The Great Teacher Inspires

William Arthur Ward wrote, “The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.” As an educator, you want to do your best. You want to inspire your students, not just get them through the class period and send them on their way. As a person, it is not always possible to be inspirational every single day. We need all the help we can get!


Joann’s weekly picks this week are resources she hopes will encourage you, the educator, to do something new in your classroom. Don’t just read the story of Lon Po Po to your elementary kids and tell them about Chinese culture. Put on some music. Let your students create traditional Chinese costumes. Retell the story from the wolf’s point of view. Compare this story to the classic story of Little Red Riding Hood. Really get into the story to inspire your students. It’s not always as easy as reading a book and passing out worksheets, but you will be having more fun and covering more standards at the same time.

As a middle school teacher, you see that your students are getting antsy in your biology class. They are tired of being stuck in their seats! Why don’t you let them get up and run around to learn about predator and prey relationships? Joann found a game created by PBS where students simulate wolves and moose in Denali National Park. With other extension activities on the site, this activity can really hook the kids into how predators and prey interact in nature.

I feel very fortunate to be an educator in a time where we can all be involved in such an extensive network of internet-based resource sharing. We can easily find quality activities like the ones Joann found this week. When I create a resource that is especially good, I can share it. When I use a resource I find, I can let other Gateway members know how it worked for me and give suggestions. If I make improvements or modifications to a resource to make it work for different types of learners, I can leave a comment about that, too! If we can work together, we can get closer to being a teacher that inspires our students every day.

What would you like to discuss about using resources from the Gateway to 21st Century Skills? This discussion is for YOU. We want to help you benefit from these resources and from this community of educator-to-educator sharing. Please let us know so we can guide the topics of future columns to help you bring the best you can bring to your classroom every day.

~Peggy's Corner~

Running With The Wolves

According to The Farmer’s Almanac, Native Americans named January the month of the Full Wolf Moon. Historically, it was a time of increased prowling by wolf packs, looking for food as the winter deepened. Most students are fascinated by wolves. Wolves are big, hairy, and find humans to be tasty (at least in fairy tales). They’re also mysterious creatures that offer plenty of fodder for lessons in a host of subjects.

Lon Po Po, by Ed Young
http://www.thegateway.org/browse/25012
Subjects: Literature, Chinese culture and Inventions
Grade: K-3

Wow, Grandma’s packing some pretty big teeth in this Chinese version of the classic fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood. Students delight in this engaging twist on a familiar tale, and this resource offers several enrichment activities for the classroom to further the experience. Published by TeacherVision (part of Pearson Education, Inc.), which offers a wide range of education materials, such as lesson plans and printables. While most resources require a subscription to the service, some free content is available. A
seven-day free trial is also offered.

What I like about this resource are the options that it presents.  Students use Venn diagrams to compare and contrast Lon Po Po with Little Red Riding Hood, but they can also take their analysis a bit deeper by discussing the story from the wolf’s point of view. Seeing events from a different perspective isn’t intuitive for kids this age, particularly when they’re asked to see things from a “bad” character’s viewpoint. It’s a good exercise for little noggins. The resource also provides links to Chinese symbols for students to reproduce, as well as a list of Internet resources and an Ed Young bibliography.

Wolves and Dogs: Fact and Fiction
http://www.thegateway.org/browse/20920
Subjects: Endangered species, Wildlife, Biology
Grade: 3-8

I’ve logged a fair amount of time watching “The Dog Whisperer,” so I thought this quiz about dogs and wolves would be a snap. Oops. This old dog will obviously have to learn some new tricks, or at least dog facts. This online quiz posits ten questions about the differences between dogs and wolves. What’s nice about the format is that after clicking on either “true” or “false,” you immediately know whether you’re right or not – no waiting until the quiz is finished to see how you did. You’re given the correct answer, plus additional information about the particular topic addressed by the question. Immediate feedback is critical in learning, and as usual, PBS/NOVA, who offers this resource, has gotten it right. NOVA is an award-winning PBS TV science series, and their companion Web site offers a multitude of science-related lessons and activities. Sponsored by the WGBH Educational Foundation.


The Living Edens - Denali: The Wolf and the Moose
http://www.thegateway.org/browse/13553
Subjects: Biology, Geography, Wildlife, Ecology
Grade: 6-8

Which would you rather be – prey or predator? Me too. In this lesson, students study the Denali Wilderness in Alaska and identify the predator/prey relationships of animals. They will role play moose and wolves to simulate the relationship between species found in Denali National Park, and write about how the balance of nature works.  Published by PBS TeacherSource, this lesson gets the kids up and moving in an outdoor physical activity. PBS TeacherSource provides PreK-12 educational resources and activities for educators tied to PBS programming and correlated to state and national standards.

~Joann's Picks~