Week 8: Predicting Dyslexia

In the battle of understanding and helping those with dyslexia, several recent advances have been made.  Among these advances are ways to diagnose the disorder at an earlier time of the child’s life, thereby leading to a greater chance of helpful and timely intervention and a path towards success.

Scientists and researchers have discovered an area of the brain that may be helpful in diagnosing a child with dyslexia.  Using MRI technology, scientists have identified the arcuate fasciculus in the left hemisphere of the brain that seems to be an indicator of dyslexia.  It is important piece for language.  In a person without dyslexia the arcuate fasciculus appears to bigger and better organized.  In a person with dyslexia, the arcuate fasciculus appears small and without proper organization.  This is just a step in the direction of diagnosing dyslexia early on however, and further research is needed before this method can be used to identify children with dyslexia.

Another study out of MIT, is measuring the brain’s electrical activity in young students by using electrode caps.  While wearing the caps, the students perform a number of tests in the cognitive, behavioral, and language departments.  The leaders of the study are hopeful that results will help to diagnose dyslexia in students and avoid further frustration.

I think these are great steps in identifying dyslexia.  I have seen students struggle firsthand with this disorder and believe that any research to help diagnose dyslexia earlier in life would be helpful.  It may help to prevent some of the anguish and frustration that comes with reading if a student has targeted help early on in their education.

Zimmerman, R. (2014, June 24). Predicting Dyslexia — Even Before Children Learn to Read. MindShift. Retrieved June 26, 2014, from http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2014/06/predicting-dyslexia-even-before-children-learn-to-read/

Week 7: Going All In: How to Make Competency Based Learning Work

New Hampshire has become the first state to dive head first into “Competency Based Learning” or where students are moved up in academics when they have shown mastery of a subject or standard.  This is in contrast to the current widespread system of having students move on after they finish a grade, regardless of their level of achievement (as long as it’s above average) or understanding of all subject matter.

New Hampshire policies for competency-based learning rely heavily on performance-based assessments, with the hopes that there will one day be a vast archive of these assessments for teachers to utilize.  End of the year and standardized testing have no place in the new system.  Under the new system, age based grade levels would cease to exist and students would only move forward once they have shown mastery of certain skills and subjects.

However, the state has run into several problems with this system.  For one, their power to implement it was taken away when the legislators decided not to include ways to assess the progress of the initiative in the schools.  The state’s role is now more supplemental, providing research and resources to schools that would like support.  Because of this, the policy is being implemented in many different ways throughout the state, with some local officials deciding which parts they would like to use and what to throw out at their discretion.

Overall, I think this idea is a good one.  Having taught in a school where a high number of students had just been passed through the system, regardless of mastery or even competency of most subjects, I think this would be greatly beneficial to a lot of students.  However, I’m curious as to how teachers are supposed to teach to a class where all the students are working at a different pace.  I would like to see this type of system in action or more research on its effectiveness before fully subscribing to the idea.

Schwartz, K. (2014, June 16). Going All In: How to Make Competency-Based Learning Work. MindShift. Retrieved June 17, 2014, from http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2014/06/going-all-in-how-to-make-competency-based-learning-work/

Week 6: Using Entrepreneurship to Transform Student Work

Raleigh Werberger is a high school humanities teacher that worked with a group of teachers to implement a new kind of project based learning for his ninth grade students.  He and his colleagues were motivated to really engage the students in their learning, seeing it as a way to have them take charge of their learning and find some happiness in it.

He and his team came up with the idea of having students create a startup business for a local aquaponics farm.  Students assigned themselves roles like contractor, designers, and salesman to complete the project.  The results were staggering.  The students were so highly engaged in the project that its success spilled over into other academic areas as well.  Teachers reported higher involvement in math, science, and language arts, to further their understanding of how to get their business up and running.  The students saw each lesson as a potential learning experience to better their business plan.  Also, members of the community and the parents of the students were heavily involved.  Werberger easily conceded to professional engineers and accountants as they worked with the students to accomplish their business goals.  One team even got their business bankrolled by a few local entrepreneurs while the other teams vowed to find funding for their businesses as well.

I think this idea of introducing entrepreneurship at the high school level is a brilliant idea.  A lot of times students do not feel connected to the material they are learning and it becomes a chore to participate or engage in lessons.  This project clearly shows that students can be motivated to take charge of their learning and funnel it towards worthwhile outcomes outside of the classroom.  I think this kind of project could really benefit a lot of students and schools.

Werberger, R. (n.d.). Using Entrepreneurship to Transform Student Work. Edutopia. Retrieved June 9, 2014, from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/pbl-entrepreneurship-transforms-student-work-raleigh-werberger

Week 5: Teaching History Outside the Box

Guest blogger Dan Carlin illustrates an interesting concept in his blog “Teaching History Outside the Box.”  Carlin details the well known boring aspect that is associated with learning history and how students are taught about events, only to likely forget them when the test is over.  In other words, teaching history has always been more about the curriculum than it has been about student interest.

Carlin suggests a more radical approach to teaching history by using its inherent interesting properties to engage students by connecting to their personal interests.  For example, if a student loves sports, why not encourage that student to research how sports came to be and early versions of their favorite games? In this way, teachers would be instilling in students a love of learning history, rather than a few passing memories of historical events that they have little interest in.  Carlin creates historical podcasts to engage his students in learning about the past, something they seem to enjoy.

While I can appreciate Carlin’s enthusiasm for student interest, I have a hard time “tossing out the curriculum” when it comes to teaching and learning history, as he suggests.  I do think there is room for improvement on how students are taught and tested in history, but the idea of the subject being entirely student centered is a bit radical for my taste.  I would like to see this kind of teaching in action before I’d consider following some of his points.

Carlin, D. (n.d.). Teaching History Outside the Box. Edutopia. Retrieved June 3, 2014, from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/teaching-history-outside-the-box-dan-carlin