Teacher Blog #1

My teacher blog is jtspencer.blogspot.com. He discussed on 8/25 how he thought 6th grade students should have one teacher. His main points about this topic were that as the sole teacher he felt he could form a relationship on a higher level with his students. He felt that if he needed to spend more time on a math lesson, he could let it run into a science lesson and just work the time out for the following days. He feels the students make certain connections between subjects and activities when he is the sole teacher. I posted on this blog that I believe having students in teams of four or five might work better. You still have the ability to have a personal relationship with the students. You also have the opinions of three or four other teachers, other than your own. This gives you the ability to discuss student's learning style or beahvior. Is the student a discipline problem in your class? Does the student learn better this way or this way? There is also the ability to have a camaraderie between the teachers to be on the same page. Hopefully as a group you are able to work together towards the betterment of the students.
    On 9/11 my teacher discussed a science experiment he was doing in his classroom. He has his students in groups discussing on how to make a solar powered coffee machine. He put a few of the ideas the students were discussing in his blog. His ultimate question to his readers was, "Is this science?" Seems everyone and I tended to agree it was science. It also the possibility of being engineering (building the project), language/writing(students discuss out loud possible ideas, critical thinking, and write down their scientific method.) My response to this post was that I agree with Amberi. I believe this is engineering and science! The students are engaged in critical thinking, problem solving, debating and so forth. There are endless possibilities for them and it seems like they are excited to do this experiment. As Amberli said, there is no wrong way of succeeding as long as coffee is produced. The students have the ability to discuss different ideas and all work together to come to a conclusion. Good Luck! Hope the students have as much fun as I think they are!