I am Aaron Watson of Philadelphia, Pa. Education is my second career. Although it has been in my blood for years I've recently made the change and commitment to pursue my life long goal. Having a positive influence on children is a marvelous accomplishment. I've entered into the area of pedagogy in 1992 as a substitute teacher. Before I invested the money in a certification program I wanted to be sure that education was for me. After the initial screening that the Philadelphia School District puts their candidates through, I was thrown to the wolves, so to speak. My first assignment was at Kenderton Elementary School which is located in North Philadelphia. I was placed into a second grade class in which the first teacher had a nervous break-down. I was honored to be asked to take this long term assignment,which allowed me to see that There was a lot to teaching. This was to be a challenging and rewarding career.
What am I doing here?
I was fortunate to sign up for the Chaos and Computers Summer Institute at Bryn Mawr College.
What am I interested in? Besides teaching, I have fallen in Love with the game of golf. I find that it takes most of my spare time. This does not sit well with my wife Carmella and three daughters Ashley, Ericka and Courtnay. I am Also a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated Omicron Delta Lambda Chapter in Philadelphia ,Pa.
Another interest that I have is in the creation of buttons. It is a family venture that we have started. The name of the company is " Buttons for all occasions" We take different images ,pictures, graphics and place them on buttons. We have had mild success with this project and it is something that the entire family gets involved with. We sold lots of buttons at the Annual Greek Picnic, The Million Man and Woman Marches and Family reunions and other family and civic events. If you may be interested in this custom made product you can Fax me your information at 215-424-1642 . We will be happy to discuss and elaborate on our product line
Who are my friends? Jackie ,Leonard
Lesson Plan
Establishing cooperative groups
What I am going to do as a project? I am going to attempt to present a comprehensive lesson plan that will assist with the formation and implementation of COOPERATIVE .GROUPS. It seems as if education is moving more towards the cooperative learning model for instruction Employers are requiring that there work force engage in group activities . Goals, deadlines ,presentations and the companies or organizations success hinge on the groups ability to accomplish the task . Therefore, one can understand the need to begin to teach our future in such a way that will best prepare them to assume their rule in tomorrow's workplace.
This summer I had the fortune to be a part of the CHAOS and COMPUTER INSTITUTE at Bryn Mawr College. During the institute we investigated the mathematical and scientific aspects of the term and Process of CHAOS. It was quite interesting to learn that Chaos is the result of an occurrence that follows an established rule and continues or iterates but the results can no longer be predicted. In order for the participants to come to some minute understanding of this complex and difficult theory, the facilitators led us in numerous group activities which enhanced and reinforced our understanding of chaos. It is these activities and not the complexity of chaos that I will focus on, for they can be applied to any group activity or task that needs to be accomplished.
One of the major difficulties that an educator may be faced with prior to accomplishing the the task is "How do we get the students to work with those other than their friends". We must remember that Working in groups is a social skill. Students ,teachers employees, members of church or civic group are very vocal. Each individual has their own innate or learned ideas and belief system. Therefore in order for the group to succeed it must learn the social skill of a group.
A good starting place is with a list and a description of the dynamics of a sound working group.
COOPERATION
COMPROMISING
BRAINSTORMING
ACTIVE LISTENING
SHARING
ENCOURAGING
BONDING
CONTROLLED CHAOS
Above Plan Continues to be under construction
Brain Behavior and Institute
This two week seminar was very technical. We explored various aspects of how the CENTRAL NERVOUS system affects our behavior through an chemical process
Click here to see some of the areas of interest as it pertains to the CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM Some of the images are very graphic!!Brain Anatomy