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thoughts on problem-based learning

Posted Friday, April 04, 2008 10:27 PM by jtspencer
For the last two weeks, students in my class have explored multiple facets of the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict. They have analyzed sources for bias, posed intelligent questions, created metaphors for the conflict and developed solutions. I admit that Read More...
6 Comments

changing professional development

Posted Friday, January 18, 2008 5:04 AM by jtspencer
For me, the term "professional development" conjures up images of sitting in a stale library, watching PowerPoint slides as I perfect the art of cartoon-making. I hate spending an hour and a half every week listening to things that feel irrelevant to Read More...
3 Comments

a whole new vocabulary

Posted Wednesday, November 28, 2007 2:43 AM by jtspencer
For the current unit relating to Civil Rights, students have to choose four of the ten homework options. I deliberately use academic language and a higher vocabulary so that they can grow accustomed to the "grown up world" and because academic language Read More...
6 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

making a class website more interactive

Posted Friday, September 07, 2007 8:25 PM by jtspencer
When I first began teaching, I used the class website as a way to communicate with students. It was very teacher-oriented and I was proud of the work I had accomplished. When I realized that I wanted student involvement, I decided that I would allow them Read More...
4 Comments

adventures in going digital

Posted Monday, August 20, 2007 4:51 AM by jtspencer
Last year, I worked hard to obtain a pile of old iMac G3's. It's hard to imagine them being useful in the classroom, given the fact that they have less memory than an up-to-date iPod. Yet, it was the best I could muster up. I've learned that if I want Read More...
1 Comments

Feeling Like an Android

Posted Saturday, June 30, 2007 7:54 AM by jtspencer
It's seven thirty thirty. I know this, not because of the sunlight or the heat. Rather, a box on the bottom right hand corner tells me the time. I trust the box more than my own mental perception of the sunlight. I count backwards in my head, proud that Read More...
1 Comments