Start a School Garden & Teach Nutrition

After attending a recent workshop at RAFT (Resource Area for Teachers in Denver, CO) I was exposed to the slow food movement and the following resources for teachers who have a desire to start a community garden & teach youth about nutrition. Click the link below to access a free, comprehensive curriculum, in addition to a list of other resources.

Link: To Slow Food Curriculum (Free!)

Another great resource for curriculum relating to the school garden is Nature Works, check them out here Link.

Interviewing

Interviewing (as in the students conducting an interview with peers, family, school staff etc.) is a wonderful method for:

• Developing communications skills
• Comparing informal and formal language
• Introducing the concept of code switching
• Conducting content specific surveys and data collection
• Preparing for job interviews
• Establishing self-awareness and building confidence 

The following resource from the d school may when building lessons that utilize students interviews.

Link: Interview Preparation from the d school @ Stanford

Brainstorming

"Ok, go ahead and brainstorm X number of ideas...." I have said this, I venture to guess that if you are reading this then you too have said this. I have also been the person at the receiving end of this request thinking sarcastically "if only it were that easy". As educators it is fair that we ask students to develop a plan or to brainstorm however it is not fair to reason that unlike every other skill that we ask our students to demonstrate that brainstorming is somehow exempt from scaffolding. So here are some resources to utilize when brainstorming:

Brainstorming Rules:

1. One conversation at a time
2. Quantity over quality at this point
3. Headline
4. Build on other's ideas
5. Encourage wild ideas
6. Be visual
7. Stay on topic
8. Defer judgement- no blocking

Source: Link to the d school @ Stanford

*The d school brought us the Design Thinking process and has may great resources available for educators, while you are browsing check this out...

Design Thinking for Educators- Resources from the d school

Design Thinking for Educators Tool Kit

Graphic Organizers: I am a big fan of graphic organizers and list making in order to generate ideas. The following is a series of graphic organizers that I have used to introduce an entrepreneurial unit during which the students will be asked to create a service or product to address a need within the community.

STEM

In a recent PD on integrating STEM (Science, Tech, Engineering & Math) held at RAFT (Resource Area for Teachers) I was introduced to the following flow chart:

As a certified art educator I will admit that I have allowed myself to function under the stereotype that I am a right brained thinker... an intuitive out of the box creative type who is therefore not expected to be good at science or math. Because of this limiting definition of self, I have not always embraced STEM integration with the same passion and vigor that I would defend the value of arts integration or the need for sustained and substantial electives course offerings. This PD however was the access point that I needed in order to embrace the other skills and characteristics that I possess, because after all no one is honestly all right or left brained. I appreciated this graphic because I was able to see how the scientific process of exploration/discover, analysis/feedback, and benefits/outcomes so neatly mirrors the methods and strategies that I utilize not only in my curriculum design but also in my art making processes. I am sharing the flow chart as I find it a natural complement to many units and concepts addressed through my organization including but not limited to:

• Design Thinking Protocols
• "Shark Tank" or Entrepreneurship and Innovation Content/Unit
• College and Career Research

I challenge educators such as my self, who have resisted STEM integration to at the very least use this flow chart when developing and implementing protocols within your class (as I am sure that you already are, though perhaps without the scientific context).

Denver Public Library

Research Librarian, Robin Filipczak walks the students through what job searching resources the library offers, and afterward provides a tour of the building. The session is conducted in a very nice computer lab that allows students to follow/click along with her instruction. According to a colleague of mine who shared this resource with me the "experience is relevant and fun, and the staff (at the library) is amazing—I strongly recommend our facilitators make use of the library’s team if they are able to get away on field trips".

Robin’s contact info is:

rfilipczak@denverlibrary.org

MiddleWeb

*Excerpt from http://www.middleweb.com/

Welcome to MiddleWeb!

MiddleWeb is all about middle school & the middle grades — with a sharp focus on teaching and learning in grades 4-8.
Since 1996, we’ve been providing resources for teachers, school leaders, parents and others interested in the success of young adolescents. In June of 2012, we launched a new version of our website around five streams of original content:

• Resource Roundups: We’ve always specialized in finding and sharing resources you can use. Here at our new site, we feature our growing collection of Resource Roundups — our tag for short, link-laden essays built around a theme. You’ll find everything from New Teacher 911 and the latest on the Common Core….to some secrets of great rubric-making and humor in the classroom. Edited by veteran teacher/librarian Susan B. Curtis, our roundups are regularly updated and enriched with the best resources we can find.

• Themed Blogs: We’ve recruited expert teachers and learning leaders in a variety of areas and asked them to write for us on a regular basis. Our themed blogs include: STEM Imagineering (science educator Anne Jolly on creating effective STEM lessons & programs); Two Teachers in the Room (NBCT Elizabeth Stein on co-teaching and inclusion); Future of History (middle grades History/SS teachers Aaron Brock, Shara Peters, Jody Passanisi and Sarah Cooper);  Kids on the Cusp (classroom veteran Mary Tarashuk on teaching in grades 4 and 5); and Working Draft (reflections on English/Language Arts and tech integration from middle school teacher Kevin Hodgson, a.k.a. @dogtrax).

• Guest Articles: Just what you might expect: first-person articles about teaching and learning! We bring you the voices of middle grades education stars and many lesser known teachers and school leaders up on the front lines who have stories to tell and good practice to share. We also feature articles and excerpts contributed by book authors who write about important middle grades topics. (See a complete list of articles.) If you’d like to write for us, check out our writer guidelines.

• Book Reviews: MiddleWeb’s collection of reviews of professional education books is one of the largest on the Internet. We’ve tailored it specifically for educators working with grades 4-8. If you’re interested in becoming a MiddleWeb book reviewer, you can learn all the details here. Basically: we’ll share a list of what’s available and some guidelines for review writing. You pick what you’d like to read, write the review, keep the book. We publish your reviews, make you famous.

• Interviews: We’re talking with interesting people who have expertise around middle grades education — or just do great things for middle grades kids and schools. Peruse our Five Q Interviews for ideas, insights, and plain good chat. Read Larry Ferlazzo’s interview with MiddleWeb founder John Norton

UBD Lessons, Trinity University

Trinity University has a variety of lessons available in UBD format if the following content areas:

• English Language Arts
• Fine Arts
• Foreign Language
• Math
• Other
• Science
• Social Studies