The 20 Biggest Reasons You Should Read...Great Article from Edudemic

Above is a poster I created two years ago. I hope it reminds students why it is vital for them to READ.

I was reading one of my favorite blogs put out by Ken Halla, and he recently wrote a post highlighting a fabulous website all about education and technology called Edudemic. It is a great site that explores various issues about infusing technology in the classroom.

After only spending a short amount of time perusing the website this morning, I stumbled across this great article about reading. Last year I decided to make a big effort to promote reading more in my social studies classes. Education philosophers can debate about the merits of making lessons rigorous and student centered (and whatever other popular buzzwords are currently popular), however, the bottom line is that children need to be able to read and understand what they are reading. In my experiences, students of all backgrounds struggle with reading and comprehending what they are reading. With Common Core coming down the pike, all content area teachers will be teaching reading whether they like it or not.

The article focuses on how reading literature can improve creativity, develop critical thinking skills, and help one become more adept concentrating, along with 17 other reasons why reading is important. In my experiences, the biggest obstacle deterring students from enjoying reading is the fact that they are often forced to read literature that means little to them. I can remember questioning the books I read as a teenager, though some I ended up enjoying even though I assumed they would be awful. Perhaps if we let students occasionally have the option to choose what to read, they would become intrinsically motivated to read.

You might be asking yourself why this blog is focusing so much on reading...where is the technology??? Well here you go...I highly suggest you try 60second Recap. I stumbled across this website a few years by accident. Purists might argue that using video clips to help review a novel gives students an easy way out of reading, however, I feel that using clips to help reinforce comprehension and analysis can sustain student interest and motivate students to keep reading to see how the novel progresses.

Freakonomics in the Classroom!

As a teacher I should say I have read the actual book Freakonomics. Alas, I have not, though I have seen the film based on the best selling book. In recent years, the creators of Freakonomics have begun publishing podcasts, as well as creating their stellar website. The basic idea of Freakonomics is taking weird/interesting economics questions and using data to solve and/or analyze them.

In the past, I have used part of their documentary about how names of children can affect a person's life. The students loved the 10 minute video and we had a great discussion about race, stereotypes, and the concept of "opportunities". Here is a sample this great video...

As we get closer to the end of the school year, I try to create interesting lessons to keep students interested in coming to class rather than ditching school for the local mall. The Freakonomics website has lots of free materials, though you may want to invest in purchasing the DVD, though if you have Netflix, you may be able to stream the documentary!

Another video that will deftinitely motivate your students to participate in a class discussion and/or writing prompt is whether students should be paid to earn good grades. You can show this 3 minute video to you students and see where the class goes...

Coursera...FREE College Courses from Prestigious Universities

I apologize for not posting for a little while, but I have been catching up on a variety of 

professional and personal projects. 

While listening to NPR the other morning, I came across Coursera. This new nonprofit is all about offering college level courses for FREE from professors at world class universities. As of now, they are just starting up, though they plan to offer more courses in the future. Check out the short video above that explains the basic idea of Coursera. 

I foresee a couple of potential opportunities. First, teachers can show high school students what "college" lectures look like. I feel like high school students are so accustomed to the passiveness of many high school classes, that they are blown away when they arrive at college and discover it is up to them to actively learn. Second, I feel teachers can take courses through Coursera in order to boost up their professional development resume. For instance, the University of Pennsylvania is offering a course on Healthcare Policy and the Affordable Care Act in June. Since this is something I teach in AP US Government and Politics, I could gain some new insights and learn about the complex law. Check out a video explaining the course below.

Bigfuture...College FAQ's for Students, Parents, and Educators

The word "college" can bring feelings of excitement, worry, and confusion to high school students. The current education mantra is for students be to "College and Career Ready", however, many high schools do not offer courses and/or seminars explaining the process of applying, paying, and making the most of being at a college. Though, college fairs and seminars do happen outside of school day in many districts and schools.

Bigfuture is a website created by the College Board that presents answers to student, parent, and educator questions about college. I am not exaggerating when I say Bigfuture has tons of resources about everything one would need to know about anything related to "college". I particularly enjoy how the website uses a mixture of videos and text to educate people. I also like how many of the resources are explained in Spanish. I teach many students who are English Language Learners--a large majority of them are native Spanish speakers.Even though my students might be able to speak and understand English, many of their parents do not speak English, thus resources in different languages are always beneficial.

I do not have enough space to explain all of the resources available, though I will focus a bit on their Paying for College resources. I often come across many students who struggle with paying for college. Many students have no idea what FAFSA is and why filing for FAFSA is necessary to receive federal and private financial assistance. Bigfuture provides many resources to explain FAFSA, financial aid facts, and scholarship information.

Many wonderful websites exist beyond Bigfuture. I have been promoting Cappex to students for a few years too. Unlike Bigfuture, Cappex is more focused on helping students find a college and scholarship that matches student interests. Additionally, a teacher or guidance counselor can monitor student searches and communications with colleges and scholarship opportunities.

I hope you are able to spread the resources of Bigfuture to your students. As the year winds down and teachers often fight to make lessons that interest students, I recommend spending a day or more teaching students about the college application process.