10 ways to encourage student reflection Split Screen Teaching Optimal learning occurs when students are active participants in their own learning, rather than passive recipients of teacher-delivered content. For this to be effective, students really need to think about their learning. I worked with a group of teachers recently who felt their young students were not capable of writing meaningful reflections for their end of semester reports. That might be true. How do we encourage students to think about their learning? 1. Guy Claxton calls this ‘split screen teaching.’ 2. Stop thinking about how to teach the content. 3. Make sure you and your students know the purpose of every task and of how it will advance the learning. 4. Encourage students to plan how they will learn and to reflect on the learning process. 5. Make sure students have time to stop and think about why and how they learned, not just what. 6. How might you find this out? 7. 8. 9. Refer to learning attitudes and skill development, not just tasks and content. 10.
6 Alternatives To Bullet Lists Sharebar Bullets make lists of important points easy to read. When those near-perfect little circles are vertically aligned, readers can quickly process the text. Yet too many bullet lists in an eLearning course or slide presentation can be repetitious and mind-numbing. Learners and audiences need novelty to maintain and sustain attention. Here are six bullet alternatives you can create in any graphics program or in PowerPoint. Alternative 1: Use text boxes A simple alternative to a list is to place each item into a a text box that is arranged in a suitable layout. Alternative 2: Let icons do the talking Using the same text boxes as above, this approach adds icons to the words. These icons were found at Iconfinder. You can take this approach one step further by accentuating the graphic more than the words. These icons are courtesy of BuildInternet!. Alternative 3: Let People Speak Your List When you use people cutouts to speak your points, no one will suspect this is a list.
ThinkQuest 5 Easy to Grow Mosquito-Repelling Plants As the outdoor season approaches, many homeowners and outdoor enthusiasts look for ways to control mosquitoes. With all the publicity about the West Nile virus, mosquito repelling products are gaining in popularity. But many commercial insect repellents contain from 5% to 25% DEET. There are concerns about the potential toxic effects of DEET, especially when used by children. Children who absorb high amounts of DEET through insect repellents have developed seizures, slurred speech, hypotension and bradycardia. There are new DEET-free mosquito repellents on the market today which offer some relief to those venturing outdoors in mosquito season. Here are five of the most effective mosquito repelling plants which are easy to grow in most regions of the US: 1. Citronella is the most common natural ingredient used in formulating mosquito repellents. Citronella is a perennial ‘clumping’ grass which grows to a height of 5 – 6 feet. 2. Horsemint leaves can be dried and used to make herbal tea.
The Resurgence of Flipped Learning Chat « Chantellemorrison's Blog I’ve noticed a revival of the ‘Flipped Learning’ edchat lately. Having trialled Flipped Learning (AKA Pre-learning*) for nearly 12 months, I thought it would be helpful to share what I’ve gleaned through the process. I’ll do this over a series of 3 blogs; the first blog will focus on how to find appropriate resources and then distribute these resources in a helpful, meaningful way. Before embarking on a flipped learning program, it’s most crucial to decide on your goal for flipped learning. Is it an adjunct to a current homework program? Is it to replace/assist in class explicit teaching? Is it to ensure students are prepared for learning a new topic prior to explicit teaching? Is it for students to realise the gaps in their knowledge of a certain topic and then bring questions forward to the class? If you chose either of the last 2 options, then this blog entry will be of assistance to you. What is it that I want the students to learn/understand? Like this: Like Loading...
Sustainable Web Hosting - 10 Sensational Homes Built from Straw | green-building Written by Ryan Hollitz | 19 December 2009 Posted in Blog - Green Building New building materials could really make your house green from the ground up! Straw! via [thedailygreen.com] In the classic story of the Three Little Pigs‚ a naive piglet decides to build his home out of straw, which soon gets the huff and puff treatment by a big bad wolf, resulting in the poor little pig's untimely end. Many may wonder why a person would want to build a home made out of straw, but apart from providing a place to hide from the big bad wolf, they have some substantial benefits. Read on to discover just how right that first little pig was to build his home out of straw. Photos: Brett Weinstein/Realty Advocates 1. This unique, beautiful straw bale home in Oakland, California recently carried a $1.1 million price tag. Photo: JD Peterson 2. This gorgeous home, perched on owner Henry Siegel's 2 1/2-acre leafy lot, offers panoramic views and cozy comfort. Photo: University of Bath 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
skill rubric Grain Bin Cabin Plan This 1 bedroom, 2 bathroom 692 sf cabin will keep you warm in winter and cool in summer. It also has the potential to provide as many as 12 "berths" for use as a hunting cabin or such. Each berth could have its indiviual heat or A/C duct for greater efficiency. The basis of the design components is to put a grain bin inside a grain bin and insulate the space between them with foam. This makes the structure self-supporting, self-framing (no studs in the outside walls), thermally and acoustically broken (super-high performance), and maintenance free for fifty plus years. The shell is completely recyclable, can be built without concrete, added siding or added roofing. Don't want to use foam insulation or too far from an installer? Floor Plans Mark is offering 4 hours of consulting time with the basic cost of this plan, and this can be done before you receive the plans so that it is possible to have some custom alterations made.
How to write a paper for publication in 6 weeks: Week 1 I have just signed up for a face-to-face publication boot camp which will run for the next six weeks - this is to support me to get a couple of papers published by the end of the year in readiness for the New Zealand PBRF process in 2012. Week 1I am doing this challenge with four of my work colleagues at Otago Polytechnic as a group process, and we had our first meeting this week. The first thing we did was clarify our expectations for the process: Starting with the conclusionThe third thing I was asked to do was to write down 2 - 5 key points that I want the reader to go away with. So here they are: Mapping information and argumentThe second piece of homework is to map the information and arguments that lead up to these key points - this will eventually become the discussion section of the article. Virtual boot campI mentioned this project in passing and have a number of people interested in doing a similar thing online.