Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Teachers Games For Change: Part 1

by Olga LaPlante

http://tinyurl.com/g4change2009

First Session

Add comments to the blog

    • Opening Questions: Go to this blog and offer your responses.

      1. What do students need to know about a community's energy needs?

      2. If students were given control of energy policy, what might the outcome look like?

      3. Briefly share one example of an activity you provide for students in which the student can quickly and easily try different scenarios to see results.
      4. Check out students' responses on this blog.

Game: Energyville


http://www.willyoujoinus.com/energyville/


Objective of the game:



You will create a one paragraph energy proposal that highlights major choices in energy policy based on your experience in the simulation (post it here).


Questions to explore the game:








IMPORTANT: RECORD YOUR CHOICES AT EACH STEP!!! You will need that record to make conclusions about effectiveness of your choices.

You may wish to use a record sheet like this one for data collection.





    After your first attempt, you may wish to try one of these challenges:

    1. start through level one with no renewable energies. How long and what challenges are faced in introducing renewable energies into your city? Can it get totally renewable over time?

    2. assume only green through level one, is it possible to replace the greens with conventional sources and have the city successful? Does green mean expensive?

    3. ***Additional reading and discussion***:
    Extension ideas back in the classroom/community:

    1. CFL video
    2. Ideas and FAQ:

      1. For this particular activity, it's important to have an engaging conversation with students. What are some of the things that seem unrealistic in this simulation? What are the assumptions that have been made and can we change them? What are the things that might be biased? What do we need to know to really affect energy policies and landscape?
      2. The hypothetical city in the simulation lacks lots of background information. To take this project to a more tangible level with real data on alternative energy sources to model events in a particular location, try this additional information. Energy Unit [requires MyWorld GIS, available on MLTI laptops; can be purchased or downloaded as trial for 45 days, which may be sufficient for one project without a license.]

    Link to Part 2

    Want to take a course? Check it out!
    The Game is On, Course Facilitator Olga LaPlante


    Intro Video: If books came after games

    Presenters:

    Ed Latham

    ohgeer@gmail.com

    Olga LaPlante

    olga.laplante@gmail.com

    PLC North: Session 2: Google Tools & Mac Apps

    Agenda

    DId You Know 4.0

    (Fall, 2009) (Double-click image to see wide-screen version at YouTube)

    The Third Annual MEDIA Convergence Forum (October 20-21, 2009)

    Monday, October 19, 2009

    Teachers Using WordPress at MSAD #44

    Melissa Prescott, an art teacher at Telstar Middle School, has created the following blogs using WordPress:



    Tera Ingraham, Telstar elementary art teacher, has created the following WordPress blog:

    Tera and Melissa gave our Telstar 3 cohort an overview of the possibilities of using WordPress in the classroom this evening. A delightful presentation . . . thanks! :)

    Telstar3: Session 2: Blogs, Wikis & Mac Apps

    October 19, 2009, 3:30 - 7:30, Crescent Park School, SAD#44

    Agenda

    Foreign Language and Web 2.0 MaineEd09

    by Sarah Sutter

    Wiki of resources from Deb Taylor's presentation at Maine Ed 09 on using Web 2.0 tools in a Foreign Language classroom, specifically in a 1:1 laptop class at the high school level (although resources can be adapted to wider use).

    One to One in Science MaineEd09

    by Sarah Sutter

    Wiki of resources and links for the 1:1 in High School Science by Susan Perkins. Links provided to tools, examples related to specific science content, and more.

    Family History in American History Maine Ed 09

    by Sarah Sutter

    Wiki of resources for the presentation Family History in American History by Mary Ellen Bell and Sarah Sutter at Maine Ed 09. Links to tools and ideas for creating oral history projects, a great interactive immigration map, ideas for using Google Maps collaboratively and more. The slide show is there, as is a link to the recorded presentation from the Spring MLTI Online Conference last May.

    Digital Photos : Now What? MaineEd09


    Sarah Sutter's wiki of resources from her presentation at Maine Ed 09 on what to do with digital photos after you take them. Ideas for organization, storage, backing up, and basic editing concepts, as well as web 2.0 tools for posting student work to the web for exhibit, sharing and feedback.

    Tuesday, October 13, 2009

    RSU #10 North PLC Learning & Technology Group

    Agenda

    We need more failure for our children.

    by Ed Latham

    This morning I read this article about a soldier needing a lung transplant, but getting the lungs of a heavy smoker which directly resulted in the soldier dying within a year. This sad case got me thinking about all we adults do to "help" children and what the effects of that help are doing to our society.

    I did not wish to clog up the blog with a long article, so I have a link to my article here for your thinking pleasure. Please come back here with your contribution to the problem stated in the article. We all need to work together to help our children recover from a generational refusal to help our children fail.

    Monday, October 12, 2009

    Should We Cut School Days?


    Augusta Insider: "Cutting School Days?"

    The Maine View: "Should Maine Cut School Days to Cut Costs?"

    Research Brief: A Review of the Evidence on the Four-Day School Week ~Silvernail & Donis-Keller, January 2009

    The Brady Brothers Series: " Race to the Top"



    Race to the Top: Passive or Active Learning

    Race to the Top: The Unaddressed Problem

    Race to the Top: Information Overload

    Race to the Top: Looking at Standards

    Race to the Top: To What End?

    Download Connections: Investigating Reality

    Featuring Nel Noddings

    "We hear a noise in the cellar and we go up to the attic and find trunkloads of algebra and SAT tests." ~ Nel Noddings

    "To know what matters to you, observe your actions." ~ Nel Noddings


    Nel Noddings: The Ethics of Care and Education

    Infed: "Caring in Education"

    "Excellence as a Guide to Educational Conversation"

    "A Morally Defensible Mission of Schools in the 21st Century"

    Tech Support Cheat Sheet


























    A Webcomic of Romance, Sarcasm, Math, and Language