Friday March 28th, 2014

Circle Question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

Goal:[Students can engage in research/inquiry to investigate topics, and to analyze, integrate, and present information.]

Activity: We will be interviewing an expert, Mr. Bickford, about the whole Nature/Nurture debate as it relates to education.  We obviously live in an area of Maine that is economically depressed and our test scores and academic rank below our Portland area counterparts like Falmouth, Freeport, Cape Elizabeth, etc.  Is this a function of our nature(DNA etc) or our Nurture(Culture, parenting style, etc) or both and what can we do to improve the lives of our students in SAD17?

Goal:Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

You will be asking questions as well as taking notes during out question and answer session with Mr. Bickford.  You will be using these notes along with the transcripts, teacher/student interviews, depressed teenager article, class discussion to come up with a written response to the nature nurture debate and possible remedies or suggestions for our educational system.


Questions for Mr. Bickford
As a harvard grad, did you know any dropouts and why did they?
Does he believe a child who comes from poverty and depression really have a chance? Why?
Depression is directly related poverty and the only schools with an A rating reside in the wealthiest parts of Maine.  Can we get students to see the link between grades and wealth?
How do we break the cycle of poverty in this area?  Can we?
Is it even possible to break the cycle of poverty and depression?
How much time and effort does the school system put into making sure poverty issue are taken care of?
Do we have to solve the poverty problem or the grades problem first?
Is poverty and depression addressed as in issue in this district?
Do agree that making standards tougher and pushing kids harder is going to make this a better place academically?
With the kids he sees on a regular basis is it even worth making an effort?
Do we spend too much time trying to help kids at the bottom or do we need to separate the chafe from the wheat?
Other Questions?