Category: Community Based

Community Based Activities

Thoughts on teaching while driving in snow..

Posted on by Sweat to Inspire

During the Polar Vortex’s visit last week, I ventured out to  school on a snow-day, like many teachers working on a day “off”.  As I cautiously crept out of my neighborhood to make the 7 mile drive to school, I quickly realized the intelligence of our superintendent for canceling school. The roads were covered in black ice with sub zero temperatures. Our buses and walkers would have struggled to make it to school safely. Driving slow and cautiously, I turned onto the main road.

Quickly noticing a diverse group of adventurers out on the road. Some speeding along in their four-wheel drives, while others cautiously inching down the road like snails. As a jeep sped by I noticed the driver texting. When, checking my rear-view mirror, I caught a glimpse of the driver on the phone.  Things that might be done under normal weather conditions, but not what I hope to see on the slick roads.

As I passed a couple of cars that had slid off of the side of the road, I began to wonder if driving teachers are going to be evaluated like school teachers. Instead of the driver paying the price of a wreck or receiving points on their license for their actions, their instructor will be marked down or pay the price with their career. OF COURSE this is ridiculous.

But this is what is happening in schools. Our students are like the drivers. Some listen to past instructional advice and proceed with caution. Other take risks and short cuts to get to where they are going on time and arrive safely. And finally there are those that are unlucky, unskilled or take too great a risk and end up wrecked on the side of the road. In all cases the driver is responsible for the end results, not their instructor.

Ultimately the learner is responsible for learning and the teacher is responsible for teaching. When examining the effectiveness of teachers examine their lessons, pedagogy and practice. By examining how well student receive their lessons measures learning which ultimately is the learners responsibility. Great lessons can be taught and the students have the free will to be active learners, passive learners or just be present. Everyone can learn but desire and effort are necessary for it to happen!

Its a Snow-Day now what should we do?

Posted on by Sweat to Inspire

YEAH! Snow-day!!

Of course that is our children’s first reaction. Then when they finally wake up to the day, we get,”I am bored.” Happens every time. As parents we ask “What do you want to do?” After wearing out the screens in our house and bumming around the house utter boredom quickly follows.

Here is a quick list of things to do on a snow-day: (Non-tech)

1. Make snow Ice Cream; most of the things you have in you cabinets just need fresh, clean snow from outside! Recipes are all over the internet and easy to experiment with. Here are a few.  Basic formula is:

  1. Snow- about 4 cups – make sure it is clean, don’t want yellow snow!
  2. Sugar- to taste about a cup
  3. Vanilla or cocoa- TSP
  4. Milk or cream if desired

Short video showing how to do it!


 

My kids wanted to add Maple syrup and wife added coffee, all turned out well

2.Conduct cold weather experiments like these. My son Griffin had tons of fun with the boiling water as seen in this video:

Or you could set up a green-house and melt frost as described here.

3. Build something cool out of the snow!

Let your child’s imagination run wild!! I even saw a snow alligator once.
4.  Books, puzzles and board games- What we did before technology. Our children can greatly benefit by being exposed to tools of the past.
5. Expose your child to crafts or your hobby. When I was a child my grandfather introduced me to coin and stamp collecting. My mother exposed me to cooking and crafts. During a snow-day spend time and share your crafts and hobbies with your child. Build or make something that allows you to make a connection with your child. A good place to start is spoonful’s website.
If all else fails, helping out with chores around the house keeps the children busy and helps them learn about shared responsibility. They can help shovel the snow, clean up room, sort through toys, and put away laundry.
Enjoy the snow-day with your children by giving them meaningful things to do. Have fun, stay warm and safe!!

Snow Day Fun!!

Posted on by Sweat to Inspire

For most of the Midwest tomorrow is going to be a snow-day. I saw a tweet the other day about tossing boiling water up into the frigid air. I tried it with my son. Should be something you try with your child on a snow day.

Here is a video of my son doing it.

If you are still looking for ideas you could also try blowing bubbles out in the cold and watching them freeze as explained in this story: http://distractify.com/culture/arts/frozen-bubbles-in-wintertime/ .

Have fun! Learn on the snow-day! Stay safe and warm!!

A Christmas Wish for Education

Posted on by Sweat to Inspire

Dear Santa-

I know this time of year you are filled with requests from children, asking for a variety of toys, trips and goodies. Some wishes are self-serving and others are filled with generosity. An example comes from my 9 year old son Griffin who wishes for a sled to enjoy the winter weather in Michigan and wants to adopt an pet from the Michigan Humane society to give an animal a home.  This year I have one Christmas wish that tops the rest:

I wish our society valued education!

Over the past few years, education has gotten plenty of lip-service from politicians and education reform groups. Teachers have been attacked, deemed the enemy and left out of reform process. Education has been viewed as an untapped cash cow, that corporations deem ready to take over. Instead of listening to educational experts, the voices of corporate reformers have taken center stage. World rankings of standardized test scores are often featured as prime evidence of need for reform. Poverty is often overlooked as a hindrance to the education process. Don’t reformers realize that our education system is just a reflection of our society!

What does our society value?

How does a society show value towards something? When we are willing to pay a price for it! Our society values sports and entertainment. We pack stadiums every weekend for college and professional sports, paying more than $30 per ticket (yes low estimate). The “Big House” in Ann Arbor has been selling out since the 1970’s, with over 100,000 attending each contest. Communities pass tax breaks and spend millions to fund new stadiums. Even Bankrupt Detroit wants to spend money it doesn’t have to fund a new home for the Red Wings.   Atlanta is replacing Turner Field which was built in 1996 for the Olympics with a new stadium in 2017. This sports infrastructure projects are happening while our educational infrastructure mostly built in the 1940’s t0 1960’s is crumbing and in major need of upgrades. Film companies spend millions to produce a few hours of entertainment, just think what schools could do with these budgets? Society accepts paying sports figures and actors millions per season or film, but to pay a teacher $70,000 for a year of teaching brings public outrage! Don’t these actions alone send the wrong message to our children about education?

How many books are going to be on your sleigh?

Did many children wish for books? Mine always get some, but do the majority of children receive them? Many parents give presents with education in mind. Giving a computer, tablet, or smartphone seems popular these days, often with the idea that it is an educational present (at least many advertisers want us to believe this). Do parents monitor the use? Do students know how to use them for education? Frequently the answers to these questions is NO. Often the presents are given with great intentions but when students are left to their own choices they use the tools for entertainment (not that there is anything wrong with entertainment). Society needs to model the importance of education. Instead it seems it mocks education every chance it gets. Ever notice that every mention of Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates includes that they both dropped out of College? Yet, it is rarely mentioned where other CEOs/ Celebrities graduated from college!

Santa, please make our society realize the importance of education as an individual journey and process, not one dictated by teachers or a common core. Have our society value EDUCATION and show respect for those that foster the process.

Sincerely,

An educator…

Creating an Environment for Success #michEd

Posted on by Sweat to Inspire
Last week when I saw the following quote on twitter from our governor I was confused.

“It’s not government’s job to hire people. Our role is to create an environment for success.” Gov Snyder @AEI http://ow.ly/i/3g0Fh 

 This is the classic cliche: You can lead a horse to water but can’t make it drink argument. Ironically I agree with the Nerd on this one. I am confused because this is the exact same statement educational professionals have been making for the past few years as so-called educational reformers have changed how student achievement data is used to evaluate educators. Are teachers supposed to be held to a higher standard than  the governor?
A teachers job is to create an environment where every learner can be successful. All of our students are at different starting points when they arrive in our classrooms and when they leave they exit through different doors on their educational journey. Our job is not to have these students score proficiently on a standardized test one day out of the 180 they are in our classrooms.  Teachers are trained in creating an environment for educational success. When are teacher evaluations going to be created that measure the ability of teachers to build this atmosphere and teach, instead of how well our students perform on tests created by large corporations.
Governor Snyder, if you feel that you can use this statement to defend the business climate here in Michigan. Then you need to listen to teachers who make the same statements, instead of dismantling our education system in the state. Stop allowing for-profit charters from taking over public school districts. Return educational funding to pre-recession funding levels. Changing the educational funding system to create an atmosphere for educational collaboration instead of competition. Then you will have given teachers an environment for success like you have created for businesses in the state. The children of Michigan deserve it. The tax payers desire it. Educators have been demanding it.

 

#DrivingSchoolSpirit -It is that time of year!! – Show your school spirit on Instagram

Posted on by Sweat to Inspire

I was selected for this sponsored post by Hay There Social Media.  All opinions expressed are my own.

Show your school spirit on Instagram during Local 4 Friday Football Frenzy

As the fall weather rolls in, the leaves on the trees start to change color, it is High School Football season. I remember being in high school looking forward to the Friday night showdowns on the gridiron. There is nothing like the feeling of rooting for the home team with your friends on a cool fall evening.  The community comes together for a common cause. Watching high school heroes in the making. I grew up in Quincy, IL where high school sports were the only game in town. If we could not make it to the game we would listen to them on the radio,  not wanting to miss out on the action.

I was excited to hear about Local 4’s Friday Football Frenzy  as a place to keep track of all the local football action.

You as a fan can contribute by uploading you photos of games to Instagram sent to @FordDSFL and tagging the with #Drivingschoolspirit.

You can check out what other Friday Football Frenzy fans have shared here.

As teenagers are flocking to local sporting events, we as parents and educators are all to aware of the danagerous that exist on the roads especially late at night. Ford is teaming up with Local for the help with the “Ford Driving Skills for Life”

A program designed for teams to be aware of all that is going on around them on the road. Concerned parents and teachers should check our Ford’s tools to help young drivers learn.

Parents: https://www.drivingskillsforlife.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=11&Itemid=7

Educators: https://www.drivingskillsforlife.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15&Itemid=1

Enjoy your Friday Nights at the game and be safe!!