The Mystery at the Birdfeeder

The first book in a series on backyard birds.

More information is avalable at www.TheBirdBooks.com. This is the easy way to get to the Wan Lee Publishing web site where there is information on the books and author Wayne Brillhart who is available for speaking engagements in classrooms, universities, teacher conferences and interviews. Check the website to learn about his CAMIL approach to learning.

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Great Backyard Bird Count is Here!

This weekend is the Great Backyard Bird Count sponsored by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the Audubon Society. From February 17 to February 20 everyone is encouraged to join in counting birds. Today we saw several birds in the backyard at the feeders with one guest we had never seen before, a Northern Harrier!  It landed on one end of a horizontal pole that contained a suet feeder at the other end. I was not quick enough to get a photograph before it flew away even though it was on a tripod ready to shoot.  I was only about 20 feet from the camera. :-(    However, I did get several shots of a beautiful cardinal and red bellied woodpecker. See “The Mystery at the Birdfeeder” facebook page for a list of the birds we counted earlier today. Also please “like”.   :-)

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Getting Started

A spam blocker has finally been installed to block the hundreds of spam blogs to the site. Now maybe this site can be turned into something useful and kept up to date. Next task is putting some videos on YouTube.

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Time for Victory

Having past the professional judges review Wayne Brillhart has reached finalist status in the “50 Great Writers You Should Be Reading” contest sponsored by The Authors Show. Now it is up to the public to vote for one of the 113 finalists. Please review the list of finalists. If your name is not on the list please vote for Wayne Brillhart. :-) Here’s the link to the site www.theauthorsshow.com Just click on the seal on the right side of the page and scroll down to the Vote button. Thanks for your considerations!

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On the news today it was reported that the SAT scores are dismal. Reading scores under 500 and the math scores just above. The scores have been declining since the mid 1960′s with many suggestions as to possible causes. None have been recognised as the root cause, only a possible slight impact. For those who went to school in the 1940′s or 1950′s the current school situation is “culture shock”. There was a defining factor that IMHO caused it all. As we continue I will expand on what I believe is the root cause with a course of reasoning that should cause serious thought if not an acceptable explanation. Short on time so stay tuned for more.

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Interview on the internet

Listen to Don McCauley interview Wayne Brillhart on www.thechildrensauthorshow.com on July 13 and 14. Only 15 minutes. Just click on the interview button.

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Introduction

Welcome to Wayne’s Blog! It is intended to encourage better learning through the CAMIL methodology which has an emphasis on Curiosity which gets the student’s Attention in order to Motivate him/her getting him/her Involved so that Learning takes place. My presentation for the 2010 MAME (Michigan Association for Media in Education) focused on using the camera as an educational tool. My first book “The Mystery at the Birdfeeder” follows the CAMIL methodology.  The word “mystery” in the title invokes Curiosity to get the student’s Attention to open the book to find the mystery and become Motivated to solve the mystery. The student is then Involved in the pursuit of Learning eight different birds while solving the mystery.  More information is available at www.mysteryatthebirdfeeder.com.

Hopefully this site will become a valuable reference for

  • Teachers – providing hints and sharing experiences using the CAMIL approach to learning.
  • Bird lovers – providing some photos and information of interest to bird lovers and of use in the classroom.
  • Nature lovers – providing interesting photographs of nature.

Happy  Blogging,

Wayne

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