Summary: iTunes: We're at 10 comments, we are throwing down the gauntlet to make it to 15 comments. From the Twitterverse: Advisory Idea: 1. StickK.com: Here's a tech based way to help your students modify their behavior. StickK.com is a website that helps you establish a goal you want to achieve, develop a plan to get there, and provide some motivation along the way. Students can put in a goal, establish a person as a Referee that monitors their progress toward that goal and inputs that information into the StickK.com website. The student can designate other StickK members as their friends to help them along the way with encouragement and co-participation. There is a second part to the site as well, but only for credit card holders. You can make it a financial motivation by inputting your credit card, designating an amount, and if you don't reach your incremental goal, $10 is charged to your credit card that week. At the end of the challenge the money is sent to a charity you have designated in your name from the StickK site. The contract/financial motivation is optional. 2. Build self-confidence and help students get to know each other: Paper Bag Self. The students decorate the outside of a paper bag with pictures and words that represent their “outer selves,” such as favorite color, sport, food, etc. Then, they put a word or picture inside their bag that reflects a personal concern, such as health, divorce, peer problems, grades, etc. As a way of introducing themselves to the class, students share the outside of their bag. If they feel comfortable, they are welcome to share the inside of their bag privately with their peers or advisor. 3. Another advisory group activity that creates the feeling of “family” and focuses on the individual as part of a whole is a puzzle activity. Each member of the class, including the advisor, is given a large cardboard puzzle piece to decorate. The puzzle piece features their name and artwork that reflects their uniqueness. When the pieces are complete, they are joined together to form a puzzle that represents a united advisory group. Letters: From: Jenny McAvoy-Anteau: (Lots & Lots of information, here's just a snippet): Western Michigan University (WMU)_ researchers have discovered no significant advantage to teaching students through experimenting instead of teaching them through direct instruction. www.physorg.com/news153990337.html (the summary includes this -- "The data, while marginally favoring inquiry, really show that as long as the instruction is good either way, the two approaches (inquiry vs direct instruction) lead to no significant difference- at least as far as science content understanding is concerned" William Cobern of WMU's Mallinson Institute for Science Education). News: My Coercive Classroom By Cossondra George
