Revital Curtis

Guest Editorial: Minds, Models, and Maps

Fri, Oct 14, 2011 8:28 PM
Minds, Models and Maps

When reading this article, I found it to be very clear and on target. I am a big believer that a teacher should incorporate visual aspects such as pictures, models and maps into their teaching and I think that this article proves that it is extremely important to do so. I really enjoyed reading this piece and think that the author provided many examples and reasons why it is crucial to integrate this with other classroom activities. I like that he stated that it was also “a second way of knowing” information which provides more options for teachers to enhance students learning in different ways. Furthermore, this article shows an example of strategies on how to implement his theory which can help teachers, especially new ones understand how it can be done in an easy way. This is definitely something that I will incorporate in my classroom and have the author’s plan in mind.

Fri, Oct 14, 2011 8:26 PM
Emmy;s Moon and Stars Review

When reading this book chapter, I found some of the material helpful for teachers and some things lacking information. I thought that it was really clever to open with a question that pre-assesses the knowledge of the reader. This is a good way to capture the reader’s attention and also test their knowledge on this topic. It is also helpful in providing teachers with ideas on opening discussions about this topic in class. In addition, I liked how this article was formatted in a clear way giving examples of what teachers can do with all levels of students. One specific thing I like is when the authors discussed how to administer the probe. This is because they helped teachers realize that not all students are coming with the same background and gave examples on how to show and explain this topic in different ways. I also like that they made suggestions on how to implement this kind of lesson plan. This can be helpful for both new teachers and teachers that are less knowledgeable with this subject. That being said, I do feel that because this subject is such a broad one, teachers should only use this article as a starter to get more ideas and more necessary material. I feel that they touched on many little aspects of this topic and how to implement it but nothing deep enough to make this the only one a teacher uses. As a new teacher, I think that I would probably take only bits and pieces from the article and form some ideas this article brings but not use it all