Journaling The Academy encouraged Ortiz de Dominguez teachers to make positive, active use of journaling where appropriate. Journaling enables students to explore, reflect, and ask questions of themselves in ways that are otherwise difficult during typical class time activities. Journaling helps students feel ownership and investment in their work, and also helps them to see and appreciate common themes and ideas that are threaded through a series of lessons. Perhaps best of all, students have the opportunity to enhance their writing skills by working on brief, targeted assignments. For almost any lesson, simple movement games can be created to get students up and moving and to help them learn through action.
Students are more likely to remember concepts with movement accompanies their learning.
Teachers, please see also this site's resources page . It has been a richly rewarding experience for our students and teachers to continue our relationship with the Nature Museum. Steve Bunyak, as a museum educator, has shown exceptional professionalism with the teachers and staff of Ortiz de Dominguez. He was especially successful at designing science lessons for young children who are piecing together the fascinating puzzle of living on the earth. Steve's enthusiasm and commitment, combined with that of the Friends of the Chicago River and that of our staff, made the IPSD 2001 project a successful experience for all involved.