Joys of teaching... with jello

I just finished 2 days of 4th grade Geology camp, and now I can teach about glaciers in my sleep!
One of the really fun things I get to do is to demonstrate glacial action with the use of gummi bears and blue jello.

We are surrounded by glacial features in this glacier-carved valley, but few kids really understand geology because of the large time scale involved.


Around here there are many glacial erratic boulders, and there is one right near these kids' school that often gets painted by rival schools. Last week the rock was yellow, but this week it's blue!
When I ask the students if they have ever seen a glacial erratic boulder, they say "no", unaware how the yellow/blue rock got to where it is now -- what fun it is to tell them about how that rock got there -- this is the kind of thing that makes geology relevant to them. I love to be able to teach "hands-on" science, and the biggest praise I get is when a kid tell me after the lesson "I really get it now!"

For teachers out there -- here's what I do:
1) Before class, I built a mountain-valley landscape on a large tray, using crushed soda cans and the like for the mountains, then covering the whole thing with aluminum foil, and then some clear plastic wrap.
2) In the first part of the lesson I do a demonstration using gravel, carving a U-shaped valley with snow and ice, demonstrating moraines.
3) Then I get out my Aluminum-clad landscape and sprinkle a few gummi worms, telling the kids that they are rocks and boulders.
4) Next, we have us an ice age! I start piling on the blue jello spoonful after spoonful high in the "mountains", while talking about the process of firnification (how snow turns into glacial ice).
5) They watch the jello getting heavier and heavier in the mountains, until gravity starts pushing it downhill -- and the gummi "boulders" start getting pushed down the valley.

Then I have them write a little story of how their school rock got to its present location.
I remind them that the word erratic means "out-of-place", and the rock obviously does not "belong" there, in other word, did not start out there. So while the kids are all quietly writing their stories, I serve up dessert: a bowl-ful of glacier-jello with a few erratics embedded in them...

Homeschooling -do children benefit?

It's Spring Break, we just got a bunch of new snow, and the kids are relishing their mini vacation: a full week of sleeping in every morning, goofing around with each other, skiing, sledding, and generally enjoying the absence of structured school days. But do they ever wish they were home-schooled?

Alaska has a fairly high percentage of homeschooled children -- due in part to remoteness, rugged individualism, religious freedom issues, or perhaps because the state has some of the most lax rules (See ADN Homeschool: Making the Grade?). In fact, there is even a whole "unschooling" movement which believes in child-centered learning (see more here).

I've been wondering, is home-schooling good for children? This may seem like a loaded question -- but I don't mean to "attack". I just honestly wonder about home-schooling, and how these children fare later in life.

May I first of all say that all children should (and do) learn at home. Home/parents/family are a child's first and foremost influence in life, and hopefully, it's not only a loving environment, but also a place to learn. Children learn by watching parents, by playing, by helping (baking cookies, gardening, fixing the lawnmower)...
My children, as I said, are not home-schooled. Honestly, I've never even considered it. I grew up going to schools, public and private, in several different countries. Formal education was highly valued by my family, and by German society as a whole (in fact, Germany requires all citizens of a certain age, something like ages 6-18, to attend school, and it is illegal in Germany for parents to keep them at home). This is very different from the US, where over 2 million children are home-schooled.

At my job, I often meet home-schooled families, who seek out our nature education programs to complement their home studies. Some of the children are amazing: motivated, engaged, curious, and very sweet. Some seem poorly socialized, disruptive or extremely timid. Many seem poorly prepared, especially when it comes to math and science past about 5th grade -- yet others are little geniuses, bright and way ahead of their peers in public schools.
The parents of home-schooled children also vary widely. I've met wonderful parents who seem to be doing a great job and are very engaged in their children's education, even raising them bi-lingually (something I never did manage with my brood!). Yet I've also met a few demanding and unpleasant parents, who feel that their children are superior to regularly-schooled children, and demand special treatment (such as not having to pay or expect us to teach science without any mention of evolution)!

Why home-school? For some families it seems to be special circumstances, such as a handicapped child, and the parents fear that he/she will not be served well by the school system. Some families home-school on account of odd travel or work schedules, allowing fathers to spend more time with their children when they're home. For some, a bad experience (or even a parent's bad memory of their own schooling) leads to an abandonment of formal education. And of course, there are parents who have strong philosophical/religious reasons for wanting their children away from mainstream formal education -- in other words, sheltering their children from what they perceive is negative about the world at large.

Home-schooling takes tremendous dedication and patience. Families with several children are especially challenged to provide a good education for ALL their children -- sadly some of the older children seem to be getting less attention when the bulk of the effort shifts to the younger ones. Unless an older child is very motivated, big gaps in their education may develop. For example, I took a 17-year old home-schooler under my wing a number of years ago: she was very interested in biology and ecology -- but because she was given the freedom to only focus on what interested her (and that did not include physical sciences such as chemistry), she ended up with problems understanding basic biological processes. She did pursue a college degree, but it took her much more time to "catch up" and get up to speed -- making her college degree a longer, and much more expensive, pursuit (4 extra years meant, in effect, having to repeat high school in college).

One big concern I have for older home-schooled children is the lack of real-world experiences, especially in the social realm. They often lack social skills (and I'm not talking about manners -- in fact, they're usually plenty polite around adults). These children may have experienced group dynamics in Sunday School and summercamp settings, but they often lack experience in dealing with people outside their own social circles. They may be naive, never having had exposure to cultural or racial diversity, or meeting people who come from different backgrounds economically or culturally. And they can be clueless when it comes to dealing with interpersonal conflict, never having had much practice in dealing with such problems. I don't mean to imply that conventionally-schooled children are automatically more socially adept, but chances are they're more likely to have had a wider range of exposure and practice than highly-sheltered kids. Parents don't relish having to prepare their children to deal with bullies or other unpleasant people in life -- but sooner or later, we all are faced with them.

Home-school parents often have very strong personal views about religion, morality, etc. and they pass these to their children. Not that this is a bad thing per se-- a parent's job is to provide a moral compass and thus to give their children a strong foundation. But no matter how nice the parents are, as the children are growing into young adults, they do need more than just their parents' take on the world in order to be prepared for the real world, especially as they get older. Personally, I think this needs to start before children enter their teenage years.

I think it's a disservice to limit ones' children exposure to the extend that they're lost when they do get out in the real world. I suppose that ultimately this is the biggest challenge of raising kids: preparing them for being on their own someday. Homeschooling parents may argue that there is no hurry in sending their children into the real world -- so I ask, when do they plan to let their children go & trust them to negotiate life on their own: at 20? at 30?

Which brings me to my biggest concern: that home-schooled children often lack something that I value very much: critical thinking. If a person is never exposed to intellectual discourse during the course of their education, when/where will they learn it? Many home-schooled children probably get very little experience in debating different viewpoints, in listening to (and considering the merits of) other ideas. I wonder how many home-schooled children fall into one of two extreme camps as they get older -- either they end up strongly rebelling against everything their parents stand for, or alternatively, they adapt their parents' (pre-set) worldview as their own, unquestioningly, without a chance to form their own unique worldview?

So, here's what I wonder: Where do children learn openmindedness, tolerance, perspective?
I think it's best as a combination of home and school, or another way of saying that, it's got to be a combination of learning from parents and non-parents.
Isn't there some sort of saying somewhere about parenthood not being about raising a child as one own's, but rather that the child is on "loan" for only for a short while, but ultimately, the child never truly "belonged" to the parent.

I like to think that the prof (my husband) and I do a decent job of guiding our children through life -- and we strongly believe in spending a lot of quality time together -- but we do value formal education (we're educators/academics after all!). Despite the fact that we both have advanced degrees, neither of us feel adequately prepared to give our children a well-rounded education, especially at the secondary level (even if the prof and I had the sciences covered, read a lot of literature, speak another language and appreciate art and music, we still feel there's still a great deal more to education).

I recently a discussion about homeschooling with the younger 2 children, and they both agreed:
"Even though you guys are both great teachers, we're so glad we get to go to regular school -- our lives are so much richer than if we'd been home-schooled."

The Value of Education?!?

I couldn't believe how many kids were kept at home here in backwards Alaska on Tuesday. I guess their parents did not want their children to be exposed to President Obama's speech about this terrible socialist idea (namely the value of education,?!?!)
My son's High School history teacher didn't show it because it supposedly "did not have any relevance" -- what the @&F*%?
I had a school class on a fieldtrip at the Nature Center and the teacher said many stayed home because of the speech -- who knows, might we have piped the speech to them in the woods?

My daughter's 6th grade teacher taped the speech and showed it a day later -- good for him! Parents had the option of sending a note if they wanted to have their child to go to another classroom during the speech. I bet they would not have had to do that last week when our Republican governor spoke last week at a local school about the same topic...

SO, let me get this straight -- people kept their kids home to prevent them hearing Obama telling them to stay in school and work hard. I kringe at the message these parents are giving their kids: are they saying don't stay in school like Obama tells you to -- emulate Sarah (the Quitter) Palin instead...

Actually, come to think of it, there's one of those celebrity READ posters at my kid's elementary school with Palin in a dogsled holding a book, and the message is "READ A BOOK" -- how subversive!!! I better start writing nasty letters. After all, there's not many letters difference between Palin and Stalin! And if kids don't value their education, they may not be able to tell the difference...

Yikes, do they have any room in Canada...?

Back to School...

Hey ho, hey, ho
it's back to school they go...

Yes, it's that time of year -- the youngstas are headed back to school bright and early tomorrow morning. Parents everywhere are breathing a sigh of relief!

Actually, this summer our kids (the 2 remaining who are of school age, entering 10th and 6th grade) have been a breeze. They're old enough to take care of themselves while mom & dad are off to work, and never set the house on fire even once. They take care of their chores (usually), don't fight too much, and even practice their instruments without being nagged about it -- when did they grow up to be so responsible?

Luckily they're not 9-5 latchkey kids -- our schedules are flexible enough that usually one or the other of us got to be home at least some of the time. But it has been great to be able to trust them, not worry about them, and not have to spend a huge chunk of change on daycare or camps. They both are much happier just "hanging out" en famille -- organized camps are not their "cup of tea". Some people thrive on being busy, but our lot (the kids and the 'rents) love having a laid-back summer -- there's plenty "busyness" the rest of the year...
We did not go on any trips Outside (a.k.a. the lower 48 States) this summer, but have done a fair bit of fun stuff around here, including a few great camping trips. Bicycling, hiking, s'mores around the campfire, reading, picking berries -- that's what summer is about! One of the highlights of my summer was them coming to work with me occasionally -- volunteering to help out at the Nature Center.

When they were younger, I was lucky to be able to stay home with them. My job grew in hours and responsibilities as they grew older -- I started first as a volunteer, then very part-time during the peak spring/summer fieldtrip season with summers off. Now I work 3/4-time year-round, and still get to be home when they return from school -- couldn't ask for a more ideal job!

But I do think that in the American school system summer vacation is too long -- 3 months! True, some children (with rich parents) go on amazing trips and specialty camps. But most don't, and they lose out academically too. Students forget a lot over the summer if they're not engaged and challenged (Nintendo & the tube are unfortunately the entertainment of choice, rather than playing outside) -- i just can't imagine how long it takes teachers to catch them up on math, let alone study habits and routines. If I were gone from my job for 3 whole months, my brain would do a major core dump, and I'd have forgotten procedural details and quite a few phone numbers...

I like vacations -- don't get me wrong. Kids need them, and adults too! I think US workers don't get nearly enough vacation from their jobs to take a good break and RELAX, for their health and sanity's sake-- instead many are juggling to find daycare or summer camps for their children who are out for 3 whole months when they themselves have only a few weeks' leave! I see many of those summer camps coming through the Nature Center on fieldtrips, and they vary greatly -- some of the counselors are great, and some so young and inexperienced that they have little clue on how to deal with their charges... I've met some wonderful dedicated people, but I imagine that many a young college student who's doing this for a summer job ends up getting turned away from this field after negative experiences -- I know it sounds cynical! My sincere wish is that our society learn to place a higher value of those working with children: they're our future, and we ought to pay and respect all teachers much MORE!

So here's a "hip, hip, hoorah" to hard-working and dedicated teachers everywhere!

Education

Did I hear President Obama correctly in his speech last night? Not only does he value education, but he is calling on all Americans to value education!?! He's telling young people that a high school diploma is not enough -- you need more!
I think this is the first time I've ever heard an American president say this! What a contrast to his anti-intellectual predecessors. I love it!
The magnet above is on our frig: it is from Cafepress.com (great site!!!) right next to another favorite "Let us now pause for a moment of Science" I would love to put them on my car as bumper stickers, but I fear I'll be run off the road here in Alaska-- my Obama sticker will have to suffice for now...

Gotta run, I'm off to judge at my kid's school ScienceFair. President Obama also called on us to volunteer more -- another thing I really applaud! I love this president: he calls us to action, to personal responsibility! (And all George W. Bush could do after 9/11 is to tell us to go shopping!)
These are difficult economic times, but we have a real leader in the White House.

Isn't there a saying, "these are the worst of times, and the best of times."?

A dark little secret: I like to grade tests!

The prof had a pile of final exams to grade, and asked me if I would "pretty please" help him with the task -- he still had a backlog of homeworks to grade. And so we spend the morning at the dining room table, listening to Bach's Christmas Oratorio, grading away. I do actually LIKE to grade papers (up to a point -- bad handwriting and lousy grammar do get to me after a while!).

I had the smoothest red ballpoint pen in my hand, and, oooh -- it did such a fine job when I found a glaring mistake and got to cross out incorrect answers -- I found myself marking them up with glee! Yup, the dirty little secret is out: there's a part of me that does enjoy the occasional session with the RED PEN.

But then, ugh, there were bills to be paid, and the checkbook to be balanced, and that was not nearly as much fun -- perhaps I should have used a different color...

Social Studies ROCKS!

Social Studies need not be a dry subject!

Youngest is studying the American Revolutionary War in 5th grade. Yesterday parents were invited to a presentation of what they've learned. I love how my children get to study history so much more "hands-on" compared to the book-learning I experienced in primary school.
I even like the term "Social Studies", which encompasses so much more than the dry historical facts I had to memorize: dates of battles, names of kings and popes. Instead, today's children are learning about society through time, and how that helped form society today.

First there was a Revolutionary War feast: each student prepared a dish from the era -- there were Johnnycakes, War Office Pie, Gingerbread, Apple Pie and homemade hard candy. After the tummies were filled, we watched a Powerpoint slideshow where the students each presented the historic figure they had researched.
Liesl had picked Lydia Darragh, a Quaker housewife who spied on the British and passed crucial information on to the American side (I bet you haven't heard of her before).
They were allowed to pick any historical figure involved somehow in the Revolution: so we heard about generals and soldiers, women and men, whites and a few blacks. There was also an artistic component: each student made a (short) life-sized portrait of their historic character, superimposed on a tracing of themselves on butcher paper.

So let's take a walk down the hallway:
Here's Lydia, of course, and Betsy Ross sewing the flag, Patrick Henry declaring "Give me Liberty or Give me Death", and a fair share of military figures.











My children go to public schools, and we've been really happy with their education for the most part. I do strongly believe in a well-funded public education system -- a country is only as strong as its education system. We have dediated teachers at our local schools as well as wonderful parent volunteers.

One particular teacher who stands out is a teacher Wolfman had in 4th grade. She is a great teacher all around, but her particular passion is Social Studies. 4th grade started with a cave in the classroom : the first assignment was to make a cavemen's tool out of something found in nature: stones, wood, bone --- what a fantastic assignment! Later in the year she had all the children weaving -- yes, and the boys and girls really got into it! "Can we please weave today...please?" Later in the year, they had a reinactment in the gym where the Romans and Celts fought over the British Isles, to the sounds of bagpipes... The schoolyear ended with Colonial America marketplace system -- the students each picked trades, produced goods and traded them in a miniature classroom economy. Wolfman still remembers 4th grade as the BEST year ever: that teacher just ROCKS!!!

Alaskan Kids Voting

I helped at my youngest's elementary school with KIDS VOTING, and it was very eye-opening to me. As a naturalized citizen, I take voting very seriously.

KIDS VOTING helps prepare kids for the responsibility of citizenship in a democracy, which is great. At a young age they're still completely influenced by their parents, and since we live up here in Alaska (Republican-Palin land), I fully expected the outcome of KIDS VOTING to be for McCain-Palin.

I'm a strong Obama supporter, but my state, alas, voted red, as expected. BUT SURPRISE: Kids voting over the entire Anchorage school district preferred Obama 49% over 44% for McCain, whereas the "real" adult voters voted 61% for McCain-Palin, and only 36% voted for Obama Alaska-wide. The Anchorage Daily News has a red-blue breakdown for how Alaskan precincts voted in the Senate race (convict Ted Stevens vs. Mark Begich). I found it interesting how wealthier South Anchorage voted solidly for Ted, while North Anchorage went blue for Begich. Wealthy Eagle River, of course, voted for the convict too, as did the Mat-Su Valley. But Fairbanks and the majority of the North Slope and Western Alaska voted blue.

Why the discrepancy between Kids Voting for Obama vs Alaska grown-ups going for McCain? I attribute it to younger families (with school-aged children, with some of the most fecund living in North Anchorage) voting more Democratic compared to their older Alaskan neighbors who look out mostly for themselves and their money ("Kids left home, so why do I need to support things like families or education...?").

By the way, did you know that GOP ("Grand Old Party", the nickname for the Republican Party) if spelled backwards is POG, which may well stand for "Party of Greed" -- the economic disaster that the Republican administration have led this country into. See the New York Times article entitled Greed helped Wall Street dive into danger:

But the larger failure, they say, was human — in how the risk models were applied, understood and managed. Some respected quantitative finance analysts... had begun pointing to warning signs years ago. But while markets were booming, the incentives on Wall Street were to keep chasing profits by trading more and more sophisticated securities, piling on more debt and making larger and larger bets... "Innovation can be a dangerous game," said Andrew Lo, and economist at MIT. "The technology got ahead of our ability to use it in responsible ways."

After Obama was elected, my daughter reported some rather mean-spirited language bordering on racist talk on the school bus (I have to add that this is a VERY white area -- there are few blacks in her school). It's crazy what some of those kids are saying, and I know they're just repeating what they hear at home from their parents! After discussing this at home, with input from our older daughter in college, I realized I needed to say something, and brought it to the principal's attention.
I'm glad I did -- and the principal did feel the issue deserved serious attention at the school. It doesn't matter if all the children on a bus are white, it's not OK!!! And other parents had called and complained. Apparently there was a lot uglier talk than what I had heard. The principal plans to deal with this more during the coming week -- the children will hopefully take this to heart, and even if it does not do much to change their parents, will change their emerging sense of right and wrong.
After the ground-breaking election of the first African-American president, this little incident (the fact that educators are coming down hard on this: not tolerating racist talk and re-directing the dialogue), gives me hope, even for wayward Alaska!

I remember talking with my brother-in-law in Germany this past summer (and some 90% of Germans would have voted for Obama, if they could!), and back then he predicted "No way will Americans elect Obama -- they are way too racist!" Well, I'm so glad he was proved wrong.
I'm proud of my adopted country, finally, and feel I can once again hold my head up high when my family and I visit abroad and say I'm American!

Photo Credit for Kids Voting: Jill Fankhauser, Alaska Star
Photo Credit for School Bus: Anchorage School District