:
A. Observe the mealworms with a hand lens and draw
it
During observation, answer the following:
Can you find a way to tell
your mealworms apart?
Does a mealworm walk more to the right or to the
left?
How far can it walk in a minute?
Can it walk up on a slant?
Can
it walk backwards?
How does it move?
Does it have legs?
If so, do they
all move at once?
Is there a pattern to their movement?
Stress the need to
observe an activity many, many times before you can
draw a conclusion and
determine what is a fact. This is part of the
scientific
method.
B. Do some math lessons- for lower grades, e.g. if each
student receives
3 mealworms, how many will have been distributed? What
fractional part of
the mealworms have you gotten? The box of cornflakes
contains ____oz. If
we divide it equally among you, what fractional part will
you get? If the
mealworm eats about 1/6 of a flake per day, how long will it
take it to
eat the entire flake? etc., etc. Convert the
numbers on any chart you
make to percentages.
C. Have each student create a simple experiment to find out
any of the
following:
Do mealworms prefer a certain color?
Do they
respond to light and dark?
Do they react to hot and cold?
Do they have a
sense of smell?
How do they eat?
Do they drink water?
Do they react to
sound?
Can they find food?
Can they be taught anything?
Can you
determine the sex?
**These rules must be kept in mind for good experimentation with
animals
and living things:
1. In order to know if the animal is doing
something different, one must
first know its usual behavior.
2. An animal
must be given a choice if it is to show a preference for one
thing over
something else.
3. What is done to an animal must be described in as much
detail as
necessary.
4. The description of what the animal does in the
experiment must be as
complete as possible.
5. The same experiment usually
should be done many, many times.
6. The conditions should be controlled so
that the results are reliable.
D. Here are some topics and words to research:
Vocabulary: mealworm, react, observe, antennae, segment,
metamorphosis,
secretion, shed, inactive, pupae, vestigial
Topics:
What are the stages of the mealworm development?
What
are the eggs like? How long does it take them to hatch?
Why do mealworms shed
their skin? How often do they do that?
How long is the larval stage and how
do they behave during it?
How long is the pupa stage and what is happening
during it?
What are the characteristics of the beetle?
What is
metamorphosis and what creatures go through the process?
Are there any
patterns in the mealworm’s life cycle that can be determined
from the
changes to different stages?
Find the mass of the potato each week and
explain the changes.
Devise a way to accurately determine the length of each
stage in the
mealworm’s life cycle.
Have students brainstorm more areas they wish to learn
about.
E. Some charts and tables that you can develop:
*Number of
creatures in each stage as weeks progress (chart, bar or
line
graph)
*Record of reactions to stimuli
*Classify and count sample
in class container according to life stages
The areas of study are endless for this versatile little mealworm.
You can
try :
http://www.aculink.net/~catholic/mealworms.htm
http://www.icomm.ca/~dragon/mealworm.htm
http://www.cobleskill.edu/nabs/mealworm.htm
And just to show you its real versatility, one link I found
began:
“Mealworms are easy to prepare and are tasty additions to any
recipe. They
have an oily, nutty flavor.” Now how’s that for
integration of curriculum
areas!! Home Ec., move over!
Have fun!
Joan Berger
Internet Educational Consultant
jberger5@concentric.net jberger@li.net
http://www.concentric.net/~jberger5
http://www.li.net/~jberger
======================================
~ Steve McCarty's East-West Perspectives from
Japan ~
MORE CULTURE CROSSED
Computers may dispense beverages, but people still have to
think
for themselves..A true story in the U.S., the leading light of
technology,
reports that a computer company received a complaint that the
drink holder
was broken -- the CD-ROM disk drive! My wife Chisato heard that
here in
Japan the Windows 95 OS was such a fad that not a few men bought it
-- who
didn't even have computers! There is a Japanese phrase about people
who
"look right and left" and just do what others do to keep up
with the
Tanakas. They are a caricature of the conformism in Japan, but the
phrase
also reflects an awareness that conformism can go too far and that
people
should be able to think for themselves. Just before my
father-in-law
retired, he opened up to a superior who then said, somewhat
critically, "I
never knew that you were an independent thinker." He
had held independent
views but had hidden them at work for 45
years.
My favorite technology is a bat and glove. Japanese people
love
baseball so much that during the War some Japanese soldiers
would
sneak up on an enemy camp, then if the Americans were
playing
baseball, they would watch the game from the woods and then
just
leave instead of attacking. When I was learning Japanese
conversation,
baseball provided a half-way house with many
semi-Englishterms.
Chasing foul flies in vain I would hear
"hotte-okei" ("let it go") as
just "OK." Tennis
is more extreme with only English spoken during a
match by people who
actually cannot converse in English at all. "Love"
is pronounced
the same as "rub."
Japanese people call me "Gaijin," which means foreigner,
literally
outsider, except in our neighborhood where kids call me Kiley's
or
Nikki's old man. But Japanese people call Westerners "Gaijin"
even
when they travel to a foreign country, not realizing the irony ; -
).
At all times I carry an Alien Registration Certificate, and at
Japanese
airports I stand in the line for Aliens. The kids can go in
either line,
boarding an airplane or UFO, with their dual citizenship.
Because in East
Asia family names go first, our 7-year-old calls
himself Ishikawa Nikki Sean
McCarty.
But you can't beat California culture. "You want a
spanking?"
used to be a parental threat, not a needs
assessment.
Sorry Janet, there goes your "G" rating
:).
Our older son is a very active outdoor type of child like his
father
was, good only at eating, sleeping and playing. Yet he is
somehow
above average in school, including Japanese. He had a very
dedicated
teacher for the third and fourth grade. So I reciprocaed by
inviting
the whole class of 40 to experience the Internet at my college.
The
height of interest in the Internet in Japan is reflected in the
fact
that the Principal gladly accepted my invitation and came
along.
Our younger son, basking in affection and popularity, has had
less
dedicated teachers who has given up on his antics, this last
point
also similar to his father's dark past. Nikki Sean is couch
potato,
however, who could use the Macintosh Graphic User Interface
from
start to finish at age three, using CD-ROMs in Japanese or
English.
GUI is pronounced "gooey" for good reason in the case of
kids. With
neighborhood children crowded around, once I was alarmed by
the
bomb warning, but it turned out to be not the system but that
the
CD-ROM was all smeared by greasy little fingers. Another time
they put
in two CD-ROMs at once!
This month's selections for further reading and
enjoyment:
"An International Family" (autobiographical
article)
WEB: WAOE Electronic Bulletin (28 March 1999):
http://www.waoe.org/webvol2.htm
"Educational Rigors Begin Early in East Asia"
(article
in the electronic literary magazine Webgeist)
http://www.kagawa-jc.ac.jp/~steve_mc/East_Asian_edu.html
"Kokubunji Kids" (partly in Japanese)
(Web tour and
chat for the visit by Japanese 4th graders)
http://www.kagawa-jc.ac.jp/~steve_mc/kids.html
"Japanese Doll Festival"
Web page including animated
Japan-U.S. Friendship Dolls.
http://www.kagawa-jc.ac.jp/~steve_mc/doll_festival.html
Steve McCarty (E-mail: steve@kagawa-jc.ac.jp)
Professor,
Kagawa Junior College, Japan
http://www.kagawa-jc.ac.jp/~steve_mc/epublist.html
(an
Asian Studies WWW Virtual Library 4-star site)
President, World Association
for Online Education: http://waoe.org/
======================================
~ Technically Speaking with Kathleen A.
Catapano ~
LAPTOPS IN FOURTH GRADE...CARPE
DIEM!
Amidst the turmoil of the firing of superintendents and the closing
of
schools, there was an all but unnoticed announcement. "All
fourth-grades
students will be given laptop computers." (NY Times,
6/24/99, B6.) WOW!
With fascination, I spent hours musing the questions that
this single
statement raised.
§ All fourth graders or just those in the schools with the
lowest scores?
§ What kind of computers? With CD-ROMs?
§
What software will be available?
§ Will there be Internet
access?
§ Will teachers use the computers or view them as an annoying
distraction?
§ Who will support the teachers and the
technology?
§ The computers are being distributed as an emergency
measure. Can they
produce immediate improvement or is this a tool that
better facilitates
thinking skills that develop over time?
Eventually my musings turned to the possibilities. This
experiment could
potentially produce a myriad of technology projects and
learning
experiences that might truly change how we educate our
children.
Combining the creativity that I have always found to be the
hallmark of
elementary teachers with their knowledge of curriculum and
child
development could lead to innovative learning practices for
classroom
technology and move us to a different approach to
teaching.
There are many examples of successful applications of computers
in
education, but use of the technology has not been widespread enough
to
convince many teachers of its effectiveness. Robert P. Taylor,
Professor
of Computing and Education at Teachers College, says the value of
the
technology is its use to solve problems that we are unable to solve
in
other ways. Ready or not, here is the opportunity to meet that
challenge.
~ Kathleen A. Catapano, Brooklyn, New York USA
Educational
Technology,
Medgar Evers College - CUNY
E-mail: catapano@mec.cuny.edu,
==== CALL FOR IDEAS
===================
Do you have tips or opinions on current theories/methodologies to share?
Do
you have a great site you think I should add to Mrs. Young's
Super
Charged Educational Voyage? Submit it!
E-mail: mrsysuggestions@jrydevelopment.com
=======================================
Interested in sponsoring this newsletter? Please send your request
to:
E-mail: mrsysponsor@jrydevelopment.com
To subscribe to this newsletter go here:
http://educationcompanion.listbot.com/
>> This publication may be freely redistributed if copied in
its ENTIRETY<<
----------------------------------------
The contents of the
newsletter do not necessarily reflect the opinions of
Mrs. Young's Super Charged Educational Voyage, Janet Young,
or her
company, JRY Development Corp. Mrs.
Young's Super Charged Educational
Voyage, Janet Young, or her company,
JRY Development Corp. make no
warranties, either expressed or implied, about
the truth or accuracy of
the contents of the Mrs. Young's
Super Charged Educational Voyage Web Site
and The
Education Companion
Newsletter.
-----------------------------------------
These pages
are copyrighted ©1999 under JRY Development Corp., AS WELL AS
each
author's name.
-----------------------------------------
~~ End of Mrs.
Young's Super Charged Educational Voyage "Education
Companion
Newsletter" ~~
