Fall crafts

I'm originally from Vermont and love the fall foliage. After a lovely fall weekend in VT I brought some leaves I collected back to Massachusetts where I teach. My first grade students are learning about seasons and what makes the leaves change color.

Fall Foliage Window Decorations

What you need:
Leaves (maple leaves tend to have the best colors)
Wax paper
Cloth or rag
Iron and ironing board (or other surface)
Clear tape
Scissors

1. Heat up the iron.
2. Tear out two pieces of wax paper. Tear out pieces that are big enough to allow space between the leaves.
3. Pick out a few leaves (I usually do four or five at a time) and place between the two sheets of wax paper, leaving at least an inch of space between leaves.
4. Place the cloth or rag over the wax paper. This ensures that you won't end up with melted wax stuck to your iron.
5. Press the iron on the cloth in smooth motions. You may need to hold the iron and apply extra pressure in some spots to get rid of any bubbles in the wax paper.

Afterwards I brought the sheets of wax paper with leaves into school and let the kids cut them out, reminding them to leave some space around each leaf. They stood on their chairs to tape the leaves in the windows. It was a fun seasonal activity!

Teaching in High Heels

 Love this blog of fun teaching ideas and crafts for the classroom!

Teaching in High Heels

Motivation and the Titanoboa

I always appreciate my father's opinion and I have talked to him at length about my experiences working in the classroom.  I have mentioned to him my frustrations that most of the boys in the class are never interested in the subject matter and don't seem to be motivated to learn.  One boy in particular, who I will refer to as "Jimmy" shows little to no interest on a daily basis.  It is hard to get him to ever participate in class and he has told me several times that he just doesn't care and that school is boring.  Half the time he appears to be falling asleep at his desk, and you actually have to remind him to do his work.

I can empathize with Jimmy.  A lot of the 4th grade material is boring.  One day, Jimmy surprised me.

My father had saved a copy of Smithsonian for me with the titanoboa on the cover.  He said that he thought the boys in my class may be interested in it.  Archaeologists recently discovered fossils of the titanoboa, which is now considered the largest snake in the world.  Scientists believed it could grow to be up to 48 feet long and it would be as tall as a man's waist.

Model of the titanoboa in Washington, D.C.  It was said to be big enough to eat crocodiles.

I brought the Smithsonian article in on a day that I had to lead teach and presented it to my students during their science block.  My students are learning about rocks, and I thought I could tie the titanoboa in by talking about the fossils scientists discovered.  I presented the information and let students pass the magazine around while we continued with their lesson on rock.  I was pleased to see that all of the students, even some of the most difficult boys, were interested in the titanoboa.  They had lots of questions and oooed and ahhhed as the magazine went around the classroom.

The next day, Jimmy approached me, excited to tell me more facts about the titanoboa.  He said he had gone home and looked it up on the internet and watched videos on it.  I had never seen him show this much interest in anything.  It was a wonderful feeling knowing that I could inspire a child to further research a subject.

It got me thinking about Chapter 6, the chapter on motivation and affect.  Jimmy had motivation that I had never seen in him before.  What drove this desire to learn more about the titanoboa?  This is what I came up with:

• Interest.  Jimmy had found the topic intriguing and engaging (or "awesome" as he put it).
• Need for self-determination.  The Smithsonian article wasn't part of the regular curriculum.  It was just something I introduced for fun.  Jimmy didn't think "I have to do this," he thought "I want to do this" or "I would find it valuable to do this."
• Need for relatedness.  Perhaps Jimmy saw his other classmate's reactions to the titanoboa article (they all thought it was pretty cool) and wanted to learn more about the topic so he could discuss it with his peers and with me.
• Intrinsic motivation.  I believe Jimmy was motivated by factors within himself and that he liked the information because it was intellectually stimulating and it provided an opportunity to interact with his friends.  Internalized motivation could have also played a part because of his peers around him.
• Personal interests.  I know Jimmy likes Pokemon cards, and so perhaps he likes creatures in general.  Perhaps this is why he found the titanoboa so fascinating.  
• Value.  Learners value topics and activities that are interesting and enjoyable.  I believe that Jimmy valued this lesson.  

I hope I will get a chance to see Jimmy (and the other boys) interested in topics again like he was interested in the titanoboa.  Perhaps I will have to put more thought into what interests boys and motivates them to want to learn.

Conditioning and Tangerine Spritzers

I visited my father at home in New Hampshire this weekend.  When I'm at his house I always drink these tangerine spritzer drinks he gets.  I had two yesterday and finished the last one off today.  My father pointed this out to me.

He said, "You really polish off those spritzers when you're here.  I guess I should have gotten more."

I replied by saying that I don't usually drink anything but water, but I have come to associate my father's house with these tangerine spritzers, so when I come home I have to drink them.  I then joked about it saying,

"I guess you've conditioned me!"  :)

Learning Theory:
 Learning theory is a model of psychology that explains human responses through the concept of learning. Learning theory includes behaviorism, cognitive theory, cognitive-behavioral theory and constructivism.

in·tel·li·gence/inˈtelijəns/

Noun:

The ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills. The collection of information of military or political value: "military intelligence". in·tel·li·gence noun \in-ˈte-lə-jən(t)s\ Definition of INTELLIGENCE 1 a (1) : the ability to learn or understand or to deal with new or trying situations : reason; also : the skilled use of reason (2) : the ability to apply knowledge to manipulate one's environment or to think abstractly as measured by objective criteria (as tests)

ZPD

This is just a reminder to myself about Zone of Proximial Development (ZPD), a Constructivist theory.

The zone of proximal development has been defined as "the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance, or in collaboration with more capable peers" (Vygotsky, 1978, p86).