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October 2007 - Posts

should kids have to memorize the fifty states?

Posted Tuesday, October 30, 2007 6:01 AM by jtspencer
Sometime around fifth grade, the teacher energetically rolled out a huge map of the United States. "By the end of this unit," he began (I didn't even know what a unit was) "you will know the capital of every one of these states." Students gasped in shock. Read More...
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she makes an interesting point

Posted Sunday, October 28, 2007 8:50 PM by jtspencer
One of my students wrote a great post on our class blog. It's about why baseball players make more money than teachers. Here's the http://socialvoice.blogspot.com/2007/10/fairness-is-it-fair-that-baseball. html Feel free to comment if you would like. Read More...
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what Shakira taught me about education

Posted Friday, October 26, 2007 8:59 PM by jtspencer
I am embaressed to admit it, but I like Shakira - and not in the way that most men usually think about Shakira. No, it's not the rock hard abs and belly dancing that impresses me. Instead, I actually like her music. (For the record, I also like chick Read More...
3 Comments

ever feel like this?

Posted Friday, October 26, 2007 5:17 AM by jtspencer
So, I was going to post my metaphor, but I can't find it. I must have accidentally erased it at some point. I'll try and find it and post it soon. I feel worn out. I am attempting to function on four hours of sleep, because our eight month old kept waking Read More...
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so what if Iran gets a nuke?

Posted Tuesday, October 23, 2007 10:31 PM from John Spencer's Blog
Lately, there has been a heated debate about what we should do with Iran. That verb "do" is significant. It assumes that it is in our best interests and in the interest of the world that we do something. Yet, is that such a smart presupposition? Right Read More...
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my confusion about theory

Posted Sunday, October 21, 2007 9:02 PM by jtspencer
Journal Entry #3 - NAU Class Journal I walk into a teacher's classroom to return a roll of masking tape. She is nice and friendly, but burned out. While students throw paper balls, she checks her Yahoo e-mail account and tries to engage in conversation. Read More...
1 Comments

help with a project

Posted Thursday, October 18, 2007 7:48 AM by jtspencer
In my eighth grade class, we will be working on a project about the Cold War. Students will be doing a WebQuest and then, over the course of the units, they will create an online modern history museum (beginning with World War II and leading up to now). Read More...
6 Comments

America's War on Fat Kids

Posted Tuesday, October 16, 2007 7:21 PM by jtspencer
A few years ago here in Arizona, they passed a law outlawing all junk food. Gone are the bake sales, the candy bar fundraisers and the school pizza party. On one level, I laugh about it. As long as students have pockets and back packs, they will manage Read More...
3 Comments

one hundred blogs of solitude

Posted Monday, October 15, 2007 6:31 PM by jtspencer
Solitude is missing from current educational system. Students, while they are at school, must plough through book work, handouts and lectures in a ridiculous pace. Everything is disjointed and disconnected, often taught in subjects that are irrelevant Read More...
2 Comments

what teachers REALLY want

Posted Saturday, October 13, 2007 5:42 AM by jtspencer
I am not an administrator, so it's easy for me to criticize administration on all levels. The truth is that I like our school principals but I hate the system that governs education. When I ask teachers what they want in education, I usually hear something Read More...
1 Comments

burn out

Posted Saturday, October 13, 2007 5:02 AM by jtspencer
I recieve an e-mail from the principal explaining that I need to submit my lesson plans to the lesson plan folder. The tone is friendly, but direct. Yet, after working my hardest all quarter, it's a crushing blow that comes unexpected. Coupled with the Read More...
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when is it okay to be confusing?

Posted Thursday, October 11, 2007 6:32 AM by jtspencer
After reading the answers from Bell Work, I feel confident that my students know the causes of World War II. We engage in a dodge ball type game that enables them to see imperialism and colonialism. I allow them to break into alliances to teach the alliance Read More...
1 Comments

forging our space in a myspace world

Posted Tuesday, October 09, 2007 4:21 AM by jtspencer
Someone once told me that the way to find out what a society worships is by searching for the highest building and to find out where people dress the fanciest. In the classical Greece, it was in their temples and their gymnasiums. In Rome, it was the Read More...
2 Comments

reflections on taking an online class

Posted Sunday, October 07, 2007 8:32 PM by jtspencer
The following is a reflection for an online course I am taking at NAU: I have grown used to the format of online learning. At first, I felt alienated and distant. I yearned for a more human contact. In a sense, it felt more intimate. I could edit another Read More...
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before buying software . . .

Posted Sunday, October 07, 2007 6:05 PM by jtspencer
In our school, it is a given that teachers "need" proprietary software such as KidSpiration, Microsoft Office and GradePro. Indeed, I have watched as teachers unplugged "obsolete" computers with OS 9 or OS 8 systems, because nothing has been updated. Read More...
3 Comments

Spencer's Law

Posted Thursday, October 04, 2007 6:52 AM by jtspencer
I created a class computer lab using a Linux operating system called xubuntu. The result has been quick internet, powerful, simple applications and a very user-friendly interface. There have been some difficulties. For example, I have to walk students Read More...
2 Comments

I am against grading

Posted Wednesday, October 03, 2007 5:02 AM by jtspencer
My title sort-of seems like heresy. I think it puts me in a camp with long-haired gurus who don't shower and eat granola. I'm really not a Hippie, though. I simply don't agree with grades - or at least not in the conventional, here-are-the-letters system Read More...
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