A *huge* part of this cruise is education, outreach and communication (EOC). NSF (National Science Foundation - a tax-funded program to fund scientific research) wants scientists to get out of their own little world and communicate their science to the public. (After all, it is the tax-paying public that make our research possible.) Plus, communicating with and involving the public with our research not only benefits researchers' communication skills (believe me, they could use the help!) but it helps bring cutting edge science to the classroom and gets more students and teachers alike excited about exploring our world. But this is the first IODP cruise that has reserved berths for 6 teachers and 1 outreach specialist! So, all scientists are getting involved in EOC activities.
Here are some of the stuff we're doing:
Adopt-A-Microbe - You get to choose a microbe to adopt and interact with shipboard scientists to learn about your microbe.
Deep Earth Academy - LOTS of outreach and education activities geared at deep ocean and deep earth aspects of research.
School of Rock - opportunity to take teachers aboard the drilling rig to learn about the science and talk about bringing the science to the classroom
Lots of other shipboard activities are currently underway. You can see the JOIDES Resolution website for more information.
Here's what I could use your help with:
I would like to adapt some of the activities/lesson plans already in place (i.e. Deep Earth Academy) for special needs classrooms. What I need from you and your teacher friends is ideas about:
-- Methods that work in special needs classrooms like 1) What kinds of hands-on activities work? (Kids drawing while you narrate to them; kids molding clay while they hear a story or directions; having them make an aspect of the lesson out of paper/fabric or draw it; playing a game related to the topic; trivia contest related to the topic; journal entries related to the topic; role-playing or acting out; etc etc etc), 2) reading activities, 3) listening/following directions activities, 4) Lessons via comic strips ...etc etc
-- Problems you run into with regular education curricula like 1) Material that is appropriate for your students learning level is patronizing to them because they're older students, 2) topics aren't of their interest, 3) curricula doesn't include cutting edge "cool" research, 4) curricula is not interactive enough for spec ed kids, etc.
--Things that would make spec ed teaching easier like 1) Encorporating a math (or any other cross cat) lesson into a science lesson without the kids knowing they're doing math, 2) More interactive/web-based ideas, 3) More easy-to-work-with but not-easy-to-break manipulatives
Any ideas/thoughts you have would be appreciated. There are lots of people here on the ship that are excited to include special education and would like to get a whole platform of lesson plans going and maybe get a peer-reviewed publication out of this. From this point onward, special education could be included into cutting edge research. How cool is that?!!
But I need you spec ed teachers to help us out. Please pass this along to anyone you think would be interested in putting in some input. Thanks everyone!
Gotta go! Last day on shore and it's time for some last minute shopping before we head out tomorrow at 10am!
Wow, Amanda! Your thoughts on this subject are very thorough! As a special ed teacher, and your mom, I appreciate the opportunity to interact with all of the scientists on this project and benefit from the ideas shared between us. Personally, I enjoy teaching thematic units, i.e.; one specific topic, such as drilling in the sea bed, or ocean currents, etc. and using cross curricular lessons. Cross curricular lessons incorporate science, math, social studies and reading and use interactive websites, maps, realia (real life examples), manipulatives, etc. A typical lesson would take 7 to 14 days to complete and include guided practice followed by independent practice. My masters degree is in curriculum and instruction and I would love to take a topic suggested by you or your colleagues, and offer some ideas for lessons that can be designed for access by many kinds of learners. I'll get Linda involved, if you'd like. She's excellent with the tech. side of lesson design as well as all other aspects. Bon Voyage, my love. Talk to you soon!
ReplyDeleteP.S. I LOVE the JOIDES Resolution site and your picture. This is going to be fun and the website is too cool. One question: If I want my class to adopt a microbe, but school doesn't start until August 2, how do I go about it?
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