A view of students today

Mark Wesch from Kansas State University has posted another video that makes a good point about the reality for tertiary students. In this video he uses his students to make key points. It is worth watching- not a new message but put across clearly, and interesting to see the perspectives shown in the video- as some of the comments state, this doesn't reflect the reality for all students.


An alternative view- "a view of lecturers today".

Curriculum integration.

I have long been a supporter of curriculum integration at middle school/secondary school level. Most examples of curriculum integration that I see at this level tend to be a couple of subjects (commonly two or more of English, Social studies, Outdoor education, health and science). The integration is based around a theme.

Kath Murdoch and James Beane support involving students as learning plans are developed for integrated teaching. I think what is missing from most models is the planning to teach for conceptual understanding. At the start of the planning process (and based on students interests and questions and curriculum guidelines) key concepts should be identified. The concepts can then be examined in a number of contexts to help students to really understand and apply them. The concepts should be explicit to the students and the teachers through learning activities and form the basis of student research plans.

Some reading or a starting point on curriculum integration:

Beane, J. (1991) Middle School: The Natural Home of Integrated Curriculum. Educational Leadership, October 1991.Beane, J. (1995) Curriculum Integration and the Disciplines of Knowledge. Phi-Delta-Kappan.

Murdoch, Kath (1998), Classroom Connections Strategies for Integrated Learning. Eleanor Curtin PublishingMurdoch, Kath and Hornsby, David (1997) Planning Curriculum Connections Whole-School Planning for Integrated Curriculum. Eleanor Curtin Publishing

Books by James Beane.

Photo: what seems impossible can sometimes happen. A Macrocarpa tree growing on the Southern coastline of Wellington.

Creative lesson starters.

The internet provides a range of thought provoking material. Here are a couple that could be useful:

Social studies or media studies:-

EPIC 2015- a short movie that looks at possible effects of journalists losing control of the media. Could be balanced with ideas from the long tail.

For maths-

The quadratic equation is one of the first challenging equations that students have to memorise and learn- this song has really helped at least one 16 yr old boy learn this equation.