Research, research, research

My students are now in the middle of their research writing project and they are doing a great job. This is the first year that the kids are working in groups and their research papers will be submitted on a wikispace page. In past years whenever I mentioned the dreaded research paper my students would groan in agony. This year they still groaned but now that they are working on it they are really into the assignment. Somehow it seems that using technology make them happier with the work they're doing. I'm anxious to see what the results are and I'll post some of the best wikis for you to see. So far I'm impressed with their work.

The kids are also getting ready for their "teacher for a day" presentations. After the paper is handed in the group must become teachers for a day and teach a lesson to the class for an entire 55 minute class period. The students are required to write a lesson plan based on the research from their papers. The lesson must include information for the students, class activities, and homework. So far many groups have approached me with smirks on their faces asking if they can give pop quizzes. I'm hoping that they come up with innovative ways to share the information they've researched and I also hope they have a better understanding of what teachers do each and every day!

What is True Beauty? - Good Stuff

After discussing beauty and what it is I asked the kids to reflect on what they think true beauty really is.

David G. wrote:

My real definition of beauty is not having any makeup and having the guts to show what you really look like; your true beauty. When you look at celebrities they're loaded with makeup or if they're in ads they are photo shopped as much as possible. I don't call that beauty, I call it fiction. Models in ads are like the fairy tales of today, they're never going to happen in real life. Overall, beauty is what you're born with, and not what you buy.

Great Job David!

Twilight Zone - Good Stuff!

Today the students were watching an old Twilight Zone episode called "Eye of the Beholder." We are now in our unit about beauty and I'm getting the students ready for it. This episode is great because it shows the kids how beauty is truly based on one's own opinion. After viewing the episode the students spent a few minutes collecting their thoughts and then we had a discussion. One student made a great comment that I felt summed up the day perfectly:

Alex W. said, "The strange somewhere else, can be beauty somewhere else."

Good Stuff! - quote

I just had to add this statement that a student made a few minutes ago in class when we were discussing the phrase "You can't judge a book by its cover."

Courtney T. said -

"Once you break the barrier of judging from the outside every thing inside comes out and that's all you see."

Sometimes I'm amazed that my students are only 12 years old.

Eye of the Beholder

Today we are starting out "Eye of the Beholder" unit. The students spend a few minutes at the beginning of class reflecting on their thoughts about the quote, "You can't judge a book by its cover." I was impressed by their thoughts and reasoning when we discussed this. Although the students were right on target when thinking about this quote, the majority of them admitted to judging someone before they got to know them at some point in their life. We talked about how it's human nature to make judgements but I challenged the kids to take a step back when they meet someone new and get to know them before making any assumptions about them.

During this unit we will be looking at the concept of beauty, how media affects our perceptions of beauty, and we will be researching beauty in other cultures.