GT Seminar 1: 20% Project

Write a blog post about your plan for your first 20% project of the year. Include a link to your video! (Access it by logging in to our gmail account.) Describe what you want to learn about and why you chose your topic. Also include:

• Materials you anticipate needing and using

• Anticipated roadblocks/obstacles/barriers

• List of people (be specific as you can) whom you can consult for this project

Important announcement for ROGATE 7 & 8

Edmodo is down and in the event that it's not up again by tonight, please have your presentations saved elsewhere. You can email them to me or save them to Google Docs.

Looking forward to your presentations!

GT Seminar I: Chris Langan: "The smartest man in America"

After reading all about Chris Langan and his background in Outliers and watching his appearance on the game show 1 vs. 100, write a blog post in which you answer the question: Is Chris Langan successful? (Be sure to include your personal definition of succcess!)

ROGATE 8: Grades!

View my presentation from yesterday about traditional grading vs. standards-based grading and write a blog post in which you discuss your opinion. 

Be sure to address the following:

What is the purpose of grades?
What is your opinion of the current system? (numbers and letters, 100 point scale)
Do you think that the current, traditional grading system accurately represents your learning and knowledge?
Do you think we should keep the current grading system, transfer to a standards-based grading system, or use some combination of both?

ROGATE 8: Creativity in American Schools: What is going on?!

After watching Sir Ken Robinson's TED talk addressing the idea that schools kill creativity and reading Newsweek's The Creativity Crisis, I'm sure you have an opinion on the topic of creativity in schools today. In fact, I believe you have the best perspective, since you're all students. In a blog post, reflect on what we watched, read, and discussed. There's so much more to talk about related to this topic! What's your take on the idea that creativity in schools has been lost? Have you experienced this? What do you think the effects could be in the future? Write at least two paragraphs and reference both the talk and the article, as well as personal experiences.

I'll miss you guys while at I'm at the Google Teacher Academy and I can't wait to tell you all about my experience. Enjoy your four day weekend and I'll see you Tuesday!

GT Seminar I: The Kindergarten Debate

Sam Wang, an associate professor of molecular biology and neuroscience at Princeton and Sandra Aamodt, former editor in chief of Nature Neuroscience are the authors of Welcome to Your Child’s Brain: How the Mind Grows From Conception to College. They recently collaborated on an opinion piece titled "Delay Kindergarten at Your Child’s Peril" in New York Times.

Read the piece and compare their findings to those of Malcolm Gladwell in chapter one of Outliers. Decide whose side you are on in terms of when a child should begin kindergarten. Do you agree with Gladwell's concept of "accumulative advantage" or do you agree with Wang and Aamodt's theory that starting school late can actually be a disadvantage? Write a blog post in which you discuss your opinion and support your claim with examples and specific references to both texts. As with all assignments, you may include outside research as well.

ROGATE 7: Being Yourself

Go to the link below to access my Google form. Please answer the questions honestly, thoughtfully, and thoroughly. No one will see your responses except me.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dEJlZTRaeWd4WE1fTVJBZzNGY1hyUUE6MQ#gid=0