Author: Eleanor K. Smith

Eleanor K. Smith is a retired special education teacher. She received her Bachelor’s from Michigan State University in Elementary and Special Education, and her Master’s from the University of Central Florida in Elementary Education with an emphasis in Gifted Education. Her thirty-plus year career in special education included teaching in Texas, Florida, and Maryland. In 2013, she was recognized by the NASA Explorers School Program as a Merit Teacher. She is the author of eight books. Six books featuring "Tex the Explorer," written as Ellie Smith, illustrated by Eyen Johnson. (These are Children's Books, Early Reader, Science Fiction) She is also the author of two books about authentic teaching including "One School's Journey, Further Down the Path" written with Margaret Pastor. (These books tell the story of the journey of the staff at their elementary school as they set down the path to discover how to engage their students using authentic projects.) Catch her blog at: The-Educational-Journey.com

A New Year

by Eleanor K. Smith, posted in Authentic Teaching, Blog, Books for Children, Social Awareness and Responsibility Skills, Uncategorized

I have decided to start the new year with an adaption of my favorite story. Many times, during my teaching career, I gifted a copy of this adaption, and a starfish necklace, to teachers I worked with, to remind them why we we do what we do.

A young boy was walking on the beach, he paused every so often, to pick up an object and throw it into the ocean. A man was watching the young boy. The boy came closer and the man said, “May I ask what you are doing?”

The young boy replied, “Throwing starfish into the ocean. The tide has washed them up onto the beach and they can’t return to the water by themselves. If they don’t get back into the water, they will die.” 

The man replied, “But there must be hundreds of starfish on this beach. I’m afraid you won’t be able to make much of a difference.”

The boy bent down, picked up another starfish and threw it as far as he could into the ocean. Then he turned and said, “It made a difference to that one!”

Adapted from The Star Thrower, by Loren Eiseley (1907 – 1977)

As I have stated many times, this blog started as a means to promote my books. Then it gradually, and authentically changed to be a means for me to post authentic ideas for teaching. So my blog about authentic teaching and learning is totally authentic! I didn’t plan for it to happen, it just did. And because I followed my interests and didn’t remain constrained by the original purpose of this blog, I have continued to grow as an educator, even in retirement.

Not only have I continued to grow as an educator, but I have been able to continue to make a difference in my own little way. Anyone who teaches, understands that we all want to make a difference, in our own little way. I know my blog does that. I get the biggest thrill to see all the different countries that people are from who read my blog. Wow, what a head trip!

Also, writing my books has allowed me to continue to make a difference. All of my books, children’s and adult, are written to educate. And, of course, being asked to write a book about The Jared Box Project – what an honor. Eyen, Tex, and I feel truly privileged that we were able to help spread the word about this amazing project.

So, I begin 2024 by thanking you for allowing me to indulge in my passions, and feel that I am continuing in my own little authentic way to make a small difference in the world.

As educators, it is easy to become overwhelmed with what we are tasked to accomplish.  So, remember the starfish story, try to make a difference, one starfish at a time…

A Most Wonderful Time of Year – Maybe

by Eleanor K. Smith, posted in Authentic Teaching, Blog, Social Awareness and Responsibility Skills, Uncategorized

“Giving Back.” This has always been my “theme” for December, and a very authentic one at that. I have shared ideas for giving to others throughout my blog. Most can be found under “Social Awareness and Responsibility Skills.”

For so many, hmmmm, maybe most of us, the holidays is not a Hallmark Holiday Special. (Not knocking them, I love them!) There is definitely a “set up” for most people. The holidays never turn out as you want, or expect them to.

I have always found that giving to others is the highlight of my holiday season. For those who have so much, it is important to give back. And for those who have less, but can still give, it really takes the sting out of the disappointments that might occur.

I hope your holiday season is going well, wherever and whatever you are celebrating! You are making my holiday season brighter by just reading my blog!

Tex the Explorer and The Jared Box Project Wins Five Awards

by Eleanor K. Smith, posted in Blog, Books for Children, Uncategorized

Tex the Explorer and The Jared Box Project has won five book awards!

2023 Mom’s Choice Awards® Silver Recipient

2023 indieBRAG® Medallion Winner

2023 Royal Dragonfly Book Awards Winner

2023 Chanticleer International Book Awards Semi-Finalist

2024 Book Excellence Award Finalist

Eyen and I are so proud of this book and so honored that we were asked to help tell the story of The Jared Box Project.

Tex the Explorer and The Jared Box Project has been donated to The Jared Box Project by Ellie, Eyen, and Tex, and is available on Amazon.

Teaching Authentically at the Holidays

by Eleanor K. Smith, posted in Authentic Teaching, Blog, Social Awareness and Responsibility Skills, Uncategorized

This is the time of year when I always come back to my favorite family holiday story. I have told it many times, but feel it is worthy of repeating.

As a preteen in South Florida (note the Florida themed Christmas Tree in the photo above) my great-grandfather gave me Avon face powder for a holiday gift. Needless to say, I was disappointed by this gift. Instead of lecturing me about being ungrateful, or exchanging the powder for a different gift, my mother agreed that this was not a great gift for a girl my age. She suggested that perhaps there was a young woman somewhere that might not be getting gifts for the holidays who would appreciate this gift.

This was before the internet, Giving Trees, etc., and it took many phone calls for my mother to find an agency that was collecting gifts for needy families. We ended up “adopting” a family for the holidays. Our whole family picked out gifts for this family. This was a tradition we continued throughout my childhood, and a tradition I continued with my own children.

With the internet, Toys for Tots, Giving Trees… There are so many ways for children to become authentically engaged in the spirit of the holidays. Children can be given examples of ways to make the holidays special for others, can choose to engage in these activities/organizations, or come up with new authentic ideas.

Happy December! Happy Authentic Teaching!

The Gift of Authentic Learning

by Eleanor K. Smith, posted in Authentic Teaching, Blog, Uncategorized

On a recent road trip, we ended up spending the night in Wilson, Kansas.
This city is the Czech Capital of Kansas and has the largest Czech Egg in the
world!

There were also many other smaller, gorgeous eggs around the town. If you
have ever visited Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, it reminded me of that town,
except there were Groundhogs all over Punxsutawney, and Eggs all over Wilson.

So much of authentic learning is paying attention to what is around
you. Add a dose of curiosity and a cell phone to do some research, and an
overnight stop becomes a lesson in Czech and Slovak folk art, culture, and history.

I was fortunate enough to attend a middle school that operated by authentic
teaching and learning. This developed a life-long curiosity that has never left me. I just can’t drive by the largest Czech Egg in the world without looking this up and doing research. By the time I was finished I had spent an evening reading about the history of the Slavic region of the world.

What a gift that middle school gave me.

Unfortunately, the town Folk Art Gift Shop was being renovated. My husband
viewed this as a bonus as we didn’t leave the town with a shopping bag of gorgeous Czech Eggs.  (No worries, I believe you can buy them on line!)

Authentic Project Ideas – Planning for a Business

by Eleanor K. Smith, posted in Authentic Project Ideas, Blog, Uncategorized

On a recent road trip, we stopped at a marble company in Kansas. It was a fantastic shop full of machine-made marbles, plus the owners were also making speciality marbles by hand.

We were able to chat with one of the owners, and heard about the history of the company. They started in the wood carving business almost 30 years ago. They carved everything from furniture to toys. One of the game boards required marbles, and they got into the marble business.

We were also told how the building they rented was on railroad land, so they rented from the railroad. This meant their rent was significantly lower than the buildings just across the street.

I started to think about all of the authentic business lessons were were learning about. How businesses change and evolve, rent or ownership of a building if needed, materials, low to high-end product costs…

It would be a great authentic project for students to pick a business they were interested in owning and plan for that business. The learning, lessons, and academic tie-ins are endless. As students would pick their own business, interest would be high, but the common ground for planning for a business would make class instruction easier. This could be done for young learners with simple planning, to older learners with in-depth research and plans. Who knows, one of these authentic plans might turn into a real business!

And my husband could not leave the shop without making a joke about losing his marbles…sigh

Authentic Project Ideas – A Lonely Time of Year

by Eleanor K. Smith, posted in Authentic Project Ideas, Social Awareness and Responsibility Skills, Uncategorized

I look at this photo and I see art.  I scrapbook, and use a lot of photos to make cards as well.  This would be a beautiful fall card. 

As we go into fall, not only does football season start (do I hear my husband cheering/groaning), but people also start to think about the holiday season.  This is a time of year that older people, especially those in nursing homes, may be feeling shut in and lonely.  A great authentic project would be to think of ways to let these people know that someone out there cares.  So, maybe this photo could be printed and used to make cards for people who need some cheering up.  (You totally, 100%, have my permission to use this photo!)

Staying authentic, maybe your students have a better idea, or a different target group…

Authentic teaching/learning that also serves as a community service project – BLUE RIBBON!

Authentic Project Ideas – Sorting Apples?

by Eleanor K. Smith, posted in Authentic Project Ideas, Blog, Uncategorized

I am not exactly sure what this machine is doing.  I can think of several things it might be doing.  I can also think of ways to make it do what I think it is doing better – punctuation lesson – add punctuation to this sentence so you don’t have to read it three times for it to make sense!

So, maybe a driving question is, “What is happening in this picture?”  An authentic project might be to improve the machine in this picture.  Or maybe, write a story about what took place in this room.  A factual story about what the machine does, a fictional story about people who work this machine, or maybe a ghost story about something that happened in this room 200 years ago!

And if this turns into an authentic project about ways to improve apple farming, that is authentic learning.

Authentic Project Ideas – Fresh Water

by Eleanor K. Smith, posted in Authentic Project Ideas, Blog, Uncategorized

Lakes, rivers, streams.  Fresh water is second only to oxygen in what we need to survive.  Where does fresh water come from?  How much fresh water is on the planet?  Where are large sources of fresh water located?

Why are the oceans salt water?  Can we turn salt water into fresh water? How can we turn salt water into fresh water?

How do we use water in recreation?  Why is recreation important?

I could actually just turn this blog entry into a list of driving questions.  That might actually be a great authentic activity (note activity, not project).  Create a list of questions about fresh/salt water.

With older students it will be easy to get into the discussions of drought, flooding…  How ironic that we have drought in one area when we have flooding in another.

So many questions…

The driving questions will then become authentic projects.  Create a map of sources of fresh water in your area.  Contact local government to find out if there are any concerns about the fresh water supply.  What is unique about your fresh water supply.  Write a report, create a chart, build a model…

And if this turns into a project about why recreation is so important for mental health, that is authentic learning.

Authentic Project Ideas – Wind Power

by Eleanor K. Smith, posted in Authentic Project Ideas, Blog, Uncategorized

I have written about wind turbines several times, but the more we travel, the more I see them, and the more ideas I have for authentic projects.  We just finished driving through Kansas, and I have never seen so many wind turbines.  The really neat thing is that we saw them on farms, and the farmers were still farming below the turbines.

To say the we have energy concerns on this planet is an understatement.  I think it is fair to say that we all want the same thing: reliable, safe, clean energy.  The arguments are about how we get there.

How to wind turbines work?  How is the energy produced and transported?  How far can the energy be transported?  Can the energy be stored?

What are the pros and cons of wind turbines?  Do people want them in their backyard?  I happen to think they are attractive, but there are people who do not.  Are they a danger to wildlife?

Design a wind turbine that people might find more attractive. Design a turbine that solves any problems you found in your research.  Make a model of how a turbine works.  Locate a good spot for a turbine where you live.  Make a proposal for a new wind turbine.

And if this project turns into a project about the history of windmills in Holland…that is authentic learning.