Choice Reading # 6

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/08/living-fossil-eel/

Living fossil eel

A rare eel has been rediscovered, and is now being studied to find a genetic link. Studies have found that this eel has features such as its jaw structure and relatively small number of vertebrae. Which these have been found only in fossils of the earliest eels. This is a breakthrough for evolutionary biologists, because they thought the eels had broken off at 100million years and had lost these features. Even current hagfish had confused biologists for a while with their jawless mouth, but biologists concluded that it broke off from modern fish and lost the jaw apparatus. Studies like this interest me because they provide common links between animals and their features. Not only do they help us relate animals to one another but they help me piece together our world and where animals come from. It also helps me form a better understanding of God's world. While I don't agree with the timeline of most evolutionary biologists, I can agree that animals share many characteristics in growth with one another. This should help me in the classroom to make connections with students, and relate information to them through comparison.

Choice Reading # 5

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/10/vertebrate-lineage/

Vertebrate lineage

Evolutionary biologists from Cornell University have apparently discovered that almost all vertabrates descended from a fish. In this article there are a lot of probably's and suppositions made by the evolutionary biologists at Cornell. The author, Mark Brown, is careful to write this article from a stand off point. The biologists also claim that electroreception abilities are found in some land vertabrates, but not reptiles, birds, and mammals. These electroreception abilities are apparently found in ancient sensory systems and have a common evolutionary heritage. This supposedly gives more evidence to an evolutionary link between all mammals and fishes. I think articles like these give little evidence to support either side of the creationism vs evolution debate, but it is good to find articles like this to cast out of consideration. I have read many articles like this that provide information that may link us to some different animal that “proves” we evolved through macro evolution. All of these articles fall short and have not earned my stamp of legitimacy. I would like to see what Christian researchers have to say about this data however.

Choice Reading # 4

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/10/clothed-chimpanzees-protection/

Clothed chimpanzees protection

This was an interesting article created by Virginia Morell, a bio nerd much like me I'm sure. This article addressees the misuses of using chimpanzees and other primates in commercials for human sales. The problem with using animals to sell products is that the public begin to see the animals in this light and it is harder for them to view these animals in any other way. With chimps habitats being destroyed, or rescue efforts on areas being attempted, the groups attempting these endeavors need funding. When they go to look for this funding they get confused looks because chimps are the tv clowns. At first reading this article I laughed too, but it affects my future classroom as well. The animals and things I teach on might already have a presupposed picture about them before I teach it. Students nowadays know about sex before the end of elementary school, they learn what cancer is and how it works, and they learn things like evolution vs creationism. They learn all these things, or at least they learn what impression it makes on those around them. Humans learn by experiences and those closest to us growing up have a profound impression on our learning. I hope I can be a positive impression and be a teacher that helps kids grow in knowledge instead of kicked to the curb, because they already have their presuppositions.

Choice reading # 3

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2011-10/500000-usda-grant-could-help-genetically-modified-salmon-company-stay-afloat

USDA grant could help genetically modified salmon company stay afloat

 

Humans have been eating genetically modified crops for a while now, but we have not been eating genetically modfied animals. If the USDA approves the grant for this company, Aqua Bounty, then we will soon have a new type of food. Genetically modified salmon that grow twice the rate of normal salmon, and are mainly bottom feeders. The problem is that other companies have lost grant money from the FDA after it has been promised, and this shut their research down almost instantly. The company has already invested 67 million dollars into this project and they are trying to get the fish approved for public sale. It would be interesting to start eating genetically modified food. I imagine star trek like food someday, where we can click a button and make food appear. It's a stretch, but if we can genetically modify things how far can we go?

Readacide Gallagher Chp 1 Excerpt

         The excerpt had a huge list of “hard talk” questions. These questions are all focused on classrooms and how reading is taught. These questions also suggest that if we don't do something about reading and how it is taught, we will leave our childrens' learning behind. One included feature in this excerpt is a chart of the benefits of “beating the odds” schools. This chart is a list of the mundane performance of “typical schools” and “beating the odds schools”. One study by Langer found that schools that rely solely on one dominant approach only are unlikely to rise to the level of an effective school.

         This excerpt was meant to inspire thought provoking thinking in the way we teach reading. I found it to be dull besides the questions on the sheet. The chart of the benefits of “beating the odds” schools was a classic approach to inspire their motives. I understand that hard hitting questions and change help, however, charts like this prove nothing for me. The connection I made was with questions like “Why is it that the higher the grade level, the higher the chances that students are turned off to reading?”. This question made a personal connection with me, as I am going into highschool biology teaching. I need to know what the correlations are between age and reading so that I can combat it. I also liked the question “are our students doing enough academic reading?” This is true especially with Facebook and many other social media networking sites. Most of the reading kids do is selecting their next songs, searching the internet, and talking to friends on Facebook. I believe one way to combat this is by introducing students to short news stories that interest them. Kids already love updates on their friends, and all kids have favorite subjects and hobbies. If they can get access to quick news updates on their favorite things it will open them up to reading more news and stories about subjects that are not so pertinent to them. Therefore, my job will be to not only find these news articles for them, but also to find out what areas they find interesting.

Finding the sweet spot, chapter 4

         This chapter was all about finding the sweet spot, obviously. The author had several examples from baseball to romeo and juliet, but all illustrated the need for a sweet spot of reading instruction. Over teaching a subject results in chopped up reading. When a teacher has the student read a chapter, goes over it for that class period and continues this for weeks on end. This chops up the book and disrupts reading flow. Just as detrimental, under teaching involves throwing the book at kids and expecting them to understand it. There is a sweet spot for reading that keeps kids intrigued but also helps them read it themselves. Only then do they achieve reading flow and learn something from what they are reading.

         This chapter made a lot more sense than many things I have read for this class. I understand the extremes on both sides. I remember classes where the teacher had us read one chapter and then went over it in class and repeated this process for almost a month. I of course read about a page of each chapter, just enough to summarize and make it look like I read the chapter. This wasn't due to the lack of intrest in the book, it was due to the butchering of my reading flow. When I get into a book, like Harry Potter, I will read for up to 4 hours. This is a good thing, and I retain much of the knowledge that I am reading about. I can also play a video game for up to 6 hours without eating or moving much. This is because I have achieved a sweet spot of interest and challenge for my mind. My parents told me so many times, if I could just achieve this with my education, I could have a 4.0 and be in ivy league schools. Now I apply this to my future students, if I can just achieve this with my classroom, I will tap into flow that has limitless potential. Not just because they pay attention to academic material for a couple hours, but because they get interested in the academic material.

Jo Draper Chapter 1

Aims and Criteria for Collaboration in Content-Area Classrooms

The beginning of Jo Drapers book focuses on the need for collaboration in all classrooms. This collaboration is necessary due to the lack of knowledge and resources necessary in most content areas to sustain student learning. Due to the range of texts and classroom types, a (re)imagining of content literacy is necessary. Draper argues that all educators can be, should be, and probably are literacy educators. Through collaboration with different content area teachers, we will gain a greater perspective on how literacy should be taught and strategies used.

This chapter was very wordy and focused much on convincing me that (re)imagining content area literacy is necessary. Re-imaging content area literacy from drapers perspective seems to be collaborating with other teachers of different content areas and gaining their perspective on literacy. To me, re-imagining content area literacy is trying to rethink how you teach. As soon as I read the words it made me think of teachers who have taught me to rethink my strategies for studying. Upon further thought, I remember my parents telling me to rethink my actions when I do something wrong. Therefore my connection with Re-imagining is a connection that is personal and private reflection. It makes sense to add collaboration into the mix though, with collaboration increases external knowledge. It will be tougher though to get some teachers to collaborate. Some teachers will be set in their ways and not want to incorporate others input, especially mine being a new teacher.

A Game plan for Mom and Dad

In Biology, one of the greatest parent needs is for the parent to have security that their child is being attentive.  One situation I will have often with my students is their lack of attentiveness to the subject.  If a student doesn’t want to pay attention in elementary school, we challenge the parents to get more involved. If a student doesn’t want to pay attention in college, they skip class, and who cares they are the ones paying.  Highschool is a whole different area of attentiveness, it is part the teachers responsibility and part the student.  If a parent came to me and said “you aren’t teaching Johnny well enough because his grade is poor”.  I would have to reflect on his performance, show his parent the grades Johnny is receiving and communicate how he is in class.  If he is constantly sleeping or inattentive then I can explain this might not be a problem on my end, not completely.  I would also research with other teachers to find out if this is a pattern Johnny has or if it is just Biology class that he is disinterested in.  Often the student has trouble in several subjects, and if it isn’t the teacher, or the subject, then it may be a deeper problem.