EDUC 6663 Week 3

What makes your goat dance?
WEEK 3 Educ 6663 Post

Wk3Assignment

I think that in order to promote interest and engagement in the sciences, teachers must find other ways to relate science to students.  One way is to associate the identities of the scientists to the students.  A reason for this is that students feel that they are so far removed from scientists that they think that they are incapable of being one.  Links that I found useful are:

Markina Brown

http://www.lasentinel.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5693:markina-brown-first-in-meteorology&catid=55&Itemid=145

African American Scientists

https://webfiles.uci.edu/mcbrown/display/faces.html

 Another way that educators can help students understand these scientific phenomena, appreciate how the natural laws of science influence lives, and consider what they can do to help those affected by such a tragedy is by connecting students to community organizations.  Helping the community enables students to understand how people can work together to help each other.  Movies like “Pay It Forward” have spurred a national Pay It Forward Day http://payitforwardday.com/.  Students can begin small and then continue to something big! 

Regarding students contributing to relief efforts, check out Cleveland students at http://www.clevelandbanner.com/view/full_story/14542556/article-Lee%E2%80%99s-Summer-Honors-students-contribute-to-tornado-relief-efforts.  I think that this is a great story because students are not overwhelmed by the enormity of helping; they can help on many levels. 

Finally, there is a program that educators can use year-round called the International Baccalaureate Program.  I have tried to find some links that are useful, and this is the best one - http://www.ibo.org/

Please let me know if these sites MAKE YOUR GOAT DANCE!