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Someone should keep a list of exciting projects like this that schools could undertake - somewhere teachers could go to for inspiration.

by emzo 16y ago

emzo 16y ago
http://sciencetoymaker.org/ http://sciencetoymaker.org/ has some great projects.
TallGuyShort 16y ago
somewhere teachers could go to for inspiration. Unfortunately, a lack of inspiration is only part of the problem. My middle school science teacher would do stuff like this all the time, and it was great. In high school I had a teacher try similar things, but after a while they were asked to stay in the classroom and teach from the book. Tragic, if you ask me.
- asmithmd1 16y ago
  Right, high altitude balloon flying is not on the standardized test that all government schools are judged by since the "No Child Left Behind" act. All government school teachers now have to "teach" to the test and can't waste time on projects like this.
  - anamax 16y ago
    > All government school teachers now have to "teach" to the test and can't waste time on projects like this. Those tests are a fairly low bar, so competent teachers have no problem making sure that their kids pass and doing things like high altitude balloon flying. The problem is the teachers who don't manage to get their kids over that low bar. They don't do high altitude balloon flying, but they will do pointless field trips and never get around to teaching kids to read. Feel free to argue that high altitude balloon flying is more important than reading.
    - jerf 16y ago
      "Feel free to argue that high altitude balloon flying is more important than reading." I would rather that 20 kids be able to fly a balloon, and the 21st kid who can't read be shuffled off to some other program/classroom to learn to read, than for 21 kids to sit in a classroom learning to read when 20 of them already know. That wasn't so hard. All I had to do was reject the idea that children are all identical and if they aren't being exposed to the exact same education each then they are being misserved. This is yet another argument that, in order to make sense, has to take as axiomatic that the current school system is already optimal and anything that isn't perfect must be because we're not applying the current system correctly. I find it astonishing how many arguments about school fit this classification.
      - anamax 16y ago
        > I would rather that 20 kids be able to fly a balloon, and the 21st kid who can't read be shuffled off to some other program/classroom to learn to read, than for 21 kids to sit in a classroom learning to read when 20 of them already know. So would I, and there's nothing in NCLB that stops that from happening. > All I had to do was reject the idea that children are all identical and if they aren't being exposed to the exact same education each then they are being misserved. Good for you, but again, this has nothing to do with NCLB. > has to take as axiomatic that the current school system is already optimal Strawman. No one claims that. I'm not saying that NCLB can't be improved, let alone that it is perfect. I'm merely pointing out that it doesn't have certain flaws. In some sense, I'm "old school" - I think that it helps a lot if you know where you actually are and where you want to end up before you decide what direction to go. Heck - I even think that it's useful to know what has been tried before and what happened. No, that's not nearly as much fun as describing utopia's outcomes as a plan but ....
        jerf 16y ago
        "So would I, and there's nothing in NCLB that stops that from happening." I don't care what's causing it, because something is. What label you stick on it, I don't care. NCLB was merely a small course correction sitting on top of a fundamentally broken system and I reject your attempt to frame my argument as anti-NCLB. I'm talking about the whole system.
mhp 16y ago
http://makezine.com/projects/ http://makezine.com/projects/

Someone should keep a list of exciting projects like this that schools could undertake - somewhere teachers could go to for inspiration.

by emzo 16y ago

Someone should keep a list of exciting projects like this that schools could undertake - somewhere teachers could go to for inspiration.

emzo 16y ago

http://sciencetoymaker.org/ http://sciencetoymaker.org/ has some great projects.

TallGuyShort 16y ago

somewhere teachers could go to for inspiration. Unfortunately, a lack of inspiration is only part of the problem. My middle school science teacher would do stuff like this all the time, and it was great. In high school I had a teacher try similar things, but after a while they were asked to stay in the classroom and teach from the book. Tragic, if you ask me.

asmithmd1 16y ago
Right, high altitude balloon flying is not on the standardized test that all government schools are judged by since the "No Child Left Behind" act. All government school teachers now have to "teach" to the test and can't waste time on projects like this.
- anamax 16y ago
  > All government school teachers now have to "teach" to the test and can't waste time on projects like this. Those tests are a fairly low bar, so competent teachers have no problem making sure that their kids pass and doing things like high altitude balloon flying. The problem is the teachers who don't manage to get their kids over that low bar. They don't do high altitude balloon flying, but they will do pointless field trips and never get around to teaching kids to read. Feel free to argue that high altitude balloon flying is more important than reading.
  - jerf 16y ago
    "Feel free to argue that high altitude balloon flying is more important than reading." I would rather that 20 kids be able to fly a balloon, and the 21st kid who can't read be shuffled off to some other program/classroom to learn to read, than for 21 kids to sit in a classroom learning to read when 20 of them already know. That wasn't so hard. All I had to do was reject the idea that children are all identical and if they aren't being exposed to the exact same education each then they are being misserved. This is yet another argument that, in order to make sense, has to take as axiomatic that the current school system is already optimal and anything that isn't perfect must be because we're not applying the current system correctly. I find it astonishing how many arguments about school fit this classification.
    - anamax 16y ago
      > I would rather that 20 kids be able to fly a balloon, and the 21st kid who can't read be shuffled off to some other program/classroom to learn to read, than for 21 kids to sit in a classroom learning to read when 20 of them already know. So would I, and there's nothing in NCLB that stops that from happening. > All I had to do was reject the idea that children are all identical and if they aren't being exposed to the exact same education each then they are being misserved. Good for you, but again, this has nothing to do with NCLB. > has to take as axiomatic that the current school system is already optimal Strawman. No one claims that. I'm not saying that NCLB can't be improved, let alone that it is perfect. I'm merely pointing out that it doesn't have certain flaws. In some sense, I'm "old school" - I think that it helps a lot if you know where you actually are and where you want to end up before you decide what direction to go. Heck - I even think that it's useful to know what has been tried before and what happened. No, that's not nearly as much fun as describing utopia's outcomes as a plan but ....
      - jerf 16y ago
        "So would I, and there's nothing in NCLB that stops that from happening." I don't care what's causing it, because something is. What label you stick on it, I don't care. NCLB was merely a small course correction sitting on top of a fundamentally broken system and I reject your attempt to frame my argument as anti-NCLB. I'm talking about the whole system.

mhp 16y ago

http://makezine.com/projects/ http://makezine.com/projects/