Friday, May 10, 2013
Thursday, May 9, 2013
It's College Tour Season Part 2
So, our second college tour happened to be the Historically Black College, Bowie State. Before we toured their campus, we went to the National Mall. Now, we didn't have a lot of time to go each of the museums and tour all of the monuments so I created a scavenger hunt for my students, so they could take in as much as possible.
Unfortunately it rained, so it dampened my students' spirits a bit, but we still had tons of fun. One of the rules of the scavenger hunt was to post their pictures on Instagram they could not however, post their answers on there because all the other teams would see it. (yes, we use this a lot because the kids use it a lot why not incorporate it into my lesson?)
Unfortunately it rained, so it dampened my students' spirits a bit, but we still had tons of fun. One of the rules of the scavenger hunt was to post their pictures on Instagram they could not however, post their answers on there because all the other teams would see it. (yes, we use this a lot because the kids use it a lot why not incorporate it into my lesson?)
the hunt begins
one of the clues
of course I had to make the Capitol one of the clues
After our scavenger hunt, we trekked on to our tour of Bowie State. It's a little off the beaten path, so we couldn't tour the neighborhood like we did at Georgetown. Our tour guide were very helpful here. Usually, tour guides have trouble with middle school students...they aska ton of questions and a little on the immature side. They usually prefer high school students, but our tour guide joked around with our students and made them feel right at home. They were also very thorough and we were able to go inside some of the buildings. My students really appreciated the welcome mate being rolled out for them.
and the tour begins
Our tour guide, joking around with the students and showing them the Performing Arts building.
My students loved this tour!
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Happy Teachers' Appreciation Day!
Happy Teachers' Appreciation Day!
Here are some goodies for you if you haven't heard....
Monday, May 6, 2013
It's College Tour Season Part 1
First let me start this off by saying that in addition to teaching a creative writing course, I also teach a college readiness class called AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination). Last week proved to be pretty productive for my AVID class. We knocked out 2 out of the 3 college tours we had set for this quarter. We've been talking about college all year, and I've been preparing them for one component of the college admissions process by having them work on electronic portfolios using Google sites. They've added their autobiographic sketches, resumes, pictures, and outline for their 5 year plan to their portfolios.
One assignment I added when we got closer to touring the colleges was the college profile. They had to choose 3 colleges they wanted to attend and give me information on admission requirements, costs, scholarships/financial aid, available housing, student organizations on campus, and course requirements for their chosen major. This had a tremendous impact on how they viewed the college tours. One, they knew what to look for and to ask the tour guide, and two, they asked more detailed questions. Last year, when I took my students to Georgetown and Howard, they asked questions like, "What dining selections are available?" This year they asked, "What are the meal plan options and how much does each one cost?"
So the first campus we toured was Georgetown's campus. We went down to Georgetown and walked through the neighborhood, ate lunch at the restaurants on M and relaxed by the riverfront before we went to campus. This way, students considering this university had a chance to see the neighborhood they probably would be frequenting and the campus.
One assignment I added when we got closer to touring the colleges was the college profile. They had to choose 3 colleges they wanted to attend and give me information on admission requirements, costs, scholarships/financial aid, available housing, student organizations on campus, and course requirements for their chosen major. This had a tremendous impact on how they viewed the college tours. One, they knew what to look for and to ask the tour guide, and two, they asked more detailed questions. Last year, when I took my students to Georgetown and Howard, they asked questions like, "What dining selections are available?" This year they asked, "What are the meal plan options and how much does each one cost?"
So the first campus we toured was Georgetown's campus. We went down to Georgetown and walked through the neighborhood, ate lunch at the restaurants on M and relaxed by the riverfront before we went to campus. This way, students considering this university had a chance to see the neighborhood they probably would be frequenting and the campus.
Walking through the neighborhood.
Playing Frisbee by the riverfront
By the riverfront..I wanted to take them on a riverboat cruise to see the monuments, but our grant money was way too specific for that :-(
touring the campus
touring the campus
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Monday, April 29, 2013
The National Initiative to Dismantle Free and Public Education
There is an absolute beauty that can’t be denied in seeing so many, teachers, parents and students. . . community organizers and even some people just getting off from work, ALL fighting for educational justice. Citizens of various cities throughout the United States are irrupting in mass protests and demonstrations to demand that its city legislature protect and defend its investments for its children. After all, at the very least isn't this what tax dollars should ensure?? President Obama's Administration has initiated a budget for An Economy Built to Last and a World-Class Education for Our Children. This budget plan is clearly to protect and even develop needed enhancements in education and curriculum.
What is heart breaking is the ability of Philadelphia’s SRC (School Reform Commission) to close 23 of its schools, the audacity of the District of Columbia Public Schools to compromise and only close another 15 schools and Chicago Public Schools will close a whopping 54 schools to handle its budget crisis! All of these districts have tried to save the city's budget by enacting school closures before. This act has neither assisted the cities' budget crisis nor done anything to enhance the academic growth of its students. As a matter of fact these actions have done more to widen the academic achievement gap than it has done to close it. There are countless other cities and districts throughout the nation that seemingly ignore this collective cry, demanding to keep public schools open. I was always told that whenever confused about an institutions motives, follow the money. Just how broke is this country??? The Dow Jones ,S&P 500, and the Wall Street Journal all reported the highest increase in investments and market values since 2007. A simple question will always be asked: Since the bail outs provided by TARP ( Troubled Asset Relief Program) work so well for banks and the industrial market, why isn’t the same investment made by our tax dollars towards our schools? Follow my next post as we follow the money!
Friday, April 26, 2013
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)