RAFT Hands-On Education

Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and this is an excellent time in the school year to take a moment and reflect on the teachers and students for whom you are grateful! Thanksgiving is a holiday that reminds us to stop and think about the people in our lives who have made a significant impression, who have inspired us to go further, and who have helped you embrace new challenges without fear of failure! In many ways, these people are the teachers and students we’ve met in our lives, which includes YOU, our devoted RAFT educators! Take time to think about this: who are the teachers and students you’re grateful for? To me, in a way, we are all teachers in some capacity when we care about another person and want to help them positively learn something. I remember my kinder teacher, Ms. Lamb, and my second-grade teacher, Mrs. Turturici, who encouraged a timid little girl to be whatever she wanted to be. And that little girl was me! I thank them for their patience and persistence...

Here is a creative idea from Arlene Brown, a science teacher at St. Mary's School in Los Gatos: "Each year I teach my first-graders about weather, and this year I decided to have them build their own rain gauges. I came to RAFT in search of rain gauges, and what I found were giant syringes (with no needles) that turned out to be perfect for this project!  At 17 cents apiece, I was able to have all 36 students create rain gauges for less than 7 dollars. In class, the students took one look at my sample and knew exactly what to do.  They were very excited about this project! They put a pointed stick in the small end of the syringe to plug the hole and keep the gauge vertical. Now all we needed was rain... thankfully, Mother Nature cooperated by providing a rare rainstorm at just the right time! That night, parents had a great time helping their children set up their rain gauges.  The students could not wait to go out in the morning to see how much water they collected! ...

One of the most important steps in our hands on Activity Kit development process is user testing. We want to test RAFT Activity Kits to ensure we are delivering the best quality product, with easy to understand instructions, and exceptional educational content. We recently invited RAFT members to bring their children, the end users of RAFT products, to be our RAFT Kids Kit Testers for the night. The children were very excited to see the place “where mom gets all her good junk”. We tested Foil Art , Kumihimo , and a brand new Retractor Car. In reaction to completing the retractor car made out of common materials, one child exclaimed, “It REALLY worked!” I received valuable feedback and will take it back to the product development team. It is amazing what you can learn when you see the product with its end user. RAFT prides itself in creating hands on Activity Kits that are made out of common materials so one can actually build these kits on their own! RAFT provides, Idea Sheets, ...

Resource Area For teaching (RAFT) recently honored two Bay Area educators with the Hands On Recognition Awards for their emphasis on hands on teaching methods. Ann Shioji, a high school teacher and Anna Pollack, an elementary school teacher were selected in recognition of their exceptional collaborative and inquiry-based teaching projects and activities in the classroom. Shioji’s award winning concept explores how sound travels through different media using a simple watch and various materials like air, water and sand. Says Shioji, “Students place a watch on the table and put bags, each filled with a different material, on top of it. They then listen for any difference in the sound and describe what they hear. It reinforces the concept that sound waves need a m edium to travel through.” Shioji, who teaches Integrated Science at the Yerba Buena High School , was introduced to RAFT by another teacher when she came to the Bay Area. “I taught in Los Angeles for three years. We didn’t ...

At the RAFT Homeschooling Open House held last month, we were pleased to welcome both first time visitors and veteran members of the home school community. As visitors signed in, we chatted and I thanked them for coming out on a rainy evening. Their gracious responses voiced their acknowledgement of RAFT as a hub of the education community: • ”Thanks to RAFT for having this event!” • ”Thank you for recognizing us as educators.” • “We face some of the same challenges as classroom teachers.” • ”It’s nice to be part of this larger community of educators” Whether you teach a class of one that may be your own child or a classroom filled with students, what is it about RAFT that appeals to a wide range of educators? I asked a few of our guests this question. The response of one home school educator provides the best clue -- “All children learn differently. There should be room to explore many different teaching models and, if you can, match the model that best meets the need of each child.”...

Today one of the concerns of educators is that only a few students appear engaged with the task at hand. If students can’t engage with the content to construct meaning for themselves, then they aren’t learning. Resource Area for Teaching (RAFT) recognizes this problem and helps educators with hands-on teaching tools to help close the engagement gap. Jennifer Lazzarini, 2nd Grade Teacher of Hubbard Elementary and RAFT Member says, “RAFT is an organization that reaches out to make a difference in our classrooms. They provide activities that help educators like me bring 21st century skills to future leaders.” RAFT members and many educators have realized that hands-on teaching means students are actively engaged in a lesson using multiple intelligences and learning styles to access the content. They connect with the lesson at a new level aimed at creating a physical experience that helps them learn by doing.