The Fall begins...Ready, Set, RUN!

Hello SMACers & Other Friends!

The fall term at U of M has begun, and although this campus is not nearly as lovely as that other campus in East Lansing... It is quite lovely, and it's excellent to be in a atmosphere of "collegiate" vs. "corporate"! Too bad about the U of M football record though.

I must say that this program is a LOT of work! The fall so far is much more intense than the summer. The learning is great - all those buzz words... relevant, scaffolded, engaging, literate, comprehensive, etc. I especially like the Science Methods class on Monday nights (and not just for the pizza) - we have already discussed behavior control plans, positive environments, and we got to interrupt our classmates trying to teach a class!

The big thing about FALL is being in my placement at Wayne Memorial HS. I'm with Tom Morgan in several Chemistry classes, he also teaches Anatomy. I also sit in on a 9th grade class with Scott Simons. I have had a couple of brushes with "technology" in the classroom; CPS and Remark testing software.

The CPS (stands for Classroom Performance System) is a Jeopardy-like game where multiple choice questions are input into the software and students can "buzz in" with individual clickers to choose the answer. I have seen similar entertainment systems in Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant. Mr. Morgan used this system as a fun way of reviewing test items before his 1st Anatomy test. Other than the buzzer batteries being low, the technology worked well and was engaging to the students. If I were running the game, I would have put slightly more structure in place, for example having students read the questions aloud or choosing an "Alex Trebcek" from the students to run the show. It was a fun alternative way of reviewing info before a text - it especially fit well with Anatomy based (terminology) info.

The Remark testing software is an alternate to Scantron testing sheets. You make up your own testing template using "bubble" font and use the software to correct tests. The software is able to correct tests very quickly and then spit out test analysis data (by question / student, etc) which could be useful for teachers to understand how the students performed on the test. I worked with Alexandria S-M on this project - her mentor and mine were testing on the same unit. Unfortunately, the teachers in our area were "self-trained" on how to use the software (and my mentor is a bit technology-adverse),so far, we have not been able to correct the test yet (almost 4 days later...). We are hopeful that we figured it out today and will be using it for future testing in the classes. It will be interesting to see which cuts of the data are useful to us in our teaching as we move forward.

On a semi-technology note, despite my concern that PBS videos may not be the best use of Grad tuition $, I did enjoy the 'School" series shown in Potter's class. I was really moved by the video and disturbed some of the images. It is amazing to me how recent the racial struggles in our country are: I don't think that the high school students today really understand how recently in our history these events took place. I think the generation of women in our MAC cohort (not me & Tammy - you younger ones) are so amazing and really reflect the gains made by Title 9. I was also stunned to learn the when I was graduating from high school (1984), Alexandria was just born... and on that note, I will be adding my 1984 prom photo to these blog photos soon! HA!

More later...

****Liz had her baby! Megan Elizabeth is lovely and this must be the quickest email birth announcement ever!!!!*****