Careful Planning & Its Impact

My sister and I are planning to go to France in November. We've never been there before. We only have 7 days. How do we fit everything in that we want to do and see? We will be flying into Charles deGaulle Airport on a Friday morning, and we have to leave the following Friday morning. This is going to be a challenge! We got together to do some planning ahead of time so that we could maximize our time when we get there. We also have engaged the help of a driver who is a travel professional who will guide us on a carefully planned route. We know we can't see everything, so we really have to make some good decisions. We began by looking at our travel books and looking at a map. We went to the internet a couple of times. We couldn't find where our hotel was located! The language is so different from ours. The avenues are called rues. Good grief...it took us at least a half an hour to figure out how far our hotel was from the airport. We had to think about a logical sequence for our trip, but we also found ourselves prioritizing places into "must sees" and "nice to sees." Did we want to go on our jaunt to Mont St. Michel first thing or later in the week? Decisions, decisions, decisions... We finally decided to leave some of those decisions up to the expert - our travel guide. However, we had to send him an outline of what we wanted to see and do, and even that required a bit of research and conversation.

As we were doing this, I thought about SMARTER Planning. We were very actively doing the hardest part - the real thinking and planning before the trip. It was exciting and fun, but also full of choices and hard decisions. Shaping our questions and mapping out our route started today. Here are our questions:

• Why is Paris such a mecca for tourists?
• How does one live in France?
• How does the geography and history of Northern France differ from ours in the states?

Knowing we simply don't have time to travel all through France, we decided on Normandy, Mont St. Michel, and Paris. We will have our "home base" in Paris, but take one or two day trips and then spend the rest of the time in the city. It was really difficult to pare down everything that we wanted to do to what we actually could do and do well. We want to have memories that last a lifetime. We want to experience what is important and vital about Paris and the vicinity. Doing too much would only make us tired. Doing too much or visiting too many places would water down our experience we decided. We would rather spend a greater amount of time in fewer locations so that we can really feel what it is like to live in France.

This whole experience of planning this trip also led me to reflect on the importance of planning in general. Quality planning reduces tension and frustration. Quality planning facilitates the journey. There will be far less wasted time and many more hours focused on the right stuff! We have a blueprint for our journey. Sure, it can be changed...but we have a plan. The metaphor of going on a journey is a really good one for teachers to remember. Teachers take their students on journeys constantly. How much more meaningful could the journey be with really careful, thoughtful planning?

Galaxy Zoo - Very Cool!

I was listening to NPR the other day, and I heard something that I thought was very intriguing. It must have been on a Friday because it was Ira Flato on NPR Science Friday. Anyway, he was having a conversation with an astronomer about an elementary school teacher who discovered a previously unknown object in space when cataloging galaxies on Galaxy Zoo. Ira inquired about Galaxy Zoo (I couldn't imagine what it was either...) Come to find out, it is a public website that is open to any curious person. http://www.galaxyzoo.org/. The guest astronomer talked about the sheer billions and billions of galaxies in space. Stargazers, amateur and professional, are discovering so many galaxies and other objects in space that astronomers simply can't keep up with even the very basic categorizing of them. As a result, a website was established that allows anyone to experience what astronomers do. It allows someone like me to become an astronomer! I was curious, so I logged on. I have always been interested in astronomy since I was a kid. It was quick and easy to register and set up an account. I made it through the tutorial, took the test, and I am now qualified to categorize galaxies! In a relatively short period of time, a new user can sharpen their "galaxy identification" skills, take a test to be sure the information is learned, and then relax with a cup of coffee (or Coke!) and look at galaxies in unimaginably far-off corners of the universe. Those who persevere and pass the test, are then able to participate in this massive learning project. The work begins. Participants are asked to look at pictures of real galaxies and place them in specific categories. The website states that an amateur's eye is as good as the trained astronomer's for this task once the eye is tuned in to what to look for. The responses from amateurs on the website go into a database that helps scientists figure out the universe. Some amateur astronomers have made amazing discoveries on Galaxy Zoo by finding things in the photographs that previously were not recognized!

After I got familiar with Galaxy Zoo and tried my hand at being an astronomer, I began thinking about how much I had learned about galaxies. I had so many more questions, and the whole activity was SO engaging. I had fun doing it, and I can tell you now about the different kinds of galaxies. Did you know that spiral galaxies, like our own Milky Way, rotate either in clockwise or counterclockwise direction? You can examine a picture of a spiral galaxy and determine which direction it rotates in. This website and activity could be a really fascinating way for students to get some background knowledge about galaxies and what it is like to be an astronomer. This is a real life task that students could engage in. It is rigorous, and it is relevant. It is application of learning, and could be done cooperatively or independently. It involves technology and being useful. The site provides automatic feedback, and a feeling of accomplishment. It feels like you are making an important contribution. It is highly visual, and forces one to use skills of analysis. There is much to be gained by engaging students in activities that pertain to real life. This one happens to be astronomy. If you know of other websites that have similar value, please take a moment and respond with a short description!

Until next time....