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FINALE: Post-Institute Assignments Go Here!

BRYN MAWR COLLEGE SUMMER INSTITUTES
Science and a Sense of Place 2007

 

POST-INSTITUTE ASSIGNMENT

 

  • Please continue thinking about our conversations during the ten days of the Institute, and what we might continue to do together to bring about desireable changes in pre-college (and college) education. Insitute materials will remain available to you (and others) at /exchange/suminst/scienceplace2007. There you'll find links to all notes and resource lists, your own blogs, and the institute forum area.

    Please visit the home page once more this weekend and leave there your thoughts/ideas/suggestions about our two weeks together. And keep us all posted during the year by recording your thoughts/experiences at least monthly. Keep in mind Serendip, the kinds of resources and conversations it would be helpful to you and others to have there, and contributions that you (and your students) might be able to make to that.

  • By September 1, please POST A CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT PROPOSAL IN THE COMMENT SECTION AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE. This should describe some aspect of your experiences with the Institute which suggests a way to improve pre-college education, and the particular changes which you want to try out in your own classroom. It should include as well a budget indicating how you will spend $200 to bring about those changes. (If you participated in the Brain and Behavior Institute, you can submit a proposal, in two copies, for work arising from both institutes). Checks will be mailed for receipt by October 1.

     

  • By June 1, please prepare and send to us a report on the outcome of your curriculum development activities. This report should be thoughtful (including both successes and failures), no more than three or four pages long, and provide a synopsis of what you actually did and how that in turn suggests additional things for yourself and other teachers.

     

  • All of us involved with the Summer Institute program would like to continue to work with you in any additional ways that you think would be helpful. Stay in touch.

     

    Anne Dalke and Wil Franklin
    Departments of English and Biology
    Bryn Mawr College
    Bryn Mawr, Pa. 19010
    adalke@brynmawr.edu
    610 526-5308
    wfrankli@brynmawr.edu
    610 526-5090
  • Comments

    Patricia Mundy's picture

    Curriculum Development Proposal

    I plan to document students stories and science experiences using research information about the history of quilt making and the sites they will visit outside their communities. Quilting is part of African American History and is a way of paying homage to their experiences. I thought it would be appropriate to continue the tradition using photographs in the place of fabric. The quilts I have observed each had a story to tell about a place and time about that individuals life. Quilting is universal, it gives a visual form to milestones in and out the community, to its heroes, triumphs and challenges. The $200.00 stipend will be used to purchase a digital camera and other materials to record a photographic quilt project. Some of the places the students will visit are: the Marina at Penns Landing, Philadelphia Art Museum, Freedom Theater, Kelly Drive, China Town and The Painted Bride Theater. The students will research questions about the buildings and areas they will visit, make comparisons and record observations from the past and present. Finally, the students will write poetry, essays or reports about their new experiences and research about their Sense of Place. This quilt will be displayed in the main hallway show case. The stories will be shared and discussed by all who enter the school.

     

    Materials needed:

     

    1. Digital Camera $140.00

    2. 25 clear folders $15.00

    3 . Press board $40.00

    4. Rub on letters $20.00

    5. Borders $25.00

    6. Plexi-glass $40.00

    Rita Stevens's picture

    CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT PROPOSAL

    I CAN LEARN TO READ

    OBJECTIVE:  To determine that students struggling to learn to read may have this problem due to a lack of certain patterns of activity which mostly occurs on the left side of the brain and then implement the appropriate and necessary remediation or exercises for success.  To help students understand their reading problem(s) and to teach them how to overcome the problem(s).

    MATERIALS:  Society For Neuroscience and groups funded by Natinal Institute for Health have research and information available for assessments, interventions and remediation.  With my $200, I would like to purchase the assessments materials and intervention materials.  I have received the names of several assessments which I am looking at to determine which one will best meet my needs. 

    Mary Ellen McGinnity's picture

    Curriculum Proposal

     

                Background

     

                            For the first time in over three decades, there will be

                            new construction on our campus.  An Athletic Center

                            will be built on the field that used to be the Lower School

                            playground.  The Assembly Room, used for weekly

                            gatherings and class plays, was torn down.  The impact

                            on the school community, especially the students, is a

                            story waiting to be told and preserved as part of the

                            school's history.  As a result of this Institute, I decided to

                            keep an online record of the students' reactions and

                            creative work throughout the year to document their

                            "sense of place" as it changes daily.  Each professor's

                            presentation sparked an idea of what to incorporate

                            into my plan.  Some of the areas I'll include are:

                            mapmaking, history/architecture, storytelling, sensory

                            experiences, and inquiry learning.  My blog is currently

                            on the school website; I'll continue updating it to record

                            the development of this curriculum. 

     

    Objectives  

    Teach students how to use a digital camera.  Guide my first grade class in creating a slideshow of their maps, photos, and stories, using our new SMART Board.

     

    Share some of the Lower School students’ thoughts, observations, sketches, discoveries, adaptations, comparisons, etc. with the school community on our website.  Collaborate with teachers of Art, Science, Technology, Music, Library, and Physical Education to choose representative samples for posting. 

     

     

    Compile an historical journal with contributions from students in grades one through five to be included in the school’s archives. 

     

     

    Materials

     

    Purchase a digital Nikon CoolPix (approximate cost = $200.00) capable of creating in-camera slideshows. 

     

     

           

     

     

                                                         Thank you! 

        

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Rosemary Krygowski's picture

    Grant Proposal

       One phrase that was repeated frequently in Science and a Sense of Place was "writing your own story". For the past 12 years I have run a scholarship fund so that I can give my students an opportunity to attend a environmental camp in Canada in the summer.I would now like to start a Community Service / Environmental Awareness Club.I want my students to "write their own stories" and present them to community groups. It is my hope that by doing this the children will become an intrical part of the fundraising activities.

       COMMUNITY  SERVICE

    • Assisting the life skills class in picking up recycling throughout the school.
    • Clearing the outdoor classroom.
    • Tutoring younger students at lunch and after school.
    • Taking part on the Treevitalization Program.

      RESEARCH:BUCKET BRIGADE/ROV

    • This group will be in charge of researching new ideas that could be part of our service learning. The two I mentioned above were  new ideas that I became aware of through Bryn Mawr College.
    • Bucket Brigade- collects data about air pollution.
    • ROV- research coming out of George Mason University. I have already been in touch with the person involved in this program and she seems to think that we can work together.

      MARKETING: DEVELOPING PRESENTATIONS

    • Students will develop a presentation about the community service that they provide.

      ADVERTISING:POSTERS & BROCHURES

    • Students will be in charge of making posters to announce different activities that our group is involved in(Treevitalization, Recycling, etc.)
    • This group will produce a brochure about our scholarship fund which emphaizes their community service but also mentions their Whale Camp adventure.

     EDUCATION:PRESENTATIONS & FACT OF THE DAY

    • Students will research an environmental fact of the day which will be part of our daily announcements.
    • Students will make presentations to various community organizations to explain the service that they provide to the community and ask them to contribute to our scholarship fund.

     BUDGET

    • Digital Camera- $200 to be used to record the service that the students provide so that they can "write their own stories".

     

    joycetheriot's picture

    CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT PROPOSAL

    In both the Brain and Behavior and Science and a Sense of Place Institute, I developed a new way of thinking in my quest to engage my students in science. In B&B, I created a WebQuest that will electronically guide teachers to incorporate their own stories of facilitating student science engagement into a frame that is non-threatening (and can be) anonymous. I will use fictional stories at the start and then as teachers submit actual accounts of successful practice; I’ll weave those stories into the WebQuest. Teachers can be learning from and/or adding to the stories.  In Science and a Sense of Place I was interested in the idea of helping my students to think about their place in science. I will use a prompt think sheet to elicit recall of past science experiences. I teach a population that is typically resistant to science and math and often think that they “can’t do science”. In a similar method as used with teachers, I plan to use the WebQuest that I created for students to have them not only chronicle their stories of science experiences but also to reflect and determine what types of science teaching are the best to engage them. I plan to photograph my students engaged in science learning and record their voices to match the text of the story. I want to offer teachers a drop-in session that will not only garner their stories but a chance for me to get invited to their classroom to record their students in action. I will use both Bryn Mawr institute grants to purchase a digital video camera or a good digital camera and microphones to record the stories of both students and teachers. I believe this ‘sandwich’ of two parties who are sometimes locked in a battle of opposite goals, could be very interesting and rewarding. I am planning to eventually seek a doctorate in education and see this project as an initial jump into educational research. Thanks! 

     

     

    Diane O'Fee-Powers's picture

    Brain-Behavior & Science In Place Curriculum Proposal

    Home » Blogs » Diane OFee-Powers's blog
    Grant proposal SSP 2007
    Submitted by Diane OFee-Powers on Thu, 2007-08-02 14:26.

    BRAIN AND BEHAVIOR/ SCIENCE IN A SENSE OF PLACE-

    CURRICULLUM PROPOSAL

    My proposal revolves around bullying and violence prevention at the middle school level. I want to integrate the stoytelling aspect from the Brain & Behavior Institute and Science and a Sense of Place Institute. The project's theme was inspired by reading the article " Place Based Education" especially the section on real-world problem solving. There is not a great deal of violence at my school, but there is a great deal of bullying, especially with the 7th&8th graders. This a real world problem that needs to needs to be addressed! One saying that I learned from my students is "SNITCHES GET STICHES!", which I find to be an incredibly sad comment!!! Its a Sad comment to make and an even SADDER comment on our society.

    Here is a positive story about Philadelphia students:http://www.whatkidscando.org/featurestories/040107_YUC/index.html

    OBJECTIVES

    1. The students will research and compile information on bullying, including bullying prevention techniques, programs, strategies etc

    2. Utilizing the research information, the students will create informational products for the school, examples of projects are:

    A. Bullying Magazine

    B. Children's Book

    C. Website

    D. Pamphlet

    ACTION PLAN

    SEPTEMBER- DECEMBER

    I. Identifying the Problem -

    A. Brainstorming reasons for bullying

    B. Relationship between bullying and violence

    C. Start research on bullying, why kids bully, relationship between bullying and increased violence, the effects of bullying, etc

    II. Preventing Bullying -

    A. Brainstorm ways to prevent bullying

    B. Research- effective bullying prevention programs

    B. Role Play Bullying Situations

    JANUARY-MAY

    ACTION PLANS- Real World Problem Solving -GETTING OUR MESSAGE HEARD!

    A. The students will analyzethe information from research to create a Bullying Magazine- Possibly quarterly magazine

    Student created magazine entries can include, but are not limited to:

    1. Stories

    2. Poems

    3. Raps,

    4. Advice Column
    5. Kid oriented articles about bullying/ prevention/how to handle it

    6.Section where kids can send their questions to the magazine. I would like to get answers from the students, AND from some experts in the field.

    B. Storybook created by the 7th& 8th graders for the younger students- possibly several books for different grades.- The book could be laminated and bound to be donated to the school library.

    C. Design bullying website

    D. Informational pamphlet on bullying.

    CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES

    During the school year, we can read books on bullying during Guided Reading i.e. "The Bully" which is a part of the Bluford Series.

    We can also cover the topic of bullying during the writing period of Language Arts.

    I am hoping to have guest speakers to discuss bullying and violence, I am hoping to ask the Great police officer and the gentleman who is with the CADE program. He visits our school & talks about drug and alcohol preve ntion.

    BUDGET

    The supplies NEEDED TO BE ABLE TO CREAT THE MAGAZINE, CHILDREN'S BOOK, AND/OR PAMPHLET ARE:

    1. Copy Paper- $50.00/case

    2. Two ink cartridges- $100.00

    3.Digital camera $200.00- The students can take pictures & write stories based on the pictures taken with the camera.

    4. Binds $ 50.00

    TOTAL $400.00

    PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU RECEIVED THIS & CAN YOU SHOW PAUL????
    Thank you,
    Diane

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