Tech Companies Want You

The New York Times reports how tech companies are in need of code programmers. In a New York Times article Steve Lohr reports that "Companies cannot hire fast enough. Glassdoor, an employment site, lists more than 7,300 openings for software engineers, ahead of job openings for nurses, who are chronically in short supply. For the smaller category of data scientists, there are more than 1,200 job openings. Demand is highest in San Francisco. Nationally, the average base salary for software engineers is $100,000, and $112,000 for data scientists," and Sonaly Kohli in the Atlantic Monthly reports that there is a shortage of coders and how important it is to teach coding to teens.

Rubric Nightmare

One of the reasons I started using rubrics was because the traditional way of  grading assignments was too time consuming for me and sometimes ineffective. So, I started using rubrics and life changed a bit, but not too much.  I found that when I had created the perfect rubric,  it was not the perfect rubric at all. I would come across issues that were not present in the rubric I had created. Even though I still use rubrics, since I refuse to go back to the traditional way, there is got to be a better way. According to Jennifer Gonzalez posting on " Cult of Pedagogy" the answer to this problem might be solved using a single-point rubric.  She says," A single-point rubric is a lot like an analytic rubric, because it breaks down the components of an assignment into different criteria. What makes it different is that it only describes the criteria for proficiency; it does not attempt to list all the ways a student could fall short, nor does it specify how a student could exceed expectations."

Evaluate Different Parenting Styles in an Argumentative Essay Form

Objective:

Students will consider and decide the ways in which different parenting styles affect or benefit families, specifically, the two types of parenting styles that will be evaluated by the students will be the so called "Helicopter Parents" vs " Free Range Parenting"

Step 1
Opening Activity

In a group activity, students will discuss the type of parenting style that they follow in their homes. After they have finished their group discussion, they will share with the class their opinions.

Step 2
Flipped Classrrom Activity 
Students will watch the following two videos, which describe the different parenting styles. When they come back to class the next day, they will write an essay discussing what they thought about the videos and identify which parenting style is closer to their home life.


Helicopter Parent Video


Free Range Parenting Video






Step Three
In groups, students will read the following two articles, but not every group will receive the same article. This will be followed by a discussion. 

Free Range Article

Does Every Child Deserve a Trophy?

Step Four
Students will be required to develop a preliminary claim and bring to class two resources that they intend to use to further develop their claim and the rest of their argumentative essays.

Step Five
Students will complete their argumentative essays following the Rubric Guide and Teacher Guidelines.

Creating Teacherpreneurs in the Classroom

In today's world, creating new ideas does not require a complicated business plan. The internet has created a new paradigm, where people can create their products and later on try to find the resources to develop them. Joi Ito explains this idea in this fascinating Ted Presentation.

Teachers can also become innovators in the classroom just like Joi Ito described those young entrepreneurs in his presentation. There is a new trend called Teacherpreneur. "The Teacherpreneur merges the image of the innovative classroom teacher with the risk-taking and entrepreneurial leadership that we commonly associate with those who create their place in the professional world," says Heather Wolpert -Gawron. 

Relating Steve Jobs's Idea of the Customer Experience to Education

How many times have you worked on something you felt was an excellent lesson plan only to see it fail miserably in front of your students? I know it has happened to me numerous times. Our challenge, as teachers, is to know our students' different talent levels and abilities. I equate this to what Steve Jobs said one time about knowing the customer. He said, "You’ve got to start with the customer experience and work backwards to the technology. You can’t start with the technology and try to figure out where you’re going to try to sell it and I’ve made this mistake probably more than anybody else in this room. And I’ve got the scars to prove it.” The lesson I have learned is that no lesson plan, regardless of how good it is, will work if we do not know our students well.

The Power of Emotion in Presentations

When I watch a presentation, I always pay attention to three things, a good beginning, emotional content, and an inspiring message. Of the three, emotional content, for me, is key. It doesn't matter what the presentation will be about. If it doesn't contain an emotional content, I get bored. When someone presents, he or she is making an effort to convince you of something that is important to them. So, if you want the audience's attention, whether they agree or not with your message, knowing how to use emotion in  a presentation will make your story stick in their minds. Sally Kohn, an analyst for Fox News, uses what she calls Emotional Correctness to describe how she uses it to connect with people, even with those who disagree with her. If you can connect with your audience emotionally and not just logically, you can have a better shot at bringing them to your side. A perfect example of a presentation that contains a good beginning, emotional content, and an inspiring message is Diana Nyad's presentation that she did for Ted, where she recounts her amazing swim from Cuba to Florida, something that she had been attempting to do for many years. Another person who uses these elements in his presentation is Chris Hadfield, an astronaut, who tells us about the time he went blind while taking his space walk.  Even companies have realized that it is no longer feasible to just sell their products the way they used to do it. It is not enough to just sell the benefits of their merchandise. Right now, no company that I can think of is making commercials that tell a story and that use emotional appeal like Guinness Beer. Check out these three phenomenal commercials.

Adaptation in the Classroom

There are many examples in the business and sports  world of companies and teams that are not heading in the right direction, but that in order to stay afloat end up making adjustments to find new solutions. For example,  See how The Golden State Warriors,  the current NBA Champions, made changes in their comeback against the Cleveland Cavaliers. However, in many school classrooms across the country, this is rarely done. Teachers continue to teach in the same old way that they have done it for years.  In this article, a new way is prescribed to make the classroom more engaging.

The Libraries of the Future

What is the role of libraries today? With the way technology is rapidly changing the landscape in education, work, and many other areas of people's lives,will libraries go the way of the dinosaur or will they adapt to this new challenge? This article has some interesting answers.

Libraries

Giving Encouragement

Learning from Students

Finding the Next New Idea

Where do we go to find ideas to solve problems? What is the difference between those who found a great idea and those who could not execute one? With this in mind, here are two videos that show where to go to find an idea and how to learn how to execute one.

Talk to skateboarders



Create new boxes

How Social Media Creates Movements and Weakens Them

Teachers Cultivate Minds