Moral Education – Page 2

World on Fire

Learn more about World On Fire. Please also consider making a difference and teaching your students to be service-minded by being part of The Challenge.

Really Achieving Your Childhoold Dreams

Here are a few quotes from Randy Pausch about lessons he learned. This is good advice to share with students to encourage them to pursue their own career and personal goals.

“When you[‘re] screwing up and nobody is saying anything to you anymore that means they gave up.”
“Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted.”
“You obviously don’t know where the bar should be and you’re only going to do them a disservice by putting it anywhere.”
“The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. The brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough.”

Middle School Student Makes Scientific Breakthrough

Thirteen-year-old William Yuan…

….began working with solar cells two years ago, after science teacher Susan Duncan encouraged him to tackle an engineering project. He spent hours searching the Internet, brainstorming with Duncan, and talking with professionals before he found a topic that piqued his interest: the global energy crisis. Building on research from Georgia Tech and Notre Dame universities, Yuan found a way to improve the conversion efficiency and yields of solar cells.

Most solar cells absorb visible light to produce electricity, but his design harnesses both visible and ultraviolet light. That’s particularly helpful in cloudy areas, such as where he lives in the Pacific Northwest, because the solar cell can continue to generate electricity even when clouds obscure the Sun. To achieve this result, Yuan applied various coatings, integrated nanotubes, and added specialized nanostructures to a typical solar cell. Experts have given his method a thumbs-up. (Source: Edutopia)

A Few Thoughts

Please consider reading the full story.
Congratulations William!!! Not only am I impressed by your discovery, but your diligence and ability to collaborate with others in resourceful ways is inspiring.
I send my respect and appreciation to Susan Duncan, William’s science teacher from 2 years ago, who seems to have played an instrumental and ongoing role in William’s personal work. I’d like to find her blog, website, etc. if it’s out there.

Discussion

What lessons can educators and parents learn from this?
What can other young people take away from William’s journey and scientific breakthrough?

THE CHALLENGE to All Educators 2008

(Repost from 11/20/2007)

I recently wrote a post encouraging educators to get students actively involved in service education. In it I provided my rationale for implementing service activities in the classroom and suggested some resources to help you get started.

Your feedback has caused me to decide to take this a step further. Now, rather than simply encouraging teachers (in general) to do this I’m now challenging you (specifically you) to start a service activity in your classroom. The holiday season is upon us, so I think it’s a perfect time to talk about service and initiate a project with your students.

Here’s THE CHALLENGE.

Kick-off a service activity in your classroom.
Make us, the readers of this blog (there are hundreds of visitors on a daily basis), aware of your project before you begin. I’ve dedicated a new section of the blog to this activity and added a permanent link titled The Challenge to the main menu. This allows us to to share information, provide links to personal/ class blogs, wikis, websites, etc. where we can learn about each other’s projects and share resources and ideas. You can post your information by a) leaving it in the comments in The Challenge area, b) emailing me a link to your project blog, wiki, site, etc. that I’ll add to The Challenge area, or c) emailing me your information, files, links, etc. that I’ll post in The Challenge area.
Keep working on your project and enjoy all the wonderful things that will surely come from it.
Share. Share. Share. Let’s provide updates by which we (including our students) can all follow each other’s progress. Again, you can do this by clicking on The Challenge link in the menu, or by emailing me links, information, files, photos, etc. that I can post on Clif’s Notes for you.

Let’s make the world a better place. I CHALLENGE YOU!!! 🙂

Resources

Here are some great resources to help you get started.

Keep on Trying

This commercial is a good follow-up to my recent post, Failure Can Be a Good Thing. Failure is a big part of success. (Hat tip to Dean Mantz)

An Inspirational Olympic Story You May Have Missed

Natalie du Toit has dreamed of competing in the Olympics since she was six years old. The South African athlete competed in the Olympic inaugural open swimming competition earlier this week despite having lost one of her legs in a motorcycle accident.

“My message isn’t just to disabled people,” du Toit said. “It’s to everyone out there that you have to work hard. I’ve been through a lot of ups and downs … but I’ve seen a lot of good things along the way. I was able to use the negativism in a good light and say after my accident, ‘I can still do it if I work hard.’

“You have to set dreams, set goals and never give up.” (Source: NBC Olympics)

Newsletter on Educational Technology

Throughout the years many of the preservice and in-service teachers in my classes, workshops, and presentations have requested that I start an email newsletter. They indicate that in addition to this blog they would like to receive occasional emails sharing rich resources related to technology integration. I’m excited to announce that I have answered these requests.

Clif’s Newsletter on Educational Technology focuses on the effective integration of technology with teaching and learning. Subscribers of this free service will receive occasional emails providing valuable resources and information about lesson plans, activities, technologies, research, etc., related to educational technology.

OPEN TO PUBLIC
Subscription to this newsletter is open to everyone. You are encouraged to share this with everyone with an interest in education (teachers, administrators, homeschooling families, friends, classmates, co-workers, etc.). Everyone is invited to receive this free newsletter.

MANAGING SUBSCRIPTIONS
You may subscribe or unsubscribe to this newsletter as you wish.

A Default Setting of Love

This brief message is too important not to share. Enjoy!

From Mike’s Blog:

A couple weeks ago I visited with a woman from our church whose memory is fading. We sat in her living room, and she mostly listened to the conversation around her.

But four times — four! — in half an hour, she looked at me and told me how much she loved me. It was clear that she’d forgotten that she had just told me that a few minutes before. But, strangely enough, it didn’t matter. Each time it meant something special.

Here’s my question: How do you become a person who, even with a fog descending on the brain, speaks words of love and affirmation? How do you get to the point where those are the words that come out by default.

I know this: Before all this happened, that’s the kind of person she was. I never knew her to scold, frown, or discourage. For the seventeen years I’ve known her she has been a source of refreshment to all around her.

I think I have some work to do.

photo credit: maria mono

1 Thing

I’ve added a new feature to Clif’s Notes called 1 Thing. This special section is an area where guest bloggers can communicate “1 thing” they would like to share, suggest, say, demonstrate, etc. about a particular topic. This section will forever be a work in progress, so feel free to suggest guest bloggers and topics anytime. You can easily access this section by clicking on the 1 Thing link in the main menu.

Category: Moral Education