Kaulbach's Modern World

I'm tying up loose ends, teaching this zombi apocalypse unit and I have to say... it was fun. The game of keeping up points along with intentional studies petered out.  Next year, I should hold a culminating event, a zombie prom or a zombie run but sometimes life get's in the way.  Right now students are invested in their performances in Shrek, The Musical, deer hunting season and the upcoming November holiday. My quick assessment of success in teaching this unit: Students have developed a habit of paying attention to news events.  The impact of disaster became very real for some of our students following news events and the typhoon in the Philippines.  The idea of disaster preparedness was no longer focused on killing zombies but saving lives.  Two of my students fulfilled the unit requirement to bring attention to a global issue by putting up flyers about the typhoon.  These students also overheard both teachers and students in a meteorology course refer...

Incentives are the reason people learn because incentives drive choices. I could never admit this to my fair trade coffee drinkers, but I love Starbucks.  Every time I buy a coffee I receive a free app or song download.  My app allows me to earn stars that eventually gain me a free coffee.  And when I am lost driving x-country the map app points me in the direction of the nearest Starbucks and the nearest wifi.  But this is not a blog about Starbucks, it is a blog about incentives.  None of these incentives are really amazing.  I could find those same apps for free on line, the free coffee never applies until I spend + $15.00.  And I live in rural Vermont with the nearest Starbucks 50 miles away. Incentives are fun, I take advantage of them which makes me a bit happier to take time to spend money on a cup of jo.   Education works the same way.  Most of my students attend school because they have to not because they want to.  If we...