Ken Robinson Says Schools Kill Creativity

My son encouraged me to watch some videos on TED and I found this one today. If you want to know what's wrong with the education system, watch this!



A quote: "To improve our schools, we have to humanize them and make education personal to every student and teacher in the system. Education is always about relationships. Great teachers are not just instructors and test administrators: they are mentors, coaches, motivators, and lifelong sources of inspiration to their students."

Book Review - A Noble Groom

I really hate writing bad reviews, but I have to be honest. A Noble Groom by Jody Hedlund wasn't my favorite book. 

I did read the book, and I had no trouble getting through it. It's just that I didn't like it as much as other books I've read in this genre because the plots are becoming all too familiar: a woman ends up alone, either through death of spouse or divorce, has a kid or two, and is struggling to make ends meet. Along comes good-looking guy, usually with some kind of secret, who, after he proves worthy, rescues her and they live happily ever after. A Noble Groom is a good story and it does have unique characters, but it's still the same story. 

The writing is excellent and I learned something about German immigrants; but, honestly, I just got bored. It isn't that I didn't like A Noble Groom. It's just that I didn't like it enough. For me, it's a 3 out of 5 star book. For someone who hasn't read many of these type of stories, it will probably be a 5-star book. It does have an interesting story and is told well. I'm just looking for something fresh and new. This doesn't do it.

(I received this book as a gift from the publisher, Bethany House, for the purpose of writing a review. The opinions are my own.)

End of a School Year and Planning for Next!

Only one week left of this school year. Wow! It really went fast. It's hard to believe that this time last year, I was looking for a job and wondering what I was going to be doing for the "rest of my life." I am so glad I found Cornerstone Tutorial Center. I have really enjoyed tutoring there. The staff are super nice. My students are awesome, and I probably learned as much as the kids did! It was really fun!

In Biology, I learned that girls like to dissect as much as, or even more than, the boys! That was a surprise. In composition and marketing class, I learned that teens are super creative. I was so impressed with their stories and marketing projects. I also learned that you have to give them a limit on story writing. Some of my students wrote novels instead of a short story!

I will make some changes next year . . . No cell phones in class! I thought I could keep them under control, but not with all the kids. Next year, they will go in a basket when they enter the classroom. Lesson learned!

This summer, I'm going to take a couple of classes related to teaching elementary students in order to prepare for next year. I'm going to tutor some younger kids in some fun classes, as well as continuing with my teens.

In addition to preparing for the next school year, taking classes, and writing articles, I'll be tutoring a few students during the summer. I better get to work!

Preparing for Electronics Class

Although I'm a ham operator with an Extra license, I really don't know a lot about electronics. It's always been an interest, but I've never seriously pursued it. Now that I'm going to teach a class of elementary students about electronics, I decided it was time I took a course myself. So I purchased the Make: Electronics book and the electronic parts to go along with it. My plan is to work through this in the next month to get a better understanding. AND it will be fun!

In addition, I am getting a set of Snap Circuits to practice with. I'm thinking of purchasing a few of these to get the students started in electronics. They seem to be easier to use for young children than a breadboard. After they get more experience, we will switch to a breadboard. At least that is my plan now. If anyone has any suggestions, let me know. My students will be 3rd-5th grade. We will have 15 lessons, 80 minutes each.

Just finished The Welcome Committee of Butternut Creek - LOVED IT!

The Welcome Committee of Butternut Creek by Jane Perrine is a wonderful book! I picked it up to read and just couldn't stop. Finished it in 24 hours. The story is about a young pastor who comes to a small town. The church where he is pastoring is run by the "Widows," a group of older women who like to make sure everything is run "properly," and that includes getting all the single folks married off!

If you're looking for an enjoyable book for summer reading, I highly recommend it. I just purchased the second book in the series, The Matchmakers of Butternut Creek.

New Ham Radio

I just purchased a new handy talkie - the Baofeng UV-5R. What a cool radio and CHEAP! I only paid $45 for it from Amazon. Here's my take on it:

1. It's the cheapest way to get into ham radio - I don't think there's a radio of this quality anywhere at this price.

2. It's not really hard to program manually, if you learn the tricks. It took me awhile but I finally put all 12 stations in manually. There is software for it, which is really easy to use, but I wanted to learn to program it so that when I'm on the road, I can program it on the fly.

3. It has a lot of extra features like a light, a siren, and an FM radio. Not sure that I'll use any of them, but it's cool anyway.

If you've always want to get into ham radio, here's the radio to get (after you past your test, of course!). The Baofeng UV-5R is great for a gift, door prize for ham clubs, new operators, and for an extra radio!

Adding two new classes!

I'm really excited about two new classes I'm going to teach next year for elementary kids: 

Crime Scene Investigators / Electronics for Kids
This will be a two-semester class for kids in 3rd-6th grade. 

Semester I will introduce kids to the world of forensic science and law enforcement. Using fun, hands-on activities students will learn how police investigate crimes, collect evidence, and catch those crooks! Students will "solve" crimes by comparing fingerprints to catch a thief, unscrambling a coded message to stop a spy, analyzing handwriting to check for forgery, investigating soil samples to help a farmer, and identifying leaves to find a truck involved in a car accident. And that’s just the beginning. Each week, there will be a new crime to solve! 

Semester II will introduce kids to the world of electricity. Using hands-on projects, students will learn how electricity works, how it's made, how it travels, and how it's used in communications. Students will build circuits, a Morse code transmitter, a steady-hand game, and other fun projects that explore electronics. (NO one will get shocked!)

I'm already getting my ham radio friends pumped about holding a NET in class! This is going to be a fun, but extremely busy year !