RE@LBlog STEAM Teacher Report: A few years ago, Ellen Schafer was freshly graduated from the University of St. Thomas (UST) in St. Paul with a double major in Elementary Education (K-6) and Science and Math Endorsement (5-8). Luckily for both, she found that her former grade school and alma mater, St. Joseph’s Grade School, was also
RE@L thanks frequent blogger and nationally-known educational historian, Diane Ravitch, for alerting us to a recent, thought-provoking headline and a key follow-up story from the Boston Globe™ newspaper. RE@L is pleased that this Globe story does NOT address statewide competency exams that students need to pass in order to graduate. Nor does it deal with any impossible promises to make all students
RE@LBlog is proud to share with our readers some of the many insightful and helpful comments we received this past weekend. Thank You! RE@L depends on our readers to improve not only our RE@LBlog, but also our new RE@L LearningProducts™. Already we have made free to our readers our successful middle school student anti-vaping product; 1UP
RE@LReport this week is excerpted from Axios News, May 9, 2020: “The Coronavirus Pandemic Is Transforming HowTeachers Teach,” by authors: Kim Hart & Alison Snyder. Click on the Axios graphic to the right for their entire column. This timely RE@LReport tells how the pandemic is changing the way teachers teach and the way students learn. Changes in K12,
RE@L – The Brand That Makes Sy-STEM-ic K12 EdTech Change Happen Again and Again! Real Experiences at Life (RE@L) reflects today’s ever-changing education environment. RE@L is unique in its approach to build K-12 on-line curriculum based on 4 key principles: 1. Drive Systemic Change – Make a real difference via STEM and STEAM-based products and experiences for all K12
“1Up On Vaping” is taking down teen nicotine by giving middle school students the tools they need to make healthy decisions about vaping and nicotine use. Teen e-cig use has reached epidemic proportions and the best way to stop it is to educate students in ways they’ll respect and remember. Students tell us they like to explore
RE@L is honored to present this University of Minnesota, College of Education and Human Development “Alumni Profile” Spring 2020 recognition of our RE@L Chairman, Dale LaFrenz. Proud we are! Here’s Dale’s Profile from the U of M: ===== Dale And His RE@L Team Are “Still On The Trail!” “The pioneer” Story by Gene Rebeck – Spring 2020
Hey, all you loyal RE@LBlog Readers out there: Thank you! Thank you for your many email comments on Ellie’s StudentCorner™ blog. Click on the graphic to the right to read Ellie’s previous blog story if you missed it. Note: Ellie isn’t yet an astronaut, but that’s her dream and Photoshop helped us show it. She’s still
Hi everyone! It’s Ellie, back again reporting from my RE@L StudentCorner™! I am excited to be returning to my Corner to talk more about STEM in my life, and how it’s leading to my STEM “dream” job! Here’s my own STEM story: “Growing up, I had been to a few STEM camps. I live near to a university, so they
RE@LBlog found this recent headline article on keeping an “open mind” in a local publication,” MINNPOST,” just as many local students went back to online school during their prolonged “Stay Home!” Here’s the caption from an involved parent: “I’m just trying to keep an open mind: What the first day of distance learning looked like in Minnesota.” The “Online Learning Cloud” out there
RE@L is pleased to present RE@L VP Don Rawitsch and his insightful Guest Blog answer to a clear and better path for K12 students as they consider STEM Careers. There has been much discussion on the best way to approach this needed change. Don suggests flipping the Educational Levels from “Elementary School to Middle School
Over 60 years ago IBM was among the first major corporations to hire minority female employees for key engineering computing positions. Much progress has been made! Here’s the story! When President John F. Kennedy announced the U.S. “Man on the Moon” space initiative in 1960, computers were just beginning to leave the labs and enter the
It still takes real teamwork to get things done in K12 learning resources. The MECC teams did just that back in the Oregon Trail™ days. Today our RE@LTeams do the same with our new array of tested LearningProducts™. The past informs the present, they say, and so it is with RE@L. 4o+ years ago, teachers-in-training, Don Rawitsch and Paul Dillenberger, along with
Following up on our last blog by Teacher Todd, we now have a commentary by Student Ellie for our RE@L StudentCorner™. RE@L knows that LearningProduct improvement comes from listening to both teachers and students. Below is a student’s views about vaping and smoking. Students and teachers know best what works for them. They also help make
Our many readers will recall last fall that our RE@L TeacherCorner™ Todd had many helpful suggestions about making a good start to the 2019-2020 school year. Click on Todd’s photo below to see those tips. They remain useful reminders. Since then, many new challenges have faced K12 schools, from sinking test scores to sinking budget balances.
MOAI/RE@L recently released their new LearningProduct, “1Up On Vaping.” Middle Schools in four states will be able to purchase and access this powerful, new product that helps young students decide what to do. Your school can order 1UpOn Vaping, too. Click here and scroll to the bottom to place your school’s order. TeacherGuide resources come
RE@L is proud to announce the upcoming release of our new powerful LearningProduct: “1Up On Vaping” in early February. An integral part of this anti-vaping product is our new RE@LPortal, a gateway to essential teaching, learning and sharing resources for users everywhere. RE@L VP Don Rawitsch tells our readers about the rest of the RE@LPortal™ story: “Our RE@L customers will be able to access
Minnesota has a long history of creating new “high technologies” that have well-served the world, far beyond our state boundaries. MECC’s Oregon Trail is among them. Just ask those students who played it and learned from it. The short list seen below may not seem high-tech to our readers, but it was at the time.
In recent RE@LBlogs we have brought to our reader’s attention our new LearningProduct: “1Up On Vaping.” This New Year brings an exciting, new LearningProduct™ to Middle-Schools across America. The release date is scheduled for January 27, 2020! More young learners need to be 1Up on the dangers of vaping. MOAI/RE@L provide those resources, funded by
In the hundred thousands of schools across our country no one knows better what works and what doesn’t work than……Yes! The student. That’s one reason RE@L listens to students, and their teachers, too. Who knows better in the marketplace than the customer? There’s an old saying: “The customer is always right.” They vote “with their
You Celebrated With Us At RE@LBlog Last Year! A Half-Million visitors weren’t wrong. Nor are the nearly 100,000 more since! RE@LBlog has now reached a half-mega-milestone of 500,000 visitors to our RE@L Homepage™ and RE@LBlogsite™. It’s a cause for celebration! Yes, RE@LBlog readers, in our years of blogging we now have a half million visitors to our RE@LBlog Site! We
What holiday gift can we give our loyal RE@L Readers? We want something to give that will last longer than a two-year old fruitcake from Aunt Matilda. So, we are looking for a gift that keeps on giving and keeps getting better the more we use it. Like Aunt Matilda’s fruitcake, a good blog
RE@L is pleased to repost this current column of “The Merrow Report” an ongoing, investigatory, weekly publication on education by author and the “McGraw Prize in Education” winner, John Merrow. Click on the graphic to the right to learn more about Mr. Merrow’s many reports to improve K12 education. His current report deals with the K12 tallies of school achievement
Where There’s Smoke, There’s More Tobacco Trouble – VAPING! Sarah Bass is one of RE@L’s Co-Founders. She serves as Learning Innovator for RE@L’s STEM Products. LearningProducts™ is what RE@L is all about and our primary focus is on K12 students and STEM-based learning. Sarah brings to RE@L more than 15 years of experience as a
RE@L is moving ahead quickly with the coming release in January of our new RE@LearningProduct™: 1Up On Vaping™ The accompanying RE@LProduct Tag Line is: Taking Down Teen Nicotine™. That’s our new RE@L goal! That new phrase is what’s called positive, “with-it” teen lingo. The new medium for middle-schoolers is our 1Up On Vaping™ message. Our short RE@L quips about vaping and tobacco
RE@L’s annual Thanksgiving Holiday greeting this year features famous business-man, author and frequent speaker: Harvey McKay. Mr. McKay writes a weekly column,”Swim with the Sharks™” which is read by many. RE@L joins him in this message of gratitude for the many teachers who serve our many students. Read an excerpt of his Thanksgiving column below, taken from today,
Paul Gullickson, one of our RE@L colleagues, lives near the Fagen Engineering, Inc. in Granite Falls, MN. Paul is a frequent visitor to their air museum, recently alerted us to a very interesting locally-made video about Fagen’s continued efforts to build a WW2 Air Museum. That museum will honor those many who have fought for our
RE@L is moving ahead quickly with the coming release in December of our new RE@LearningProduct™: “1Up On Vaping™”. The accompanying Product Tag Line is: “Taking Down Teen Nicotine Use™ That new phrase is what’s called positive, “with-it” teen lingo. That short quip is a large part of what it takes to get both the attention of and positive results from teenagers who
On occasion, RE@LBlog brings our readers a “K12 Blast from the Past.” Here’s a famous quote from philosopher, essayist, poet, and novelist, George Santyana: “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” We need to learn from our past, both what has worked and what still needs our working on… 30 years ago this
A self-taught longshoreman who got his education from classic library books, Eric Hoffer left us this legacy: “In times of change learners inherit the earth; while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.” Today, even the most learned among us often have no answers for our tech-driven world. Worse, we have fewer
Let’s start our RE@LBlog where we left off last time: RE@L remains committed to an ancient Roman motto that’s still popular today: “Sans mens in sana corpore.” Translated it means a healthy mind requires a healthy body. And, vice-versa, translated means it works both ways! It’s imperative that our students know what keeps a body healthy, and
There’s an old saying that “Where’s there’s smoke there’s fire.” In today’s tobacco-driven world, there’s an equally worrisome warning: “Where there’s tobacco smoke there’s trouble ahead! Vaping too!” Many share these concerns and now more than ever. Regrettably, many of our children aren’t worried at all. Why? Kids say their friends smoke and vape. We’re young and have a whole life ahead
RE@L’S TEACHERS CORNER WITH TODD LAFRENZ “Here are some thoughts from our summer travels and adventures into a new school year. Hope these recollection are helpful to you teachers out there as you begin your school year. Now that your bodies and minds are recharged, it is time to start thinking about the coming school
An interview “blast from our RE@L past” and one worth your watching on our RE@LBlog! Recently, WCCO-TV reporter, John Lauritsen, along with MECC Founder, Dale LaFrenz, tells viewers the story of Oregon Trail™ and how it “immersed” K12 learners back in those bygone days. Click on the white arrow above. Students who played Oregon
Within the next few weeks, the doors of our many schools will be opening again. We at RE@L see this as another opportunity to “make learning even better than last year.” There will be many more productive tools of teaching and learning provided our new RE@L-Time Portal™. These new tools will enhance all our STEM Investigation products. We
Peyton LaFrenz is a local MN high school equestrian, who greatly enjoys sharing her horse-riding stories. In this RE@L Student Corner™ Blog post, she tells the social media world how her passion and her use of technology has made a unique impact on her and many followers, wherever they are. Like many students who share what they’ve learned
Students can teach us educators how to better educate. They can also teach themselves how to better learn. They can even teach a President of the United States why effective technologies need to be in K12 classrooms everywhere….computers, mobile devices and software that makes a student think and learn. But, first both students and
RE@L is pleased to announce another newspaper feature on RE@L’s Learning Products Mission team. Major articles have been published on MECC and RE@L by our local major newspapers, the Twin Cities area Star Tribune and the Twin Cities area Pioneer Press (see links on those stories by clicking the two graphics below).
Imagine a new way to learn, with a new space for learning in our schools. Inside, find team-rooms instead of classrooms. Outside, you will find real-world problems like safe drinking water. There’s a poem many of us studied in school called “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” with a famous line: “Water,
As the old saying goes, “Read it and weep!” The”Impossible Achievement Gap” lives on and on and on. Why? It’s impossible! See the RE@L story by clicking on the graphic below. Each year thousands of new school leaders, take the reins of a K12 school district or a school, while promising to erase the indelible
Years ago, in my K12 teaching days, our school district had a computer supervisor who, when asked if computers would ever replace teachers, responded with the comment in the headline you just read above. It’s still true. Computers and all related K12 ed-tech devices are still teaching tools. Teachers still teach. But to teach in today’s high-tech world they need
Our RE@LBlog readers know that we are dedicated to bringing our now over half-million+ visitors more encouraging reports on more STEM activities in K12. We’ve had dozens of our own blogs and many guest blogs from both teachers and students on STEM topics from aviation to our soon–to-be released Water Quality Investigation software product….just
A RE@L Reprint! Here’s a helpful “end of the school year blog” this week by RE@L guest-blogger, Anne Jolly. It brought to mind that Nat King Cole standard that some of us may still recall: “Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer….Dust off the sun and moon and sing a song of cheer.” Please note
Tom Whitby writes a fine and focused, albeit lengthy blog in his most recent release: “What is the Goal of Education.” Mr. Whitby has been blogging for many years and has many followers. He has written many pertinent and helpful educational blogs. Teachers have found them pertinent in improving their craft and improving
Your RE@LBloggers chanced upon this fine blog from Learners Edge: 7 Steps for Keeping Students Engaged After Spring Break. If you elementary teachers out there are looking for projects that your students will both enjoy and remember here’s some great ideas from Marcee Harris. If you are a secondary teacher, many of her suggestions will
RE@L presents a timely Mini-Blog for our many busy readers. Our selected topic this week is “Systemic-Change.” We all realize that positive change is essential for positive results. But, for positive change to become lasting change, it must positively affect the entire system. The catalyst to make that happen is known as “systemic change,”…. a change which both infects
Fellow RE@L BlogMeister and Chairman of the Board Dale LaFrenz found a powerful technology message on Twitter last week: “Technology is a tool.” Indeed it is! Since that message lines up with our RE@L’s Systemic-Change™ mission (click here) for our recent blogs, we did a little more sleuthing on the Twitter hashtag: #TruDatChat. It’s hard to find a
Many Minnesotans are rightfully applauding their new Employment and Economic Developer (EED) Commissioner, Steve Grove. Mr. Grove was the former News Lab Director at Google. He was in charge of Google’s collaboration with news organizations all over America and the globe. Steve not only knows technology, he knows how to tell the important news stories about the technological impact that
RE@L is thrilled to welcome two, new STEM-based teachers, Jackie and Todd LaFrenz, to our RE@L Teachers Corner…Hangout…Watering Hole…Whatever you want to call the place for sharing big ideas! This new Corner is a gathering place where any teacher can go and read about ideas to help more kids learn more. Throughout the school
Yes, things are happening at RE@L that K12 STEM teachers and students everywhere will be glad to see! Our RE@L Blog is changing for the better, too. A big part of our change is our new “STEM EdTech Teacher Corners.” We now have a new teacher team! They both are experienced teachers who know how to use their hands-on,
“ A STORY TOLD BY OUR RE@L CHAIRMAN, DALE LAFRENZ, WHO WAS THERE FOR ALL OF IT AND STILL IS! FROM MECC TO RE@L TO NEW COLLABORATIONS AND PRODUCTS – Blog Editors Note: RE@L’s visionary leader Dale LaFrenz was there when it all started back in the 1960′s. Dale and his education colleagues were ready with a
As promised, RE@L brings you the second STEM Case Study, this one from Jackie Murdock LaFrenz, another “Passionate Practitioner” from Oregon, and wife of last week’s guest blogger, Todd LaFrenz. Click here to read Todd’s STEM Case Study from his school: REALMS, where they focused on Expeditionary Learning as well as the Common Core Standards. Together they make
“Get a job!” That was a line from an old rock ‘n roll song we heard in our youth. But it’s not music to many Millennial ears these days. It wasn’t as hard to get a job back then even though there were a lot of us looking for one. Not as many young people went on to
READ ON FOR SOME IDEAS ON HOW TO RESTORE PEACE AND SAFETY TO OUR SCHOOLS AND STUDENTS. NOTE: THIS BLOG WAS FIRST PUBLISHED SEVERAL MONTHS AGO. GIVEN ITS IMPORTANCE, WE ARE PUBLISHING IT AGAIN. ======= Hashmarks (#) are all over the place these days. We have seen #MeToo which has helped stem abuse
Our RE@L President and CEO, Paul Gullickson, recently reminded us what constitutes Systemic Change. Paul also told us it’s critically important to keep our RE@L system on-course if we are going to meet one of our major, RE@L goals for our products and services. We at RE@L want more kids to learn more! We
We last left our RE@LBlog readers almost half way from the dairy farm to the milk in the glass on our tables. Here’s a photo of Al the Milkman waving goodbye as he heads his big truck to the nearest dairy producer and bottler. To read Part 1, click here. Many of us don’t
RE@LBlog is proud to announce the recent Press Release that RE@L and our colleagues at MOAI Technologies have received a major grant from the National Institute for Health to develop a unique anti-smoking, online product. More on the Press Release below. First, why is this issue so important to RE@L’s mission? Health and wellness are critically important topics
Almost 200 years ago, Horace Mann introduced schooling as we know it today. Students were grouped largely by age, as they are now. While that method works for many learners, it clearly does not work for all. We are all grateful for Mann’s introduction of universal education in America. We remain concerned, however, education today
MORE ABOUT RE@L’S COMING NEW STEM SOFTWARE IN MARCH! - LISTEN TO RE@L’S “SPOKES-KID” SAM HIRA! SAM AND HIS ROBOT, 2007 SAM NOW SAM HAS BEEN AN ADVISOR TO RE@L FOR YEARS. HE ALSO HELPS US TELL
Our last three RE@L Blogs dealt with the useful topic of how to turn CyberBullying into CyberTeaming. Thanks to Tulane University’s School of Social work, we were able to reprint their comprehensive informative content, resources and remedies on how to make K12 team-based learning more effective. Click here to read those three informative reports on CyberBullying. You may be
RE@L’s VP for RE@L Product Development, Don Rawitsch, recently wrote a Guest Blog for us on his attendance and presentation at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco last month. Click here for Don’s previous blog on this topic. One of his conclusions was that, with hundreds of booths showing the latest in gaming to 25,000 attendees,
RE@L is proud to bring our readers a “Double Perspective” of Case Studies on STEM-based Real World Learning. This kind of learning goes by many names these days: STEM, STEAM, PBL (Project-Based Learning), EL (Expeditionary Learning) to name some. Todd LaFrenz and Jackie Murdock LaFrenz are dedicated teachers from Bend, OR who use these powerful principles,