Upcycled Education: relate create donate

This blog post might be better titled, "First weeks of School." Here's a round-up of past blog posts that I would definitely incorporate into my first weeks back to school. I use these each year with my new crop of students. Teachers make the best recyclers.

(Capri Sun Wallets by Jen and lil O)

The Typxwritxr - This quick overhead (or handout) brings home the idea of "we are all in this together." You can use this ditty with multiple age groups in any subject area or discipline.
Captain, Crew, Cargo Metaphor - This metaphor never goes out of style with students and it sets the stage for the rest of the school year. Plus, you get the message when a student tells you they feel like "cargo."
The Icon Finder - If you haven't jazzed up your e-learning presence yet, absolutely use Icon Finder to do so. See the cute Facebook and Twitter icons I used on the right side of this blog? Fun, eh? Icon Finder is loaded with engaging icons for any occasion or subject.
DIY Artwork - Speaking of making things engaging, did you decorate your classroom yet? If you still have bare walls, see if this do-it-yourself decor might work for you and your students. Plus, it makes great gifts.
Relate, Create, Donate/Lesson & Project Planning - For some school districts, lesson planning is prescribed or pre-planned by someone other than the classroom teacher. For the rest of us, try using this easy model from the great state of Maryland for lesson and project planning.
Mod Podge for Education - I return to school next week. For my post-Labor Day-back-to-school goers (yes, you detect a hint of envy there), you still have time to craftucate! See what you think of this Mod Podge project from lil O and I. Send pics of your creations to entertain us. After all, lil O is one of those post-Labor Day-back-to-school goers.

Lucky kid,

Jen

Relate, Create and Donate is more of a teaching or lesson planning philosophy, or concept, than it is a theory. Ben Shneiderman, a professor at the University of Maryland, introduced the concept a decade ago. This framework for lesson planning, teaching, and maybe even life, has three parts: Relate, Create and Donate.

(Photo by Andrew Pescod; Photoshopped by Jen)

Let's breakdown each one.

Relate: Ask yourself, how do students relate to the topic being studied? How do they relate to the lesson? Do your students see relevance in what is being learned? How could technology like news articles, video clips and audio files bring the information to life?

The National Science Education Report (1996) nicely summed up this concept:

"Learning is something students do, not something that is done to them...."

Create: Once students have related to the lesson and/or topic, now what can they do with the information or new skill? Can they craft a story out of their weekly spelling words? Can they apply math formulas to do-it-yourself home projects? Can they explain why gluten molecules take so long to digest?

This ancient proverb sums up Create well:

"I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand."

Donate: Students are accustomed to the audience of one. You know, the audience of the teacher. Why not take advantage of a larger audience base to make learning more meaningful and useful outside of the classroom? Could students share their creations with another class? The entire school? The PTA? At a conference? On the internet?

Albert Einstein had a lovely way to discuss donation:

"It is every man's obligation to put back into the world
at least the equivalent of what he takes out of it."

Challenge yourself in your lesson planning to include the relate, create and donate framework.

I just thought of something....this blog is my personal relate, create and donate example.

Neat,

Jen