Category: Education

Guest Blogger: Summertime Educational Field Trips

Posted on June 26, 2012 by Jennifer Wolfe

Are your kids starting to get bored with summer already? Are you wondering how to spend your vacation in a meaningful way? I hope you enjoy today’s guest post, and find something to do that makes your summer special!

Some people take vacations to get away from the stress of their everyday lives. Others like to take trips that will teach them something. If you have children, taking educational vacations is a great way to keep your child learning, especially during summer vacation.

You can find educational vacations in every part of the world. The following are just a few suggestions.

1. Historical Sites
Places such as Washington DC, Philadelphia and St . Augustine all have historical landmarks that you can visit to learn more about history. Most of these locations have buildings that are still around, and some even have tours that you can take to learn more information. These types of vacations are a great way to keep your family educated, and it’s a great place to learn about the history of our country, and even the history of some other countries. You can opt to visit famous historical landmarks, or you can opt to visit those lesser known ones, depending on where you’re traveling.

2. National Parks
Taking trips to national parks is another great educational vacation. The Grand Canyon, the Rocky Mountains and even Death Valley are all national parks that offer an array of education and enjoyment. You can hike, take tours, take pictures and even camp out at most national parks. If you’re lucky, you’ll even get to see plants and animals in their natural habitats, which is an experience unlike any other.

3. Zoos
Though it may not seem like a vacation, taking trips to the zoo is another educational trip. Zoos offer a great deal of information about the animals, from their evolution to basic habits to habitats and much more. Plus, taking a trip to the zoo is far less expensive than taking a trip out of state, so you can provide a great deal of education to your children without spending a great deal of money. Most zoos will have information around the zoo that you can use to learn, or you may want to pick up an educational brochure or indulge in a guided tour of the zoo to learn as much as you can.

4. Large Cities
If you live near a large city, you may be able to find some education there too. Most large cities have historical buildings or have experienced historical events, and these are great to see, tour and simply learn about. Some just have great stories and great sights to see.

The best way to gain some education from a large city is to take a tour. Some tours are by bus while others, such as Chicago, even offer boat tours. If you visit a large city in your state, you may be surprised at the events that took place in your town throughout the years, and it will captivate you to learn how old certain buildings are.

If you’re interested in taking an educational trip, you have plenty of historical and national landmarks that you can visit, or you can simply take a trip to your local zoo or large city to experience a new wealth of knowledge.

Ben Myers is a college English professor. He is currently grading a huge stack of essays on Of Mice and Men. In his spare time, Ben likes to study about learning methods and learning disabilities.

Jennifer Wolfe

Jennifer Wolfe, a writer-teacher-mom, is dedicated to finding the extraordinary in the ordinary moments of life by thinking deeply, loving fiercely, and teaching audaciously. Jennifer is a Google Certified Educator, Hyperdoc fanatic, and a voracious reader. Read her stories on her blog, mamawolfe, and grab free copies of her teaching and parenting resources.

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Summertime Payback

Posted on June 22, 2012 by Jennifer Wolfe

This may be a little known fact to some, but school teachers don’t exactly get three months of vacation.

The way I see it, our vacation is really a way to add in some of the overtime hours that we racked up during the school year.

Let me explain. If my teaching day ends at 4:00, I have put in 8.5 hours at school. Only 50 minutes of that was allotted for preparation and grading. If I assign one essay and spend 20 minutes per student on grading it, that will take 720 minutes (12 hours) for one class of 36 – remember, no one has class sizes of 30 anymore. if I have five classes, that’s 60 hours of extra work per essay assignment. That’s another entire work week, plus overtime.

As I head into my second week of ‘vacation’, I’m finally starting to relax. I’m not hearing any bells buzzing in my ears, telling me when to stop and go. I’ve stowed my book bags in my home office, willing to let them sit until August. I’ve gone to the gym and grocery store mid-day, I’ve washed all my coffee travel mugs, and am beginning to make my way through the stacks of magazines that have built up since December.

But the best part about being a teacher isn’t all of those things; it’s not even the time payback.

I really think the secret is that teachers have the best of both worlds.

I’ve always been a ‘working-outside-the-home mom’. I’m not complaining-we made that choice in order to live where we do (California), get health insurance benefits, save for retirement and our children’s college, and to have the ability to live off of two incomes. I don’t know what it’s like to be a stay-at-home mom, but I imagine parts of it are pretty great.

I also imagine there are parts of it that are really, really hard.

The loveliness of being a teacher isn’t just about having fun in the classroom, or having a few weeks off in the summer. It isn’t about having my own child at school for three years, personally knowing all her teachers, or having a place outside my house to store all my books.

What I find delicious and at the same time difficult is the transition between being a ‘work-outside-the-home’ mom and being home all day. I say it’s my compromise for all the missed walks to and from school while they were little, the lunches I forgot to pack, and the field trips I couldn’t go on. It’s my way of making up for not being the ‘science’ or ‘library’ mommy in their classroom, and for having to send store bought cookies for their birthday celebration.

Summertime is my time to not only catch up on the ‘to-do’ lists, but also to do things with my kids that I can’t squeeze in during the school year- like long walks at dusk, talking about what’s important. Riding our bikes. Spending hours in the library looking for a perfect book. Making that cake recipe that takes an entire day. Swimming and reading at the pool. Wandering around a museum. Road trips to anywhere. Lying on the grass for a cool evening baseball game.

For me, working-outside-the-home makes these moments just a little sweeter-it makes summertime special.

Nothing is better payback than that.

Jennifer Wolfe

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Education Issues, May 2012

Posted on June 1, 2012 by Jennifer Wolfe

via Pinterest

For many families, May signals the end of the school year. Some parents start worrying about how to keep their kids busy during the long summer days, and others worry about how to afford to keep their kids in college.

This month I thought about these issues and more – how to explain the shrinking job market for college grads, why California is losing bright students to other states, and how the presidential election will influence college financing. Please click on the my article links below, and feel free to share your thoughts!

“College Grads Facing Higher Levels of Unemployment”

FIRST PERSON | As a ninth grade AVID teacher in Davis, California, a huge part of my job is preparing freshmen for admission to the college of their choice. I help them plan their high school schedules to make sure they have their admission requirements satisfied. They register for and complete the PSAT, set up College Board accounts, research and tour all types of colleges, and create a final project highlighting the school of their choice. I teach them the value of a college education, and how much more money college graduates make than mere high school graduates. However, according to Investors.com recent article, “New Normal: Majority of Unemployed Attended College”, I may have to change my message.

Brain Drain: Are California’s Brightest Students Leaving the State?

COMMENTARY | Arizona State University, University of Oregon, Northern Arizona University, University of Nevada-Reno, Oregon State University, and the University of Hawaii at Manoa. What do these colleges all have in common? Each university has seen a triple-digit percent increase in the number of California freshmen students enrolling in their campus. Nearly 27,300 students left California in 2010, up 90 percent in the last decade. California’s declining support of education, combined with large numbers of qualified applicants, has made out-of-state college a very attractive option.

As the number of California students accepted to out-of-state colleges grows, California has increased its own efforts to recruit out-of-state students.

If Romney is Elected President, My Kids May Not Go to College

COMMENTARY | Parents, look out. If Mitt Romney is elected president, the only hope your kids have for going to college is if you can pay for it. Romney’s proposal suggests reducing funding for Pell grants and other student financial aid resources for middle income students, cutting 18 percent of federal education funding, and defying teacher’s unions efforts to maintain manageable class sizes.

There’s a few things Mr. Romney doesn’t seem to understand. Not all parents can afford to pay for college. In fact, for most of the middle class, like me, we work hard, save for retirement, and are being forced to choose between helping our kids fund higher education, or helping ourselves fund retirement. Hard working Americans shouldn’t have to make these kinds of choices.

What do you think?

Jennifer Wolfe

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iPhones and Feeling Old

Posted on May 30, 2012 by Jennifer Wolfe

Sometimes I just feel old. The world doesn’t seem to view me with the same lens I do as I look out into it. The outside package doesn’t look too bad- not much grey, the wrinkles haven’t yet developed into deep chasms, and I can still get around pretty fast in four-inch platforms. I know the latest text lingo, can probably name the top 10 pop artists, and am pretty darn savvy with social media. Occasionally, I can even still party like a rock star.

Last night was a different story. Maybe it had something to do with the gardening I did all day, or overdoing it on the treadmill-no denying the body doesn’t respond the way it used to. Perhaps it was the fact that I actually had to think about the supervision of my kids before I could head out on a Saturday night-that’s what grownups do, right?

Most likely, though, what it came down to was the Apple Store.

Firstly, going to the Apple Store involves driving to the mall. That part doesn’t make me feel so old-there are many people much more advanced in age than I am strolling around malls. Just not on a Saturday night. At 8 p.m. there are only young people in the mall. Most of the stroller crowd has headed home, and the parents with elementary school age kids have long headed towards the sanity of their own four walls. On a Saturday night, there are a few ‘date night’ folks like me, and just a whole lot of young adults ‘hangin’out’.

I don’t spend a whole lot of time in malls –hardly ever – but when I do go, it’s for a purpose. Like shopping for something specific. I have no interest-I never have, really, for getting all dressed up to walk in circles watching other people watch me. Seems like a waste of time.

So as we navigated past the posers strutting around with their hands on their crotches looking like they just walked off the set of their latest music video, I got edgy. Walking into the Apple Store swarming with folks trying out the newest gadgets made me downright anxious. I would have been fine with turning around and heading out, but we had a purpose: we enrolled in the ‘Advanced iPhone’ class, and it was ready to begin. Just enrolling in the class means I’m old, right?

The cheerful instructor casually placed the black folding chairs in the center of the store, motioned us to plop down beside her and began her lesson. Alongside us were three other women, obviously MUCH more senior than I was, all equally eager to learn how to operate their smart phones.

Am I really that ancient?

I have to hand it to our instructor-she didn’t blink an eye when asked about contacts, calendars and finding our phone number. When she started getting into more complex parts, the questions began rolling right in, and still she didn’t roll her eyes or look at her students like the idiots we must have seemed like to her.

I could feel my hair turning grey and the wrinkles deepening as she spoke. I realized I was surely old enough to be her mother, and wondered how that could have happened. Then she started talking about her dad, and how he loves to face-time (is that a verb?) with her, sending photos of their dogs. Is that what she thinks I do, too? Ack!

When satisfied we knew all about face time, iCloud and Siri, we hustled out the door and found the nearest chairs.

“Wow, that was over my head. Want to get some dinner?” my husband asked.

“Sure,” I replied. “Let’s ask Siri where to go!”

“That’s too complicated,” he responded. “Let’s just look at a map.”

Maybe they’re right. Maybe we are that old. Do you think Siri will know the answer to that question if I ask?

I bet there’s a few things I could teach her, too.

Jennifer Wolfe

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Communication Breakdown

Posted on May 25, 2012 by Jennifer Wolfe

It’s funny how differently people communicate. Some think that because they talk, they are communicating. Others think that if they listen, they are communicating. Taking notes-is that communicating? So is body language-do we count that?

When I’m teaching, I’m communicating. My students have silent and not-so-silent forms of communication. Boys communicate differently from girls, and men from women. Do animals communicate? People of different cultures have modes of communication that are sometimes difficult for outsiders to understand. Writing is a form of communicating, too, and probably my most comfortable mode.

I start the year teaching about precision of language, and how problematic it can be when we are careless with language and use incorrect and powerful words. When I’m teaching my students literary analysis, I hammer the idea of justification-that whatever claim they are trying to make, they need to back it up with proof from the text. When we work on argumentative writing, we try to not only consider our beliefs, but also try to predict a counterargument. Narrative writing needs to communicate visual ideas and sensory

details.

The problem I’m noticing lately is when adults try to communicate only through words, and they either have little command of language, or are sloppy at it. Some adults prefer email to face-to-face encounters, and would rather write out their feelings and opinions than talk on the phone. In meetings, some use language to communicate verbally, others try to write it all down as it is spoken, and leave the interpretation for later. In watching this, I’m realizing that these modes are all problematic.

The poor writer chooses the wrong word and is misunderstood. The emailer loses the ability to show emotion and body language. The talkers spend so much time hearing their own voice that they cannot hear anyone else, and the note takers risk having slow fingers that only catch part of the truth, and leave the rest open for interpretation.

For me, it all kind of comes back to justification and precision. If we think, then write, we need to back up our assertions. This isn’t to say that we all need to create lawyer-like arguments for our thoughts, but we need to think it through before it comes out of our mouth or onto a paper. We need to consider our language, and the power of our words to motivate, measure, or make misery. We need to choose what we say, when we say it, and how we say it with thoughts of the recipient. To do any less opens the door for heartbreak, heartache, and misunderstandings. I know this is a tall order-thinking before I speak is something I have to make a conscious effort towards daily. It’s not easy, but it is getting easier.

I can only imagine how much better my world would be if more people took the time to communicate. Isn’t it worth a try?

Jennifer Wolfe

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