The Future of Math Instruction

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The following is an interesting video that will make teachers stop and think about how to make their students stop and think.

http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/855

Take Care and Think Ahead

Tweet My family and friends are always getting on me about worrying too much. I tell them that I don't really worry, but that I know every action causes a reaction. Sometimes those reactions are good and some aren't. I can watch what someone is doing and predict a number of possible outcomes, some of which cause me to speak out, therefore making it look like I worry.

For instance, years ago when my husband put the barbecue grill in the back of a truck, I told him that he should tie it down. He didn't. And yes, the barbecue grill flew out the back of the truck on the first turn he made. I could see it happening ahead of time, but I was labeled the "worrier."

When my nieces and nephews were toddlers, they would crawl up on kitchen stools. It would make me sick to my stomach, but didn't seem to bother anyone else. I could envision them falling onto the floor, hitting their heads, or worse. Only after I would say something, would their parents tell them to get down. Again, everyone thought I worried too much. I thought they didn't worry enough.

The truth is, I don't think I worry too much. But I can visualize the possible results of actions.

I see people all the time doing things that have the potential to be problems. People are driving while talking on cell phones. They're in cars without wearing their seat belts. They ride motorcycles without helmets. They sunbathe without sunscreen. And this is just the mild everyday behavior, certainly not the extreme risk-taking type.

Truth is, I have no problem with risk-taking behaviors if the people know the risks and take all safety precautions. They have the ability to foresee problems before they occur and limit their risk through foresight. What bothers me is the number of people who take multitudes of risks, never thinking about consequences, or that anything could actually happen to them.

And yet every year hundreds of people are injured or worse through careless behaviors. Students need to be especially careful because, while they're most likely to take chances, they're the least experienced to handle them. It is even more important this time of year with proms and graduations.

So be safe, be careful, and think ahead.

Teachers May Need Help Too

Tweet Today on the news I saw a video of a teacher who snapped and started beating on one of her students. My mother happened to be visiting when the video was showing. Her first reaction was, "Did you ever do that?"

I just looked at her and finally said that if I had ever done anything like that, I wouldn't have had a job. As it turns out, the teacher on the video doesn't have a job either.

Every teacher will run into a student that pushes them to the edge. The teacher has to make sure that the student doesn't push them over that edge. Every teacher needs to remember that a school is a miniature representation of our society. There are good guys and bad guys. Some students will go on to great things and some will become criminals (if they aren't already). But regardless of what they do or say, it is the teacher's job to remain professional.

Usually when a student has pushed a teacher to the edge, it is the result of a series of events that have taken place over a period of time. It's not usually just the one thing the student did. When a teacher sees this taking place, he or she should get help. Contact the child's parents, the principals, the counselors, and the student's other teachers. Take care of the problem, before it reaches the point where any kind of physical violence takes place. It may be that the teacher actually needs counseling, mentoring, or refresher courses in discipline. Remaining professional means getting help when you need it.

Waiting for Technology

Tweet Today I was reading an article titled Video Phones Are Coming. And This Time It's for Real - BusinessWeek. The article gave a brief history of the video phone from Dick Tracy's 2-way wrist TV to the Apple prototype recently left in a bar (that could possibly include a video phone). It's anticipated that Apple or Skype or some other company will have something by the end of this year.

When I was a kid my parents took me to Chicago one summer. We saw all the sights and I remember visiting The Museum of Science and Industry. One of the displays that caught my attention was a telephone connected to a television screen. If I remember right, the people who produced the display predicted the technology would be available in ten years or so.

Well, I waited and waited and that technology never happened. That vacation to Chicago took place at least 50 years ago and I still don't have my video phone. I'm not even sure I want one anymore.

But the point here is how uneven technological progress has been. With most technology, I've given up trying to keep up. We put a man on the moon 41 years ago, but still haven't found cures for most diseases. We have to update phones, computers, TVs, cameras, and software every two years or so and yet we still don't have video phones. I have a record player, 8-tracks, cassettes, and CDs that I never use because all my music is now downloaded to my computer. I have all this technology, but I still don't understand how a radio works.

All in all, it's difficult to predict which technology will be successful. At one time the future of video was expected to be the video disc, which looked like an LP record. As it turned out, VHS tapes won out.

And with all the technology we have, we can't figure out how to contain the oil pouring into the Gulf of Mexico.

And this is why education is so important. Technology and problem solving go hand in hand. A broad education is needed to do the kind of problem solving that new technologies require. An education that is focused in just one area won't do. To solve the oil spill takes people educated in geology, chemistry, mechanical engineering, oceanography, the environment, and more. To build a video phone, we've had to create powerful microprocessors, perfect screen technology, and set up worldwide cellular networks. It takes people who are educated in science, math, technology, and engineering.

We can barely imagine what technologies, problems, and jobs will face us in the future. But I do know a good, well-rounded, broad education will be the key to having a job, solving problems, creating new technologies, and imagining what the next great technology will be or having the solution to the next great problem.

5 Places to Get Lesson Plans

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As the school year winds down, most teachers are scrambling to finish their curriculum. But there may be some who are looking for ideas for lesson plans to finish out the year. Here are a few sites that provide pre-made lessons on a variety of subjects.

1. The Learning Network is a blog provided by The New York Times. Lesson plans cover a variety of subjects and include an overview, materials, procedures, activities, related resources, and discussion questions.

2. Texas Instruments offers a variety of activities on their website, most featuring a calculator activity.

3. USA TODAY Lesson Library offers lessons in many subjects and often includes reprints of related news articles. The library includes separate printables for teachers and students.

4. CNNfyi.com is CNN's resource for teachers written by former teachers that includes "video, background stories, Internet links, and more."

5. Microsoft has lesson plans on subjects ranging from arts and design to music, history, mathematics, and more. Again there are teaching guides, procedures, activities, and lists of materials.

Happy Mother's Day

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Quotes to Think About

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A friend on Facebook wrote on his status that the the oil rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico reminded him of a quote he had read a long time ago:

"MAN HAS BEEN ENDOWED WITH REASON; WITH THE POWER TO CREATE SO THAT HE CAN ADD TO WHAT HE'S BEEN GIVEN...BUT UP TO NOW, HE HASN'T BEEN A CREATOR, ONLY A DESTROYER. FORESTS KEEP DISAPPEARING, RIVERS DRY UP, WILDLIFE HAS BECOME EXTINCT, THE CLIMATE IS RUINED AND THE LAND GROWS POORER AND UGLIER EVERY DAY." ANTON CHEKHOV (1860 - 1904)

Reading this quote reminded me of a another quote, this one from the character Agent Smith in the movie "The Matrix."

Agent Smith: I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species. I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment, but you humans do not. You move to an area, and you multiply, and multiply, until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet, you are a plague, and we are the cure.

As I was researching the above quotes to get the wording right, I found another that I think bears repeating:

It wasn't the Exxon Valdez captain's driving that caused the Alaskan oil spill. It was yours. ~Greenpeace advertisement, New York Times, 25 February 1990

I think we can do better that we've been doing. We really don't have a choice if we plan to continue to live on this planet. So far, it's the only one we have. We don't need to be a destroyer. We don't need to be a virus. We can use our reason and our power to create in order to develop a natural equilibrium with our environment. We just have to make the choice.

Sources:

http://www.benefits-of-recycling.com/ecologyquotes.html

http://www.neoandtrinity.net/quotes1.html

It's Easier to Keep Up

Tweet When I was teaching, there were several bad habits students had that annoyed me. One of them was not turning in their work on time.

I don't know how many times I would ask a student why they weren't turning in their assignments. Of course there were a variety of excuses, but one that happened way more often than it should have was that they simply weren't done with it. Some of these students would have one or two weeks worth of assignments stuffed in their notebooks, none of them finished. The students had started every assignment (many were almost complete), but the students didn't want to turn it in until they were completely done with it. So there they were, with five to ten assignments all in various stages of completion, with no credit for any of it because it had never been turned in.

Well, this week, I have been doing the same thing. I have started writing blog posts everyday all week, but I didn't finish any of them. I always expected my students to turn their assignments in on time, finished or not. I should follow the same advice for myself. I will try to do better in the future.

By the way, they are all published now. My advice to students (and to myself) ... it's much easier to keep up than catch up.

"Avatar" Lessons Revisited

Tweet A few days ago I bought the movie Avatar. I had seen it in the theater in 3D back in December and I knew then I would have to buy it when it was released on DVD. It is one of those movies that can be watched over and over.

Today, my husband came home early from work, sick with a cold. So we spent the afternoon watching it. Again, I was struck by the beauty of the film and the message of the story, perhaps more-so this time than before. Today it somehow seemed more personal, perhaps because I was at home and not in a theater with a hundred other people.

Back in December, I wrote a blog post titled "Avatar" Lessons. Now that the DVD is out, teachers might want to take another look at some of the suggestions for lesson plans I posted. Since then, there is another blog that also has some great ideas for teachers and parents. It is called "Avatar with Kids: A Discussion Guide."

Mashpedia

Tweet A few days ago I was reading a blog called Free Technology For Teachers. The authors were discussing a new website called Mashpedia. It is called "the real-time encyclopedia" and, although it is not a typical search engine, it will give a variety of results for the subject of your search.

Of course, I had to try it out. Since today is Cinco de Mayo, I went to Mashpedia and typed in "cinco de mayo." Oh my, it is truly an amazing website. The page resulted in video from YouTube, information from Wikipedia, stories from Digg, tweets from Twitter, images from Flickr, news articles from variety of sources, blog articles, more images, and a selection of books and websites. I had all these links and all this information on one web page right at my fingertips.

A few hours later I did the same search. Some of the information was the same, but much had changed. New blogs had been posted and new tweets had been written, and the information is constantly updated.

I was thinking how wonderful this would be for students doing research. To have all these sources with just one search is like a researchers dreams come true.

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Teacher Appreciation Day

Tweet The first Tuesday in May is Teacher Appreciation Day. Often times students will give their teachers a little something to show their appreciation, but students should be careful what they give.

Make sure the gift is inexpensive. While this is not usually a problem, a teacher will feel very awkward accepting anything expensive. It may even be illegal or at least unethical for them to take such gifts. Check with the school first.

Do not give a gift of food. As a teacher, I would receive homemade cookies or cupcakes or candies as a gift. I always took them, thanked the student, and then after school I would take them home and throw them away. I hated to do this, and I hate to admit to this, but I wouldn't trust eating the items. Perhaps I was neurotic, but I just never knew if the items were safe or not. I always felt bad about his and would have preferred the students just not give food items as gifts.

I believe the best gift for any student to give his or her teacher is just a simple "Thank You" card. It can be store-bought or hand-made, but it will convey your thoughts better than any other item. They're safe and teachers love them, especially for their scrapbooks.

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Teacher Appreciation Week

Tweet May 3 - 7 is Teacher Appreciation Week in the United States. It's not a day you hear much about because there's not a lot of advertising about it, but believe me, to a teacher, it's special.

I truly believe that most teachers feel under-appreciated. But just some little thing can make all the difference.

I remember one year when the students put a gift in each teacher's mailbox each day for the entire week. The gifts weren't much. One day was a pencil, one day a pad of post-it notes, a apple, a cupcake paper filled with little candies. It wasn't the quality of the gift, but the fact that the students had taken the time to do just that little extra something for their teachers. It made all the difference in the world.

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I'm This Many

Tweet Today is my husband's birthday. He probably wouldn't appreciate me letting everyone know how old he is, but let's just say he'd have to use all his fingers and toes, plus the fingers and toes of a couple other people.

It's always so cute when you ask little kids how old they are and they hold up three or four fingers. They're so proud of their age and that they know how many fingers to hold up.

One you get to my husband's age, it's just not cute any more. How many times did he hold up all ten fingers? I'm afraid I lost count.

May Day

Tweet May 1st is May Day. I remember when I was little, we used to make little baskets out of construction paper. We'd roll the paper up into a funnel shape and use tape or glue to hold it. Then we'd attach a handle made from the same construction paper.

Once we had the basket finished, we would go out side and pick flowers. The only flowers growing that early in Iowa were violets and dandelions, but they were perfect. We'd pick them and fill our baskets.

Then for the fun.

We would take them around the neighborhood and hang one on each neighbor's front doorknob. We would knock on the door and then run. The whole point was to give the gift anonymously.

It's funny...I don't know if anyone enjoyed getting those little May Day baskets or not, but we had a great time giving them. There was nothing special about their construction or the flowers in them, but each one was special to us. They made us happy and we always hoped we had made a few other people happy, too. The power of giving a gift almost always has a two-way benefit. How wonderful it would be if all children learned the joy of giving, not just receiving.