Category: Blog

Authentic Teaching – Staying Authentic

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

Chicken

I had this photo in my file of posts to write, and I realized that the timing was perfect to work on this topic.  Children are hearing lots of things on television about a meat shortage.  This just adds to their concerns (and ours) about what is happening in our world.  While my original topic was going to be to explore organic and free-range food sources, I think a better topic might be what our options are for food today.

My original prompts for authentic exploration were as follows:  Many stores advertise that their meats are organic or free range.  There are also many other claims markets make.  What exactly does organic mean?  Free range? Are there benefits to one over the other?  Is there a better way to raise livestock?  Are companies really honest about this?  How is this enforced? This may lead to an authentic project on ranching, farming, or even the pros and cons of being a vegetarian  (and how is that different from veganism).

So, take this topic and incorporate what is happening in our world today. What are our options for food today.  The reason I am totally committed to authentic learning and projects is because it approaches education in a real and current way.  Adjusting a lesson/project to address current events – well you can’t get much more authentic than that!

Stay Well, Stay Healthy

Authentic Teaching On Line

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

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Since March we have been meeting on Zoom with our granddaughter every day, trying to cover kindergarten concepts.  Working with a five-year-old on Zoom is definitely not the easiest way to teach.  I have no idea how teachers are managing to work with several at the same time.

We immediately started to work with her on projects, but struggled with maintaining her interest and attention through several lessons, until it hit me like a lightening bolt to practice what I preach and teach authentically.  This did not mean to let her run away with the lesson, it meant to incorporate her passions into what I wanted to accomplish academically.

Her current passions are Unicorns, Alicorns, and Mermalicorns –  that is a Mermaid-Unicorn with wings, in case you didn’t know that.  (In one of our first Zoom session, I mentioned that Unicorns were not real.  I believe I will be forgiven for that comment in about a century or so.)

Once we started incorporating her love of unicorns into our lessons, they took off.  We were able to share facts we felt were important, practice spelling, and counting, and just plain have fun working with her.  She introduced new aspects to our authentic lessons that expanded what we were able to accomplish. She even informed us during a recent lesson, that mermaids are pretend, but we should still put one in our drawing we were making about what lived in the ocean.  (I am not touching the unicorn reality subject again, I can be taught!)

At the end of a recent lesson, she announced that she wanted to talk about cameras (this was a reference to the camera that took a photo of her and her baby brother with Santa last December).  We had a wonderful authentic conversation about cameras, practiced more spelling, did some math (photo size, age of cameras of the past), and drew pictures of cameras.  (My picture was judged to be the best by her, out of pity for me, I have zero drawing skills.)

In hindsight, I am stunned that I did not start out immediately by working with her authentically, using her interests to accomplish what I wanted to accomplish with her.  After all, I blog about this every week, and it is my passion.  But throwing Zoom into the mix threw me.  I will definitely admit it is not as easy as teaching in person.  Being authentic is definitely harder when you are not authentically there.  But going authentic has changed the impact and productivity of our lessons in a 100% positive way.

Stay Safe, Stay Healthy!

Authentic Does Not Mean Perfect

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

Gramma

This is a masterpiece that was done for me by my five-year-old granddaughter.  (I am not biased at all – it is a masterpiece worthy of a museum!)

What I love about this, besides the fact that it was done by her, is that it is not perfect.  Somewhere along the way we lost the learning process in our strive for perfection.  And as educators we got that message out loud and clear that we were striving for perfect “A+” work.

But when you are pushing perfection, you are looking at the end product, not the journey that got you there.  And if the educational journey has to be perfect, you eliminate risk taking and you eliminate authenticity.

Our greatest learning experiences come from the process, not the final product.  My granddaughter is learning how to write and spell.  Her work isn’t perfect.  But she is sounding out words and writing down what she hears.  She loves to do this.  She has been praised for her attempts, so she keeps at it, and keeps learning.  Sometimes she asks for help, sometimes she doesn’t.  Sometimes she is given a gentle nudge if she is stuck.

And if you can’t read “kindergarten,” this masterpiece, which hangs proudly on my refrigerator (not in a museum, but after posting it I expect to hear from the National Art Gallery) says, “This picture is for Gramma.”

 

Authentic Teaching – Budgeting

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

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In many families money is tight right now, and many items are hard to get even if you can afford them.  This is stressful for both adults and children.  Involving children in honest, age appropriate budget conversations is a way to not only relieve some of the stress, but also an authentic way to teach budgeting.

Even young children can do chores to earn money for what they want, based on what parents can afford.  Children can also learn about ordering on line, how credit cards work, and how long something will take to ship and be delivered.  Lots of authentic reading and math skills.  Lots of honest conversations about our current world.

Authentic Project Ideas – Sunsets

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

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Why are sunsets so fascinating?  Why do people love to photograph sunsets?  What causes the different colors in the sky that we sometimes see at sunset?  What caused the ring around the sun in this photo?

Lots of authentic projects here:  researching/explaining what causes the beautiful colors we sometimes see at sunset.  Poetry about sunsets.  Creating a photo journal of sunsets…

And remember, questions and prompts are a starting point.  So, if this turns into a project about explaining that our sun is a star, that all stars are suns, how many stars we think there might be in our galaxy, how many galaxies there might be in our universe…that is authentic learning!

*I am entering this photo in our county fair this summer in the “sunrise/sunset” category.  Wish me luck!

Authentic Project Ideas – Recording History in the Making

by Eleanor K. Smith, posted in Authentic Project Ideas, Blog, Uncategorized
State College Penn State University    April 2, 2020

We are all living through a historical event of world-wide impact.  As with all history, we learn from what we experience, and should record these lessons for the future.

Keeping a diary, log, or photo-journal of current events about COVID-19 is an authentic way to record history in the making.  It is also a way to open up honest communication with our children about what is happening.  Honest age-appropriate communication to stress the importance of what is happening, while allaying overwhelming fears.  Even young children can keep a photo-journal of current events, without focusing on the parts they are not old enough to process and handle.

There are unbelievable pictures of empty streets in cities throughout the world.  Scenes that most of us have never seen in our lifetime.  This is an opportunity to learn more about our world, our inter-dependence, and develop a greater appreciation for others.  This is a time to increase our humanity.

The focus of my blog is authentic learning.  Make it real and make it count.  There is no better way to teach and learn.  Education is also the key to understanding, and understanding helps replace fear with rational thought and action.

Stay Safe, Stay Well

Caring Cards

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

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With approximately one-third of the world’s population under some sort of restrictions, there is no better time to reach out to relatives, neighbors, and friends who are feeling isolated.

I have been making and sending cards out to people I know, and the reception has been humbling.  It is amazing the difference getting a card in the mail can make to someone feeling isolated and alone.  And it also helps me to feel less isolated, by reaching out to others.

Our children are feeling isolated as well.  This is a great time for children to make cards for others.  Not only are they authentically learning about giving and compassion for others, making the cards will help them feel less isolated.  (And they are also authentically practicing writing skills.)

Don’t forget to have them address the envelope – possible authentic geography lesson.  They should also put on the postage – this may lead to an authentic project about the cost of mailing letters, the history of stamps, stamp collecting…

For teenagers, they might want to make and send cards to nursing homes and thank you cards to hospital staff and first-responders.  They can do the research for what they would like to do, find addresses, etc.

And the above photo is a virtual “thinking of you” card for all of you.  Stay well!

Project Ideas for Teaching at Home

by Eleanor K. Smith, posted in Authentic Project Ideas, Authentic Resources and Materials, Authentic Teaching, Blog, Uncategorized

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I have always felt that authentic projects were the best way to teach.  With so many parents being called upon to educate their children at home, I wanted to reach out again to offer the ideas on my blog.

I started this blog as a way to share my passion, authentic teaching and learning.  I retired a few years ago, and I was ready to slow down.  But, I found that I still needed an outlet as a teacher.  My blog allows me to continue to share the ideas that I have about how to authentically educate children.

Thank you for allowing me to share my passion.  Best wishes to everyone and stay healthy.

Authentic Teaching at Home

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

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I know many (most) of the children we educate are currently learning at home.  Projects work beautifully in the home.  But don’t forget that authentic learning doesn’t need to be a big involved project.  Every day activities are great times for authentic teaching and learning.  Cooking is full of reading and math.  (I still can’t do math problems unless I picture cooking and/or food in my head!)  Planning and implementing a schedule for the day.  Writing a grocery list.  Estimating the cost of everything in the grocery cart. (My grandmother used to say, “Just count the items in the cart and multiply by 50¢.” Great authentic lesson in inflation!)

I joke that I was the laziest teacher and parent on the planet.  If the kids could do something, why should I do it.  The truth of the matter is I was doing some really good teaching and parenting, if I say so myself.  Honestly, it is more work to have your kids do something. As an adult I could do it neater and faster.  If your child is writing a grocery list and you are having to help prompt or spell, it takes twice as long.  But if you write the list you are missing an authentic learning moment – on so many levels!

I hope everyone is safe and well.

Best to All,  Ellie

Authentic Project Ideas – Designing and Running an Airport

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

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What does it take to run an airport?  How many different types of jobs are there at airports? If you stop and watch for a while, it’s amazing how many people are involved in keeping an airport running and getting flights into the air.

A great authentic project might be to do research and then create a chart of all the jobs that it takes to run an airport.  What type of training does each job require?  Education?  Experience?  And don’t forget the jobs involved with running an airline.

Another authentic project could be to propose a location for a new airport. What needs to be considered when proposing a new site for an airport?  Design this new airport. Draw up plans, build a model.  (Research/Reading, Writing, Math…)

And why is it that whenever I have to change planes at an airport, the two gates are as far from each other as possible?