Weird dream. I remember being pissed at my sister because she cooked rice in the tea tin I keep sugar in, and moved the sugar to a saucepan. Everyone in the dream seemed to think I should be nicer to her, while I just ranted and raved and waved my hands around, unable to make anyone see how silly her actions were.
I'm sure this has some deeper meaning. Perhaps I've been very frustrated lately with people not doing things the way I think is reasonable (or not doing things my way).
Which is strange because I met up with my fellow 3rd grade teacher on Monday to do some planning, and it went remarkably well. I didn't do it my way, but a better way. Reverse planning, or Outcome-Based planning is where you start with the standard(s) you want to teach, what you expect to be mastered, and what Essential Questions will be discussed, and work back from that. It's kind of "the wave of the future" in teaching (although many teachers have done it for years), and I've been wanting to learn how to do it. It's neat, concise, and easy to follow.
I was really excited at using it to plan my big election unit. One of the culminating projects will be dividing the class into two camps - McCain and Obama, and further dividing these camps into groups of two or three. They have to research one area of focus (ie, education plan, economic plan, Iraq, etc) and write a short speech outlining what "they" believe. They will be able to dress up as the candidates and give their speeches, after which we will hold a mock election. Students will have to write a paragraph as an "exit poll", explaining why they voted for the person they did. What policy won them over, and made them believe a particular candidate would be the best choice?
Of course, a lot of work needs to go into this. I need to find or adapt some kid-friendly versions of each candidate's platform, so they can do research. And, as the other teacher pointed out, we need to teach our kids how to do research. And as with most Big Ideas, this is a little intimidating to teach to 3rd graders. But I'm stoked about getting started on this year.
BTW, if anyone stumbles across websites you believe might be important, would you send them to me? That would be tremendously helpful. Cabel, do you know of any info I might be able to use?
In other news: this is very funny, and I think I may have to remember it for the life science unit my class will do. Store Wars, with Cuke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Cannolli, Princess Lettuce, Ham Solo, and Chewbroccoli.
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That is all.