Teachers Teaching Teachers #226 - Diving deeper into currrent events with students fishing around for relevant topics - 11.10.10

Post-Show description: 

This episode of Teachers Teaching Teachers was sparked by a post by Suzie Boss on her Edutopia blog:

When the Deepwater Horizon oil well exploded in the Gulf of Mexico earlier this year, teachers across the country recognized an opportunity to bring real-world applications of math and science into their classrooms. Similarly, the rescue of 33 Chilean miners has triggered student discussions about everything from heroism to human biology.

In the wake of such dramatic events, some teachers are eager to do more than host current-events-style conversations. They want to use the news as a launching pad for in-depth student learning. But making that happen requires teachers and students to dive into topics for which there are no texts or guidebooks. What’s more, maintaining student interest can be challenging once the headlines start to fade and media attention shifts to tomorrow’s hot topic.

How do you plan for academically rigorous projects that are “ripped from the headlines”? Here are a few suggestions, along with some timely resources.

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/real-world-projects-news-events-suzie-boss

On this episode, Paul Allison, Susan Ettenheim, and Chris Sloan spend the hour catching up with their friends:

Click Read more to see a copy of the chat that was happening during the webcast.

20:50:50 Paul Allison: http://www.edutopia.org/print/node/34849
20:58:07 SusanEttenheim: Hi Margaret!
20:58:49 margaretsmn: Hey.
20:59:14 dpulling: hey 2 u 2
21:01:16 margaretsmn: matt, where are you teaching?
21:01:48 matt montagne: palo alto, CA...small private school here
21:01:55 matt montagne: and you??
21:02:25 margaretsmn: i'm in south louisiana
21:03:25 margaretsmn: hey kevin, i need to bug you tp respond to fragile beauty...ourlatest voicethread
21:04:11 matt montagne: nice to 'meet' you margaret!!!
21:04:26 matt montagne: no day off here in cali
21:05:06 margaretsmn: not here, either.
21:05:28 rmunoz74: hello everyone. I'm here for the webcast Teachers Teaching Teachers. Can someone point me to the right location of the webcast? Thanks
21:06:28 SusanEttenheim: hi rmuoz welcome! can you hear?
21:06:34 rmunoz74: no
21:06:34 SusanEttenheim: you are in the right place!
21:06:44 rmunoz74: don't hear anything
21:06:45 SusanEttenheim: just click on the volume icon
21:06:56 rmunoz74: hmm
21:06:58 SusanEttenheim: do you see it?
21:07:18 SusanEttenheim: on the right?
21:07:28 rmunoz74: is it under EdTecgTalk A or B?
21:07:32 SusanEttenheim: A
21:07:34 Paul Allison: http://www.edutopia.org/print/node/34849
21:07:35 rmunoz74: ok
21:07:51 SusanEttenheim: can you hear now?
21:08:11 matt montagne: the current topics inevitably require a deep dive into the history of how it came about...
21:08:56 SusanEttenheim: rmunoz74 can you hear ok now?
21:09:20 rmunoz74: no... hmmm.
21:09:30 SusanEttenheim: are you on windows or apple?
21:10:17 matt montagne: we're thinking about offering a class next year called, "Un-natural disasters"
21:10:43 rmunoz74: I got it... i hear it from the Windows media player
21:10:49 SusanEttenheim: great!
21:10:51 SusanEttenheim: welcome
21:10:52 rmunoz74: Thanks!!!
21:11:32 SusanEttenheim: where and what do you teach?
21:13:59 rmunoz74: I teach computer graphics in the Bronx New York
21:15:58 Chris Sloan: http://youthvoices.net/node/47209
21:16:33 Chris Sloan: A post from one of my students about some of the political language out there.
21:16:55 Chris Sloan: I'm spending more time with my students trying to unspin political language these days.
21:17:03 SusanEttenheim: great rmunoz74- have we met? I teach in Manhattan
21:17:07 SusanEttenheim: welcome elaine!
21:17:13 SusanEttenheim: where and what do you teach?
21:17:29 rmunoz74: I have taught in Manhattan for many years. Not sure we've met though
21:17:45 SusanEttenheim: ah where do you teach now? I'm at Eleanor Roosevelt HS
21:17:59 rmunoz74: I've taught middle school only
21:18:10 SusanEttenheim: ah well, glad you could join us tonight!
21:18:11 rmunoz74: but did graduate from Art and Design
21:18:21 SusanEttenheim: cool
21:18:27 SusanEttenheim: interesting place!
21:19:54 rmunoz74: Yes it is... a new building will be going up soon, replace  the old one
21:21:01 SusanEttenheim: wow I didn't know that. What are you teaching in your computer graphics classes?
21:21:17 SusanEttenheim: The New Heroes - has anyone seen it yet?
21:21:26 SusanEttenheim: pbs.org/thenewheroes
21:21:36 margaretsmn: I fear that the lack of creativity in the classroom is killing our future entrepeneurs.
21:22:43 rmunoz74: In NYC, most of those classes that participated in creativity are being shut down... they are harder to evaluate than state exams
21:23:06 SusanEttenheim: what are you doing at your school?
21:23:31 SusanEttenheim: Have you been following our work with voicesonthegulf.com?
21:23:38 rmunoz74: I'm currently teaching HTML and web safety applications
21:23:44 SusanEttenheim: ahh
21:24:00 SusanEttenheim: have you seen http://www.voicesonthegulf.com
21:24:36 matt montagne: kevin's work at vog has been great!
21:25:34 margaretsmn: http://voicesonthegulf.org
21:25:49 SusanEttenheim: thank you margaret!
21:31:16 matt montagne: wow margaret
21:33:55 matt montagne: that painting for the banner is wonderful!!!
21:37:59 margaretsmn: thanks, matt.  I wish I could integrate art every day.
21:40:29 Chris Sloan: You're doing great work Margaret.
21:40:41 margaretsmn: i need some advice.
21:40:51 Chris Sloan: okay
21:41:23 margaretsmn: my student who wrote a story, clover the plover, wants to publish it as a book and sell it to benefit the animals on the gulf.
21:41:38 margaretsmn: great idea, but how should we publish?
21:41:41 Chris Sloan: I've published student work on Lulu
21:42:11 margaretsmn: i looked at that but if we use Lulu, we have to get people to go to the site to order, right?
21:43:01 margaretsmn: can we do color illustrations on lulu
21:43:27 Chris Sloan: http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/judge-history-project-%E2%80%93-vo...
21:43:45 Chris Sloan: Here's a link to a student project
21:44:07 Chris Sloan: I bought about 30, had them delivered to me and then sold them in my classroom
21:44:20 Chris Sloan: you can do color
21:44:25 margaretsmn: wow, the cover is great!  How did you do that!
21:44:32 Chris Sloan: a student did it
21:44:41 margaretsmn: what cost for 30?
21:44:52 Chris Sloan: we use inDesign, but Word can do it just as well
21:44:55 margaretsmn: that may be the thing to do.  thanks.
21:45:21 Chris Sloan: there's a cost to produce. and there's a cost you can charge people.
21:45:51 Chris Sloan: I think that book costs about $7 to produce. We sell it for $15
21:45:52 margaretsmn: so is it profitable?
21:46:01 Chris Sloan: that's pretty profitable
21:46:07 Chris Sloan: We've sold a few hundred
21:46:15 margaretsmn: yeah, sounds great.  easy to use?
21:46:19 SusanEttenheim: wow
21:46:21 Chris Sloan: easy to use
21:46:44 margaretsmn: wow, a few hundred? amazing!  what is your market?
21:46:49 Chris Sloan: The hard part is making it look good (not that hard really). the easy part is uploading it
21:47:10 Chris Sloan: the market is the people who are profiled in the book and the parents of the students who wrote the profiles
21:47:26 Chris Sloan: alumni from my school
21:48:00 Chris Sloan: profit goes to my media program by the way. not me personally
21:48:33 margaretsmn: thanks for the help.  I'll keep you posted.
21:53:09 Paul Allison: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/the-spill/?utm_campaign=thespill...
22:10:24 matt montagne: bye all!!!!
22:10:58 SusanEttenheim: night all!
22:11:21 rmunoz74: good night