Disqus - Latest Comments for christinanicolson

Re: Not dead…just sleeping really deeply!

christinanicolson — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 08:00:13 -0000

Paul, I am glad to read that your hibernation has led to focusing on outreach and contributions. From my perspective you have always been open and supportive of readers and their interests in contributing. Feeling rejuvenated, I will send you a video clip of Wellington Enrichment "Wild Kingdom's" 2nd annual trip to Dr. Karp's Lab of Biomimetics at MIT/BWH/Harvard. I'll accompany it with a paragraph about how Belmont students are becoming citizen scientists. This will be a sample of the exciting work my student board is doing to produce "Mrs. Nic's SciTV" at Belmont Media Center.

Re: Join Belmont Public Schools’ Community Dialog this Tuesday!

christinanicolson — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 07:38:24 -0000

Come! Lend your voice to this Community Dialog! I urge you to be a steward...make a difference in LEARNING and SERVICE in BELMONT and beyond. I use the word learning, instead of education, because everyone is a LEARNER no matter how, when, where, or with whom. I speak as a "non-formal" educator for children and their families in workshops, in their homes, and in elementary enrichment courses sponsored by the Belmont PTO. My students connect with professional scientists, 4H, BelmontServes, and the efforts towards the greening of Belmont.
One of my reasons for participating in Community Dialog is to investigate how young residents of Belmont are becoming citizen scientists, especially in the sphere of sustaining biodiversity.
I hope to learn from others what Belmont Public Schools are already doing well and should sustain or amplify.

Re: Libraries…who needs ’em? (Answer below)

christinanicolson — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 14:52:36 -0000

In contemporary education we are blessed but not wise enough for using a wide range of media ---not excluding the physical books.As curriculum designer and teacher for Belmont Enrichment classes and gifted students at Milton Academy's Saturday Course (ages 7-14), I have made the following observations over the past two years:
1) A reluctant reader with ADHD was inspired to make a replica of da Vinci's wings...enlisted his grandfather's engineering skills...found books he wanted to read with help...and lugged two bags to share at school. He became so knowledgeable about daVinci's work that he disputed the validity of some information on two websites.
2) For my course, "The Secret Life of Animals," students have gravitated to books and magazines, when provided with a rich, annotated array for each class. Identifying the best books for study of their animal delights them, when they post their name on the front cover and mark the pages that answer their questions.study of adaptation of their favorite animal. My students seem used the Internet and DVDs as supplementary.
These two scenarios often indicate how valuable books are for kids with certain learning styles and apppreciative of adult guidance and personal connections.
WOW!!!!! That's happening in so many ways at Belmont Children's Library:
1) storytelling; 2)music sharing; 3) display cabinets for users; 4) children's evaluations of books;
5) turtles; 6) computer games and catalog; 7) smart librarians who know their users and help out;
8) book displays on relevant topics; 9) bulletin board around the corner; 10) reasonable policies, etc.

Let's integrate books with electronic media, activities, training in evaluation of websites, literature circles, and, of course, events like One Book One Belmont.

Re: Summit on Wellington traffic, safety issues Wednesday

christinanicolson — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 13:24:31 -0000

Known as Mrs. Nic, a teacher of three courses in the Wellington Enrichment Program, I have become sensitive to neighbors' concerns already ---before ground breaking. Since I bring electronics, books, and live animals to my classes, I confess that I have broken a rule or two in order to protect their safety and that of my student "sherpas."
Regarding the meeting tonight about Wellington traffic issues, I only found out about the date from the second page of the Belmont Citizen, reinforced today by " Blogging Belmont." This seems to be a vital opportunity for becoming a well-informed citizen and worker at Wellington. I look forward to hearing from town officials and other involved parties. The old saying still rings true: "A stitch in time saves nine."