The Moon's Many Faces

Introduction:
Travel through space and time to learn the many faces of the moon and to answer the questions: Is the moon really made of cheese? Where does the moon go after 29-31 days? The purpose of this space journey is to learn about the moon phases, to find out what the moon is made of, and make a chart on moon's faces.

The Task:

• Read and record what the moon is made of and what the eight moon phases are.
• Learn the eight moon phases by the correct name.
• Complete a crossword puzzle using the moon phases and other important science words.

 The Process: (What to do)
At the computer:

Read all directions before you click.

• Click "Activity Sheet" to download.
• Click "The Moon Website" at the resources below.
• Using the information on the moon website, answer all of the questions in the activity sheet.
• Click on the "Phases of the Moon" in the Moon website and print out the Moon Phases. Use this in the classroom activity.

 In the classroom:
Using white and black construction paper, scissors and glue, cut out eight circles from the white and draw a moon phase on each one. Put the moon phases in order on black construction paper.

 Resources:
The Moon Website

 Evaluation:

• The Moon Phase Word Find
• The Moon Phase Activity Sheet
• Classroom Activity

 Conclusion:
Upon the completion of this project, the students will have a chart that contains factual information that will be able to identify the eight moon phases using the correct terminology, and discuss what the moon is made of.

 

Performance indicator

What is a Performance Indicator?

Performance indicator is a way to focus on specific expectation of a program. It facilitate the curriculum delivery, strategies, and assessment procedures. The first step is to decide on the student outcomes. Student outcomes are most likely communicated to students in the program description and are stated in terms of that inform the students about the general purpose of the program and expectations of the faculty.

Student outcomes are intended to provide general information about the focus of student learning and are broadly stated of the outcome, not measurable. On the other hand, performance indicator are concrete measurable performance students must meet as indicators of achievement. Performance indicators are developed from program outcomes.

Performance Indicators indicate what concrete actions should student be able to perform as a result of participation in the program. In the case of the teacher education programs in the Philippines, the program description and program outcomes (which is translated in the competency standards) were provided by the Commision on Higher Education. Looking at the competency standards (where competency is the capability to apply set of related knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform task/s in a defined work setting) stated in CMO 30 s., 2004, school may create their performance indicators. In creating performance indicators, these two elements must be present: action verb and content (referent). This means that the expected behavior must be specified by name, using an observable action verb such as demonstrate, interpret, discriminate or define.

Example: Student will be able to describe the problem solving process (comprehension)

Values Formation

While I was preparing my lecture notes on values formation I came across with this page of an e-book that talks about the significance of values in an organization. The following texts were literally lifted from the page of that e-book. I recognized the authorship of Juan Carlos Jimenez, a Venezuelan advertiser, entrepreneur and visiting professor for this wonderful book. Please take time to read.

We start forming values in our childhood. First we learn to appreciate things that fulfill our basic needs, but we value especially those people that provide them to us. Their behavior towards us becomes the main reference of what is valuable. 

Thus, our character and personality are molded through the attitudes and behavior of the people who raise us, whether they’re our parents or other relatives. Their behaviors determine in large part what will subsequently become our most important beliefs and principles.

We learn to value the substance and the form of everything they say and do, and what they don’t say and don’t do. Each gesture or comment affects how we learn to make choices We also learn to differentiate between the theory and practice of values. The latter is what marks us the most.

So the consistency and coherence of our parents’ behavior is what strengthens our formation.  If they practice what they preach, our personality will be stronger than if they don’t.

Later, when we are students, we start feeling social pressures and the pressure of values that are different from ours, as we relate to other people. The strength of the values formed through our parents is put to the test.

Values are often confused with habits, and many parents hope that school will form the values that were not instilled at home. This is not possible, because school does not fulfill the basic needs of life… that is the responsibility of those who raise us.

Teachers, leaders, and value models at school can reinforce what was formed at home, but they cannot replace them.  If the convictions formed at home are not solid, they will soon be exposed to an intense social competition against other beliefs.

Why is it so difficult to form values? Because, unlike norms, values are convictions; they are behaviors we gladly decide to follow and produce satisfaction.  We can follow norms against our will, but values have the support of our will. We have learned their importance due to the benefits they produce, individually and collectively.

Those who play a leadership role in our lives are most powerful at conveying to us their values. They are our parents, elder siblings, grandparents, some relatives, teachers, peers we admire, professors, and bosses.

However, to convey something, we must first possess it. Values are only conveyed through the example of our daily attitudes and behaviors. They can seldom be formed by explaining them or through a list of what is considered correct or incorrect. Memorizing their theoretical meaning does not guarantee their implementation.

Was She Sure It Was A Spider? an Internet Treasure Hunt on Spiders

created by Brenda Maxwell
Lexington IntermediateI School and Saxe Gotha Elementary School

adapted by LGL

Introduction

Little Miss Muffet,
Sat on a tuffet,
Eating her curds and whey.
Along came a spider,
And sat down beside her...

Wait a minute...
How did she know it was a spider?
Did she get a really good look at it before she was frightened away?
Did she count its legs?
Did she count its body sections?
What other characteristics did it have?
Do you know how to recognize a spider from other insects?
Check out your spider knowledge by going to the following sites and answering the questions below...

Questions

1. How many legs does a spider have?

    How many eyes?

    How many body sections? 

2. Can any spiders dive underwater? 

3. Why isn't a Daddy long-legs a spider?

4. Do spiders have antennaes?

5. For what two things is the Black Widow spider known? 

The Internet Resources

• Spider Facts
• Spider Facts
• Spider Facts
• Spider Facts
• Spider Facts
• Spider Facts

The Big Question

What makes a spider a spider?
What characteristics must an animal have to be a spider and not another kind of insect?
In other words, what classifies a spider as a spider?
A fun question to bring this treasure hunt to a close--why don't spiders get caught in their own webs?

Bibliography Versus Reference List

 Introduction

For the purpose of information, I compiled some of the Blogs regarding referenced list. I did not change or alter any of their Blogs. Just take time to read and if you have any questions you may post at the comment box below.

In APA Style, include a reference list rather than a bibliography with your paper.

What’s the difference? A reference list consists of all sources cited in the text of a paper, listed alphabetically by author’s surname. A bibliography, however, may include resources that were consulted but not cited in the text as well as an annotated description of each one. Bibliographies may be organized chronologically, or by subject, rather than alphabetically.

If you have been given an assignment that asks for a bibliography, consult your instructor for more specifics about the required format.

What’s a Reference List For?

Sometimes APA Style is less about the minutiae of citation and more about the big picture. For example, recently we heard from some students who wanted to know why everything in the reference list had to be cited in the text. They argued that they had read many more books than they could cite and felt that they were not getting full credit for their work.

The APA Publication Manual (6th ed.) says, "Each reference cited in text must appear in the reference list, and each entry in the reference list must be cited in text" (p. 174). To understand this rule, we have to consider the big picture: What’s a reference list for, anyway?

For many students, the purpose of the reference list is to prove that they completed the assignment. They were assigned a research topic; they researched the heck out of it; and the reference list is there to demonstrate their hard work.

In the scholarly disciplines that use the APA Style of author–date citation, however, the purpose of the reference list is twofold: (a) It allows the author to credit the work of others that directly influenced the present work and document any facts that are not common knowledge; and (b) it gives interested readers the information necessary to identify and retrieve those sources. Thus, there is no reason to include uncited sources in the reference list.

Other documentation systems, such as those based on the Chicago Manual of Style, use a bibliography rather than a reference list. A bibliography can be more expansive, covering works that were consulted by the author or recommended for the reader but not cited in the text itself.

If you're writing in APA Style, however, that kind of bibliography is not an option. Keep those extra sources in mind for your next paper, and remember: Cite what you use, use what you cite.

What Belongs in the Reference List?

By Jeff Hume-Pratuch

Dear APA Style Experts,

I’m doing a paper for a psychology class that requires our opinion on “the most powerful influences on your view of the world.” I want to cite a conversation I had with my grandmother, but I don't know how to put this information on the reference page. Please advise.

Signed,
All in the Family

We devote a lot of time on the APA Style blog to different ways of formatting references, both in text and in the reference list, but have you ever thought about what qualifies as a reference?

The purpose of the reference list is to “acknowledge the work of previous scholars and provide a reliable way to locate it” (APA Publication Manual, 6th ed., p. 37). Let’s break this statement down and apply it to the question at hand.

Acknowledge the Work of Others
If someone else’s ideas, theories, or research have directly influenced your work, you need to credit the source in text and in the reference list. This applies whether you are directly quoting or paraphrasing the work in question. If you are building on work that you yourself have previously published, you need to cite that as well. This enables your readers to follow the idea back to its source.

Placing a source in your reference list also implies that you have personally read it. If you read Smith & Hawkshaw’s (2008) opinion of The Hound of the Baskervilles, but not Conan Doyle’s work itself, don’t put the latter in the list. What you have there is a secondary source (p. 178). 

In addition, you should consider the context in which you are writing. In most cases, your source should have some scholarly relevance. For a personal reflection paper, it is appropriate to quote one’s grandmother; for a dissertation on child development, not so much (unless one’s grandmother happens to be Anna Freud).

Provide a Reliable Path to the Source
Part of the purpose of a reference is to lead your reader back to the sources you used. For a book or journal article, this path is pretty straightforward, but for some sources we need to dig deeper. Ask yourself, “How would someone else get here?”

In some cases—like a private conversation—the answer is, “They can’t.” No one else is privy to that conversation with your grandmother. The wisdom she passed on to you is not recoverable by other researchers, so it does not go in the reference list.

This kind of source (private letters and e-mail, personal conversations, phone calls, etc.) is called a personal communication (p. 179). Cite it in text only, give initials as well as the surname of the person involved, and give as precise a date as possible:

My grandmother’s advice was, “Never pass up a chance to eat, sit down, or use a clean restroom” (S. Dean, personal communication, May 14, 1980).

The same approach would apply to notes you took during a lecture, or class handouts that are not posted elsewhere (e.g., the instructor’s website), or a spontaneous piece of street theater.

What About Research Interviews?
One exception to this guideline applies to participants that you interview in your own research. These interviews are qualitative data; they’re part of the research on which you are reporting and do not constitute the work of others. They should never be individually cited or treated as personal communications in APA Style, because this could compromise confidentiality. Researchers are prohibited by the APA Ethics Code from disclosing personally identifying information about research participants (pp. 17—18). Depending on the circumstances, such information could include the date of the interview as well as surname and initials.

How then should you handle the need to quote from participant interviews? Some authors quote participants without distinguishing them at all, like this: “Indeed, a comment by one of our participants illustrates some of these complex issues: [quote follows without other attribution].”

Others identify participants by demographic or other data: “At my age I think we know who we are and what we are. (Female participant, 69 years of age).” You can also identify participants with letters (Participant A, Participant B), nicknames (Sonny, Tracey), or by role (Doctor, Patient).

Final Thoughts
As you write your paper, remember to cite previously published work that influenced you, that you have actually read, and that other researchers can recover. That will make your reference list both useful and complete.

Order in the Reference List! Or the Case of the Maddening Initials

   

by Anne Breitenbach

It’s true confessions time: I copyedited APA journals for years and even taught APA Style to APA copy editors, and yet I’ve tripped over some really basic issues more times than I like to admit. One issue that has tied me in knots several times is how to order a reference list when there are authors with the same surname and almostthe same initials. 

Let me show you an example of what I mean. Suppose you had the following citations arranged in this order in a reference list (they really don’t have DOIs and they were read from hard copy, so they don’t need to have the journal homepage URLs, though see these previous posts on when to use a DOI and when to use a URL):

1.  Foorman, B. (2007). Primary prevention in classroom reading instruction. Teaching Exceptional Children, 39(5), 24–30.
2. Foorman, B. R. (1995). Research on the great debate: Code-oriented versus whole language approaches to reading. School Psychology Review, 24, 376–393.

 Is it in the right order? Maybe yes, maybe no. The correct order depends on whether B. Foorman and B. R. Foorman are actually the same person. Here’s what you need to consider:

• Rule 6.25 of the Publication Manual directs us to “arrange entries in alphabetical order by the surname of the first author followed by initials of the author’s given name.”

 However

• We are also instructed to order several works by the same first author by year of publication, the earliest first. 
• And works by different first authors with the same surname are ordered alphabetically by the first initial—in addition, citations in text should include initials with the surname of the first author to differentiate between the sources.

So our order depends on the identity of the mysterious Foorman(s). Are there two authors or one? If you don’t know, then you’ll have to research the issue (and keeping notes during the research process that include full names is an excellent idea, as that makes your job now much simpler). The logical first step is to go look at the research and see whether the reference is correct as given. However, if the initials have all been provided correctly, what other evidence is there that allows you to make an educated assessment of whether this is the same person? Are there complete first names provided in the byline or the author note? Is there an institutional affiliation or a history of publishing with the same people and on the same topic? Is there an email address that would allow you to ask directly? Can you find an article about the person or curriculum vitae that lists publications? 
 
If on the basis of your research you are comfortably sure that these are thesame person, reverse the order. The earlier reference should come first even though the initials aren’t exactly the same.
 
If your research directs you to the conclusion that you have two differentauthors, the order is correct as is, but you’ll need to remember to add the initials for each author when the reference is cited in text. 
 
Should you have a publishing career yourself, please try to publish your manuscripts with the same format of your name throughout your career. Researchers and copy editors the world over will bless you.

Punctuating the Reference List Entry

 by Chelsea Lee

The basic APA Style reference list entry follows a familiar pattern: It can be divided up into four parts (author, date, title, and source), and each of these parts is separated from the others by punctuation. The following post shows in more detail how this process works and answers two common reference punctuation-related questions.

Basic Punctuation in a Reference List Entry

To begin, let’s look at a basic, run-of-the-mill reference list entry for a journal article:

Jacobson, N. S., & Truax, P. (1991). Clinical significance: A statistical approach to defining change in psychotherapy research. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 59, 12–19. doi:10.1037/0022-006X.59.1.12

• The highlighted periods show how punctuation comes after the author names, date (which goes inside parentheses), title, and source.
• Note that you should not add punctuation marks after DOIs or URLs in reference list entries. These can function as live links to lead readers directly to article information; thus the precise alphanumeric string (without added punctuation) is needed.

The many reference list entries in Chapter 7 of the Publication Manual also show this punctuation pattern, and we encourage you to look there for more examples.

Next we’ll answer two common punctuation questions:

What Do I Do When the Title Ends in a Question Mark or Exclamation Point?

Authors and readers often ask how to deal with references that already contain punctuation—for example, a title that ends in a question mark or exclamation point. The short answer is, keep the original punctuation and do not add any extra. In the example below, the question mark at the end of the title takes the place of the period we would have otherwise inserted. There is no need to have two punctuation marks in a row.

Bushman, B. J., Baumeister, R. F., & Stack, A. D. (1999). Catharsis, aggression, and persuasive influence: Self-fulfilling or self-defeating prophecies? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 367–376. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.76.3.367

Should There Always Be a Period After the Author’s Name?

In the above examples, the authors were individuals whose names were listed in the format of surname, first initials. Because the initials already included punctuation, it was not necessary to add any additional punctuation in order for the author part of the entry to end in punctuation. However, when the author is a group, organization, institution, or something similar, there still needs to be a period at the end of the author piece of the reference. Here is an example of a reference with a group author (note the period after "Association"):

American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed., text rev.). Washington, DC: Author.

Likewise, even when there is no author and the title moves to the author position, the rhythm of the punctuation stays constant. Here is an example of an unauthored entry in an online dictionary:

Reliability. (n.d.). In Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary (11th ed.). Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reliability

• Here, periods come after each element, but again there is no period after the URL, to aid in retrievability. 
• Note that when the title includes parenthetical or bracketed information, there is no period between the title and the opening parenthesis/bracket, but there is one after the closing parenthesis/bracket to show the end of the title part of the reference. 

Sources:

1. http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2011/07/punctuating-the-reference-list-entry.html

2. http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2010/10/order-in-the-reference-list-or-the-case-of-the-maddening-initials.html

3. http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2010/10/what-belongs-in-the-reference-list.html

4. http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2011/02/whats-a-reference-list-for.html

How can Portfolios be evaluated?

According to Paulson, Paulson and Meyer, (1991, p. 63): "Portfolios offer a way of assessing student learning that is different than traditional methods. Portfolio assessment provides the teacher and students an opportunity to observe students in a broader context: taking risks, developing creative solutions, and learning to make judgments about their own performances."

In order for thoughtful evaluation to take place, teachers must have multiple scoring strategies to evaluate students' progress. Criteria for a finished portfolio might include several of the following:

• Thoughtfulness (including evidence of students' monitoring of their own comprehension, metacognitive reflection, and productive habits of mind).
• Growth and development in relationship to key curriculum expectancies and indicators.
• Understanding and application of key processes.
• Completeness, correctness, and appropriateness of products and processes presented in the portfolio.
• Diversity of entries (e.g., use of multiple formats to demonstrate achievement of designated performance standards).

It is especially important for teachers and students to work together to prioritize those criteria that will be used as a basis for assessing and evaluating student progress, both formatively (i.e., throughout an instructional time period) and summartively (i.e., as part of a culminating project, activity, or related assessment to determine the extent to which identified curricular expectancies, indicators, and standards have been achieved).

As the school year progresses, students and teacher can work together to identify especially significant or important artifacts and processes to be captured in the portfolio. Additionally, they can work collaboratively to determine grades or scores to be assigned. Rubrics, rules, and scoring keys can be designed for a variety of portfolio components. In addition, letter grades might also be assigned, where appropriate. Finally, some for of oral discussion or investigation should be included as part of the summative evaluation process. This component should involve the student, teacher, and if possible, a panel of reviewers in a thoughtful exploration of the portfolio components, students' decision-making and evaluation processes related to artifact selection, and other relevant issues.

Source: Mindful School: Portfolio connection, Burke, Fogerty, IRI/Skylight Publishing (1994) 

Sample Rating Scale for Cover Letter

Grade	Description
1-3	·         Shows limited awareness of portfolio goals ·         Has difficulty understanding the process of revision ·         Demonstrate little evidence of progress overtime ·         Limited explanationof choices made ·         Has difficulty relating to self/peer assessment
4-7	·         Reflects awareness of some portfolio goals ·         Understands the process of revision to a certain extent ·         Demonstrates some evidence of progress over time ·         Explains choices made in a relevant way ·         Relates to sel/peer assessment
8-10	·         Reflects awareness of portfolio goals ·         Understands the process of revision ·         Demonstrate evidence of progress over time ·         Fully explains choices made ·         Reaches high level of reliability in self/peer assessment ·         Draws conclusions about his/her learning

Essential Elements of the Portfolio

Every portfolio must contain the following essential elements:

1. Cover letter
• about the author
• what my portfolio shows about my progress as a learner (written at the end, but put at the beginning)
• the cover letter summarizes the evidence of a student's learning and progress
2. Table of Contents with numbered pages
3. Entries
• both core (items students have to include) and optional (items of student's choice)
• core elements will be required for each students and will provide a common base from which to make decisions on assessment
• optional items will allow the folder to represent the uniqueness of each student (students can choose best pieces of work, but also a piece of work which gave trouble or one that was less successful, and give reasons why?
4. Dates on all entries to facilitate proof of growth over time
5. Drafts of aural/oral and written products and revised version
• e.g. first drafts and corrected and revised versions
6. Reflections
• can appear at different stages in the learning process (for formative and summative purposes)
• a brief rationale for choosing the item should be included
• this can relate to students' performance, to their feelings regarding their progress and/or themselves as learners
• students can choose to reflect upon some or all of the following:
• what did I learn from it?
• what did I do well?
• why (based on the agreed teacher-student assessment criteria) did I choose this item?
• what do I want to improve in the item?
• how do I feel about my performance?
• What were the problem areas?