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Thursday, November 10, 2011
Take the Right Brain/Left Brain Quiz
(9)
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Lifelong Learning
Information overload has often caused me to question my commitment
to lifelong learning. However, once in a
while, something happens to confirm that curiosity has its rewards.
At Harrisburg University, I’m enrolled in the Learning TechnologiesMaster of Science Program. My first
class, in the summer of 2008, was Implementing Web 2.0 in the Classroom. Jim Gates, an inspirational and dynamic instructor,
introduced me to the world of collaborative learning on the internet. Now, three years later, I’m still discovering
new ways of finding, processing and creating information.
Spicy Nodes by idea.org is a tool to organize learning. It takes the on-line graphic organizer a step
forward. Students in the Family and
Consumer Sciences classroom have been using https://bubbl.us/ and mindmeister.com to
map goals and SMART objectives, plan lessons for the preschool, and organize
community service events. They’ve collaboratively
created Prezis and Google Docs to illustrate stages of development and energy
management in the home and community.
Spicy Nodes combines the best features of the on-line graphic organizers
and the presentation tools. With great anticipation, I look forward to
offering them the opportunity to produce a relevant project to demonstrate
their knowledge and creativity.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Friday, April 8, 2011
Financial Education
As I listened to Craig Cohen on WITF's Smart Talk last night, I had the eeriest feeling that I was invisible. For the last 20 years, I've taught Personal Finance to high school students in Family and Consumer Sciences classes. I'm not alone. Throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, there are hundreds of us , teaching children how to make wise consumer decisions. Students in my classes learn how to:
- finance a home
- comparison shop for cars and insurance
- save for long-term goals
- balance a budget
- create action plans with SMART objectives
- use credit wisely
- solve consumer problems
Last month two out of the three teachers in my department were furloughed. In West Shore School District, NINE Family and Consumer Sciences teachers were furloughed. In most districts, Family and Consumer Sciences is an elective course at the high school level. We need to reach ALL students. Yesterday's guests on Smart Talk were correct. Let's focus on teaching high school students how to be good money managers, not just as a lesson here and there in other classes, but in a stand-alone, required course taught by Family and Consumer Science professionals. Hold us accountable...we've eager for an opportunity to make a difference. Students need to learn practical, relevant knowledge and skills.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Designing a Home
For most families, housing is the area of need that requires the greatest expenditure of money over the lifespan. In the Family and Consumer Sciences classroom, students create a book that explains the process of making wise decisions about housing. First, they analyze the needs of a family, including how their values, the type of family and the stage of the family life cycle, affect their choices. They’ll write the text, upload it into the Moodle as a rough draft, then I’ll edit it and they’ll revise. In the second section, they use on-line resources (Google Earth, City Report, Zillow and Great Schools) to critique a particular location. Following the same editing procedure, they save the final draft. The third section of text explains the mortgage process, including cost of the house (realtor.com) down-payment, current interest rate, type of mortgage, monthly payment, and total expenditure over the life of the loan. They'll use the loan calculator in the Moodle for the financial calculations. The next step is to use an on-line floor plan design tool to lay out the floor plan. We’ve used furniture stores free, on-line tools in the past, but right now I’m investigating other options, such as Floorplanner. Has anyone used free, on-line floor plan software that you would recommend? To illustrate the aesthetics of the spaces, the students use Colourlovers and Color Scheme Generators. All of these sections are added to Mixbook, or another on-line publisher. They'll add photos from their own collection or search using Creative Commons, attribution and share-alike license or Google Images advanced search for images licensed for reuse. The students are totally engaged in the project, and the final products are amazing demonstrations of critical thinking and evaluation!
Friday, March 4, 2011
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