Serious Learning

Can You Recognize an Effective Teacher When You Recruit One?

Wendy — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 23:51:47 +0000

Research on the relationship between teachers’ characteristics and teacher effectiveness has been underway for over a century, yet little progress has been made in linking teacher quality with factors observable at the time of hire. However, most research has examined a relatively small set of characteristics that are collected by school administrators in order to [...]

Full of Hot Air

Wendy — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 18:27:08 +0000

For our science lessons, we’ve been learning about some of the physical processes involved when gasses and liquids are heated up (or cooled down). We measured a balloon filled with air, then measured again when we heated it over the furnace vent for an hour or so, then put it in the fridge for an hour [...]

Homeschool Book…

Wendy — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 02:14:40 +0000

My little guy sometimes has a hard time understanding why he’s being homeschooled. He has a desire, like many little kids, to be like everyone else. I explain the benefits, and he doesn’t exactly want to go to school, but he still doesn’t want to be different. Tonight I found and ordered a book about homeschooling called [...]

Resource: Periodic Table of Videos

Wendy — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 18:34:34 +0000

Tables charting the chemical elements have been around since the 19th century - but this modern version will have a short video about each one. Check it out here.

Happy Independence Day

Wendy — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 14:30:15 +0000

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…” Have a [...]

“When you get out of high school, what are you educated to do?”

Wendy — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 02:21:16 +0000

What a darned good question. The answer is, of course, nothing. A high school graduate is not really trained for anything. Not by their traditional education, anyway. If they’re lucky enough to have a gift for computer programming or art, they can certainly adapt those skills into a business or career, but by and large, the education you [...]

Who wants to be the next Canadian astronaut

Wendy — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 01:49:34 +0000

No, it’s not the name of a new reality TV show, though the early auditions would be fun to watch if it were. The Canadian Space Agency began its latest recruitment campaign in May and over 5000 candidates had registered for two positions when the deadline closed last week. The list will narrowed down to a [...]

Weekends are the best

Wendy — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 23:16:12 +0000

I love weekends. Every weekday I get to spend the day at home, but I have to work. I have to answer the phone, and work in front of the computer, and I feel guilty if I spend a few extra hours playing a game or going to the park on a Monday afternoon. But weekends [...]

NCLB leaves average and gifted kids behind?

Wendy — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 22:13:01 +0000

When I was in school, I generally tended to fall in the upper end of the ‘Average Students’. As such, I never received much attention from teachers. I wasn’t a brilliant genius who could make a teacher or a school look good at an academic meet, and I didn’t need any remedial help with my [...]

Summer Adventures in Gardening

Wendy — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 15:42:40 +0000

This year, our summer project is container gardening. Last year, our gardening attempts failed miserably with snails, slugs, squirrels and chipmunks eating nearly everything we planted before it even ripened. This year, we’re working on solutions… copper for the slugs and snails, bloodmeal for the rodents. So far, it’s working pretty well. The tomato plants look [...]