[FedUpMom asked me to cross-post this from A Blog About School.]
“One thing I never want to see happen is schools that are just teaching the test because then you’re not learning about the world, you’re not learning about different cultures, you’re not learning about science, you’re not learning about math. All you’re learning about is how to fill out a little bubble on an exam and little tricks that you need to do in order to take a test and that’s not going to make education interesting. And young people do well in stuff that they’re interested in. They’re not going to do as well if it’s boring.”
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Spot the Control Freak
From a comment by Chris Biffle on the Whole Brain Teaching Forum:
Short talk/long talk is a strategy we use to reduce the potential for argument when we have to have a one-on-one talk with students about their behavior. We introduce the strategy in class by saying something like the following, "Someday I may have to take you aside and have a talk with you about how you're behaving in class. When we are alone, I'll give you the option of having a short talk or a long talk. You can choose! But I strongly advise you to pick 'short talk' because if we have a long talk, I'll be the one doing all the talking and you may not enjoy what I have to say."
Then, we have students explain short talk/long talk to each other.
When the day comes when you have to take a student aside, you say, "short talk or long talk?" Kids appreciate being given the choice ... so, make your point briefly and the one on one conversation is over. What we want to avoid is a back and forth confrontation that may raise your student's or your! emotional temperature.
I first tried short talk/long talk years ago when I was coaching a girls middle school basketball team ... and it worked wonderfully. It's a great way for you to make the point you need to make ... and then move back in to your normal teaching routine.
Short talk/long talk is a strategy we use to reduce the potential for argument when we have to have a one-on-one talk with students about their behavior. We introduce the strategy in class by saying something like the following, "Someday I may have to take you aside and have a talk with you about how you're behaving in class. When we are alone, I'll give you the option of having a short talk or a long talk. You can choose! But I strongly advise you to pick 'short talk' because if we have a long talk, I'll be the one doing all the talking and you may not enjoy what I have to say."
Then, we have students explain short talk/long talk to each other.
When the day comes when you have to take a student aside, you say, "short talk or long talk?" Kids appreciate being given the choice ... so, make your point briefly and the one on one conversation is over. What we want to avoid is a back and forth confrontation that may raise your student's or your! emotional temperature.
I first tried short talk/long talk years ago when I was coaching a girls middle school basketball team ... and it worked wonderfully. It's a great way for you to make the point you need to make ... and then move back in to your normal teaching routine.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Tutoring: per cent
So, the next topic I'll be teaching my student is percent. Before we start cranking the Singapore Math, I plan a little dialogue like this:
Q. Why do we call pennies "cents"?
A. Because there are 100 to the dollar.
Q. How many years in a century?
A. 100.
Q. What does "cent" mean?
A. 100.
Q. What does "per cent" mean?
A. "for 100".
Digression (if we have time):
Q. British money also contains pennies, but they are never referred to as "cents". Why?
A. Because, historically, there were more than 100 pence to the pound. For centuries, Britain had a system where there were 20 shillings to the pound, and 12 pence to the shilling.
Q. How many pence were there to the pound?
A. 12 x 20 = 240.
Since 1971, Britain has been using a modernized currency, so they now have 100 pence to the pound.
Extra credit for old folks (I might ask my student's parents): what Beatles song contains an oblique reference to the old currency system?
Q. Why do we call pennies "cents"?
A. Because there are 100 to the dollar.
Q. How many years in a century?
A. 100.
Q. What does "cent" mean?
A. 100.
Q. What does "per cent" mean?
A. "for 100".
Digression (if we have time):
Q. British money also contains pennies, but they are never referred to as "cents". Why?
A. Because, historically, there were more than 100 pence to the pound. For centuries, Britain had a system where there were 20 shillings to the pound, and 12 pence to the shilling.
Q. How many pence were there to the pound?
A. 12 x 20 = 240.
Since 1971, Britain has been using a modernized currency, so they now have 100 pence to the pound.
Extra credit for old folks (I might ask my student's parents): what Beatles song contains an oblique reference to the old currency system?
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Back to Local Public Elementary?
So we went to talk to the principal of Local Public Elementary about the possibility of sending Younger Daughter there. I told her up front that Younger Daughter has behavior issues that were causing problems at Natural Friends, and that Natural Friends wanted us to have her tested and possibly get a 1:1 aide to "shadow" her during the school day.
The public school principal was very welcoming, and laid out all kinds of possibilities for evaluating our Younger Daughter and providing the support she might need. It is amazing how many people and resources they have for these issues. As my sainted husband remarked, "special ed is what they do." I think they were happy to see us because we can keep a bunch of their people employed for another year.
Would Local Public Elementary be good for Younger Daughter next year? I honestly don't know. They think they can handle her issues, but that doesn't mean I would like their proposed solutions.
Would Natural Friends be good for Younger Daughter next year? I don't know the answer to that either.
Here's the bottom line: if Natural Friends is about as good as the public school, then the public school is the better choice. If Natural Friends is somewhat better than the public school, then the public school is the better choice. The only way Natural Friends can be the better choice is if it is so much better than the public school that it's worth the tuition.
I used to think we were shelling out the big bucks for Younger Daughter to attend Natural Friends because she's happy there. Recently, though, she's become extremely anxious and phobic about attending school, so that argument is starting to fall apart.
I know we're not sending Younger Daughter to Natural Friends for the academics, which are frankly terrible. The math program is embarrassing, and the reading program isn't so hot either. I keep coming back to an offhand remark that the first-grade teacher made during our last meeting; she said that Younger Daughter was not up to grade level for reading, and that she would need tutoring, but that was true for several kids in the first grade. What the ...? They've only got eleven kids! If several of them will need extra tutoring, that's a quarter of the class! Gee ... maybe it's time to re-evaluate your teaching methods?
Increasingly, I feel that all our school options for Younger Daughter are crummy, so we might as well go with the one that doesn't drain our bank account. That would be the public school.
The only good news is that we don't have to make a decision for several months yet.
The public school principal was very welcoming, and laid out all kinds of possibilities for evaluating our Younger Daughter and providing the support she might need. It is amazing how many people and resources they have for these issues. As my sainted husband remarked, "special ed is what they do." I think they were happy to see us because we can keep a bunch of their people employed for another year.
Would Local Public Elementary be good for Younger Daughter next year? I honestly don't know. They think they can handle her issues, but that doesn't mean I would like their proposed solutions.
Would Natural Friends be good for Younger Daughter next year? I don't know the answer to that either.
Here's the bottom line: if Natural Friends is about as good as the public school, then the public school is the better choice. If Natural Friends is somewhat better than the public school, then the public school is the better choice. The only way Natural Friends can be the better choice is if it is so much better than the public school that it's worth the tuition.
I used to think we were shelling out the big bucks for Younger Daughter to attend Natural Friends because she's happy there. Recently, though, she's become extremely anxious and phobic about attending school, so that argument is starting to fall apart.
I know we're not sending Younger Daughter to Natural Friends for the academics, which are frankly terrible. The math program is embarrassing, and the reading program isn't so hot either. I keep coming back to an offhand remark that the first-grade teacher made during our last meeting; she said that Younger Daughter was not up to grade level for reading, and that she would need tutoring, but that was true for several kids in the first grade. What the ...? They've only got eleven kids! If several of them will need extra tutoring, that's a quarter of the class! Gee ... maybe it's time to re-evaluate your teaching methods?
Increasingly, I feel that all our school options for Younger Daughter are crummy, so we might as well go with the one that doesn't drain our bank account. That would be the public school.
The only good news is that we don't have to make a decision for several months yet.
Homework in Kindergarten
Courtesy of the dc urban moms forum, here's a blog post about homework in kindergarten!
Next, they'll be sending moms home from the hospital with a big packet of worksheets.
Back to the dc urban moms forum, here's an interesting discussion:
Homework Elimination: Yea or Nay?
Next, they'll be sending moms home from the hospital with a big packet of worksheets.
Back to the dc urban moms forum, here's an interesting discussion:
Homework Elimination: Yea or Nay?
Friday, March 25, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Ours Not to Reason Why
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
(from The Charge of the Light Brigade, by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.)
"Ours not to reason why, just invert and multiply."
(origin unknown; describes the rule for dividing one fraction by another.)
The "just invert and multiply" rhyme is often quoted as a parody of bad traditionalist teaching, where kids just memorized algorithms, without understanding why they work or how to use them appropriately.
But I will confess that I've been meaning to teach "ours not to reason why, just invert and multiply" to the Trailblazers-befuddled 6th grader that I'm tutoring. At least it would help her remember the rule, and if she sees it enough times, we can approach real understanding.
While it may be true that just memorizing algorithms isn't enough, and that kids should ALSO understand how and why they work, you can't claim victory by just avoiding the standard algorithms.
Here's an interesting non-standard approach that I just learned about (from Those Frustrating Fractions):
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
(from The Charge of the Light Brigade, by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.)
"Ours not to reason why, just invert and multiply."
(origin unknown; describes the rule for dividing one fraction by another.)
The "just invert and multiply" rhyme is often quoted as a parody of bad traditionalist teaching, where kids just memorized algorithms, without understanding why they work or how to use them appropriately.
But I will confess that I've been meaning to teach "ours not to reason why, just invert and multiply" to the Trailblazers-befuddled 6th grader that I'm tutoring. At least it would help her remember the rule, and if she sees it enough times, we can approach real understanding.
While it may be true that just memorizing algorithms isn't enough, and that kids should ALSO understand how and why they work, you can't claim victory by just avoiding the standard algorithms.
Here's an interesting non-standard approach that I just learned about (from Those Frustrating Fractions):
To divide fractions, can you divide the numerators and divide the denominators?
Yes…
…but it works only if you are careful to keep all the numbers in the right order.
Yes…
…but it works only if you are careful to keep all the numbers in the right order.
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