Educator Edition
Joining Mars MAVEN Ambassador Program
By Florida Virtual School on August 22nd, 2015
Have you ever just watched the last five minutes of a movie and tried to piece the rest of it together, backwards?
Crazy idea, right? It’s one that Mars scientists are doing on the MAVEN mission.
MAVEN stands for Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN and the goal is to try and figure out what happened to Mars’ atmosphere millions of years ago.
Scientists know Mars at one time resembled Earth, with an atmosphere and flowing water. With MAVEN, they will attempt to work backwards and find out how the atmosphere and dynamo was lost.
I was lucky enough to be accepted into the MAVEN Ambassador Class of 2015 and I attended a week-long workshop with 29 other teachers to find out more about this cool mission. Continue reading
Back-to-School Traditions
By Guest Blogger on August 12th, 2015
For a few weeks now, Target and Walmart have had their back-to-school aisles fully stocked with shiny new markers, notebooks, and binders.
All the tools to help students transition back to school without a hitch are on sale – and tax-free through August 16th! Walking down these aisles reminds me of the back-to-school traditions I used to have with my parents and sisters growing up.
My mom always took us shopping for our back-to-school clothes and of course filled our brand new backpacks with all the supplies and pens and paper they could hold. My dad would take us to school on the first day, but not before having an early morning breakfast at IHOP for some delicious back-to-school pancakes. Continue reading
5 Ways to Stay Safe While Traveling the World
By Guest Blogger on August 5th, 2015
This is the fourth post in a series by the Cooney family about their world travels, made possible by the flexible learning offered at FLVS.
Travel Safety Awareness Month is the perfect time to address one of the questions we were often asked before leaving on an around-the-world trek.
“Aren’t you afraid to travel to other countries with your family?”
As we all know, there is risk in nearly everything we do. Whether taking a shower, driving to work, walking across the street, shopping at the grocery store, going to the movie theater, or skydiving, there is inherent risk in everything we do. If you don’t think so, just count the number of attorney ads on TV, radio, and social media. Even after our trek, the question of safety continues to be asked when I give talks about our adventure.
FLVS Student Studies Sea Turtle Hatchlings
By Guest Blogger on July 22nd, 2015
It’s 11:00 pm and the moon is shining brightly in the nighttime sky over the south Florida coastline.
A large sea turtle races against time as she climbs the beach’s slopes to find the perfect nesting site. After an hour, she finds it and begins to dig a deep nest and lay her eggs. In the end, only one sea turtle out of a thousand hatchlings will survive to adulthood.
Loggerhead sea turtles are an endangered species threatened by predators, pollution, poaching, and habitat degradation. Last year, I decided to look at sea turtle hatches because of their importance in the marine life cycle. A factor that negatively affects the sea turtle’s nesting habitat is beach erosion. Continue reading
Win a Family Getaway to Kennedy Space Center!
By Florida Virtual School on June 30th, 2015
There’s still time to enter our summer video contest – and win an awesome new prize!
Share a video of you learning a new skill by July 31 and you could be the lucky winner of a family getaway to Kennedy Space Center!
View all of the contest details here.
Did you know that NASA specifically seeks individuals who have a history of struggle and failures when searching for astronauts and engineers? Those who have bounced back and grown from their mistakes bring with them a unique set of strengths over those with straightforward success stories. Continue reading
FLVS Brain Challenge: Week 1
By Florida Virtual School on June 26th, 2015
It’s been a great first week for the FLVS Brain Challenge!
This week’s top contender is @jozh_legit who comes to us from Instagram with some crazy bike tricks. It’s obvious that he’s been making progress in learning some new moves this summer. Search for #FLVSBrainChallenge to see for yourself!
Think you can show us something even crazier? You could be our next big featured participant – or even our final winner! All you need to do is share a video of you learning something new on Vine or Instagram.
Learn more about our contest and how to enter here. Continue reading
Join the FLVS Summer Brain Challenge!
By Guest Blogger on June 12th, 2015
Did you know your brain is constantly forming new neural connections?
Scientists have made amazing discoveries about the way our brain cells grow and form new circuits – even into adulthood. The trick to that growth is keeping them engaged by exploring new challenges and concepts.
This summer, we are challenging all of our students and their family and friends to show us what new connections your brain can make!
We’re hosting a video contest on social media asking you to show us your skills. All you have to do is share a short video of you learning something crazy and cool like this. Continue reading
Strengths and Weaknesses of Online Learning
By Guest Blogger on June 3rd, 2015
I recently read an article entitled “Strengths & Weaknesses of Online Learning.” The article mentioned the following advantages to online learning:
Flexibility in time and place…Synergy…Student Centered…Access to Resources…High Quality Dialogue…Level Playing Field…Creative Teaching…
I found this interesting, but the weaknesses really caught my attention. Continue reading
Don’t Procrastinate, Motivate!
By Amy LaGrasta on May 26th, 2015
Motivation is literally a desire to do things.
It is crucial to attaining goals.
Motivation is the difference between getting up and doing something or being a couch potato all day.
Whether you want to motivate yourself, colleagues, classmates, or children…here are some proven methods to improve your motivation and to motivate those around you. From setting goals to persevering through difficult challenges, these tips will help you accomplish all kinds of great things!
National Physical Fitness and Sports Month
By Guest Blogger on May 20th, 2015
FLVS Physical Education students may be who you think will be playing hard this month, but this is a call to action for all students, friends, and families.
As you’ll quickly see, National Physical Fitness and Sports Month is not just for PE students, it’s for everyone!
Read on…
But don’t expect to be here too long because soon it will be time to get going and leave your screen behind. Continue reading