tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70764458400285732442024-03-13T16:59:04.079+11:00Exploring educationTeachers must be learners.Nevillehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075960954633057645noreply@blogger.comBlogger89125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076445840028573244.post-19336270247623998652014-12-16T13:19:00.002+11:002020-10-27T15:30:00.706+11:00The ultimate educational insight – from the most unlikely source.<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4DxxcYs9I-0Gks7BVla9PjjYlTeEjpEdRagbl5z1brEQJQwI7hH1rybGjdS8Mo7UwZmdu-cgVbn-ZWNwgHVvwX-wM0IvUDgf9Mlo9GLFWcG7bDeqDXdTJZz7WkOf3DSdGXpCXFuGUyug/s1600/Calvin+-+temper.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4DxxcYs9I-0Gks7BVla9PjjYlTeEjpEdRagbl5z1brEQJQwI7hH1rybGjdS8Mo7UwZmdu-cgVbn-ZWNwgHVvwX-wM0IvUDgf9Mlo9GLFWcG7bDeqDXdTJZz7WkOf3DSdGXpCXFuGUyug/s1600/Calvin+-+temper.jpg" width="186" /></a></div>
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Crash!</div>
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The chair flew across the room - followed by a stream of
expletives.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“I hate this @$%@#$%$% school!”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Smash!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Books and papers were swept to the floor.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“I $%@%$#$ hate this place!”<o:p></o:p></div>
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The teacher was surprised. Such outbursts, once common, had
become rare and had trailed away to almost never. Until today.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Once such behaviours had been common – almost daily
events. “Matty” was known to have issues
– but not a diagnosis. His unwillingness
to co-operate in the school setting had become legendary and his refusal to
co-operate with the school psychologists and support staff had resulted in the
lack of even a label to describe his behaviours. His physical issues were also
obvious – but he would not co-operate with the optometrists either so the
glasses he clearly needed could not be obtained. He was on the case list of many departmental
officials – but on the case load of none.<o:p></o:p></div>
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That changed when he met this year’s teacher. She made contact – more than that – she
established a relationship with his parents. She tactically ignored the “small
stuff”. She differentiated his
experiences in the classroom – and ensured that other staff did too. When
things went wrong – and they did, frequently – she was unblinking in her
defence of him. She disregarded rumours
and insisted of facts. When he did wrong he got the same consequence as anyone
else – but no worse. She insisted that departmental staff revisit and find
other ways to help this child. She did
not want a diagnosis, or a label, she just wanted techniques that would help
him. She even provided him with food when he was hungry.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Slowly, step by pain
staking step, progress was made. “Matty”
learned first the letters of his name and then how to write them – a massive
step that had not been achieved in the previous years of his schooling. He
learnt to recognise the basic numerals and then how they indicated numbers –
which he began to learn to manipulate. He learnt to recognise money – and how
to use it. He still did not have a meaningful score on any recognised test or
assessment – but he was able to demonstrate that he was capable. In fact, he
occasionally stunned staff with some of his efforts – such as when he made a
cave in the classroom and angled a reflective surface precisely so that it
provided natural light inside his cave. <o:p></o:p></div>
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But thoughts of his progress were blown away by this latest
unexpected outburst. It was nearly the end of the school year and he had made
so much headway – and now this. What had
prompted it?<o:p></o:p></div>
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“I’m not going to $%$%@#$% grade 5!” he screamed. “I’m not @$%#@$% going!”<o:p></o:p></div>
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And then the answer became clear.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“Why not mate?” his teacher quietly asked. His answer brought a tear to her eye.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“No-one is going to love me there.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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I would have loved to have been present when he found out
who was going to teach him again the following year. A most perceptive
principal had recognised the relationship and the two – teacher and student –
would again share a classroom the following year. And I don’t know who was happier about it –
“Matty” or his teacher.</div>
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“Matty” may never learn as much as his peers. He may never
even get a score on a formalised test. But it seems to me that he already knows
what is truly important in life. I just hope we have the wisdom to learn from
him.<o:p></o:p></div>
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~~~~~~~~~~</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">Post Script.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">Some years later "Matty" met his teacher again in a supermarket. Now in High School, Matty pushed her shopping trolley around for her while and had a chat about what had happened in his life. There was more than one "Special" in the supermarket that day.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
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Credits:</div>
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Image via Google images -<a 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" target="_blank"> here</a>.</div>
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Nevillehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075960954633057645noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076445840028573244.post-54304975959218135032014-12-09T16:11:00.001+11:002015-11-06T09:32:03.121+11:00The Second Best Educational Cartoon Ever.<br />
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Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words...and a good cartoon is worth a book.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg02LiP9KTUYoCwG3bOYSE9_6Ms7h-pFGF0L-h7QnHAo8DoMlVByyDu91BWLIAHMBF9y1zNHHMRabX1JMiUYgQN1OmCTCjUnD6E4mnUa-pFJemap-l_Yk3nJpTjv8gP0HZM5MQg20HLkw8/s1600/Then+and+Now+reports+cartoon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg02LiP9KTUYoCwG3bOYSE9_6Ms7h-pFGF0L-h7QnHAo8DoMlVByyDu91BWLIAHMBF9y1zNHHMRabX1JMiUYgQN1OmCTCjUnD6E4mnUa-pFJemap-l_Yk3nJpTjv8gP0HZM5MQg20HLkw8/s1600/Then+and+Now+reports+cartoon.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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So, if this is the second best educational cartoon ever you may wish to see the absolute <a href="http://nbnotewell.blogspot.com.au/2014/07/the-best-educational-cartoon-ever-ever.html" target="_blank">best educational cartoon ever.</a> (As voted exclusively by me.)<br />
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Credits:<br />
Creator unknown. Sourced from <a href="http://rightcogency.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/unknauthor_problem-cartoon.jpg" target="_blank">Google Image</a>s.Nevillehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075960954633057645noreply@blogger.com7Burnie TAS 7320, Australia-41.0524649 145.90685129999997-41.076412899999994 145.86651079999996 -41.0285169 145.94719179999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076445840028573244.post-29534952425137218482014-12-03T10:24:00.001+11:002014-12-03T10:28:27.742+11:00Teacher evaluation – with a cake of soap. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfNLBzK-G8PqySldEtCcMb6RSrgBUjMwPCrDp8LRrgo3uGwVLRhxQRBcQ4N8uNbkE8m6ulCzHNw_WfRwfzeNHFpfQNFp1VINW4QJ5eRc6h7whs92j1fUnBPm_EmOMrMkXXcMJeBfLb9FE/s1600/Soap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfNLBzK-G8PqySldEtCcMb6RSrgBUjMwPCrDp8LRrgo3uGwVLRhxQRBcQ4N8uNbkE8m6ulCzHNw_WfRwfzeNHFpfQNFp1VINW4QJ5eRc6h7whs92j1fUnBPm_EmOMrMkXXcMJeBfLb9FE/s1600/Soap.jpg" height="149" width="200" /></a></div>
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My school is in an unpleasant situation – due to a
combination of falling enrolments and budget cuts we have to lose some
staff. Which leads to the unfortunate
scenario of how to decide who is to leave the school. Judging a teacher by the
results of their students is not as sound as it seems – given our socio-economic
index some great teachers have results that might be considered mediocre in other
contexts. (After all, do we judge the
quality of a dentist by the number of cavities in the teeth of his or her patients
– or by the quality of the intervention he or she provides?) And then, we have
those teachers who have pleasing results, but given the calibre of the students
in their class, they should have. So
student results alone are not a reliable indicator of effective teaching. How then do we evaluate a teacher? What are the reliable indicators? In short, there probably isn’t one single
indicator that can be used in isolation reliably.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It reminded me of a conversation I had earlier in my career.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Bernard, one of the school cleaners, sat down beside me. “I
reckon you’ll be a good teacher,” he said.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Why,” I asked, flattered but a little bemused as I had only
been in the school for a little while. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Soap,” he said.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Soap?” I echoed.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Soap,” he said again.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He stared at my blank expression and explained.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Since you’ve come to the school I’ve had to replace the
soap in the men’s toilet. You’re the only new male teacher this year. That tells me that you wash your hands when
you go to the toilet.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Well, yes of course I do.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Well, not everyone does – otherwise I’d have been replacing
the soap more often before this."<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“So how does that make me a good teacher?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Well, it shows me that you take care of yourself. It also
tells me you do the right thing even without someone watching over your
shoulder … so to speak.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He smiled at me again, as if I was being admitted into some
conspiracy. Leaning forwards he continued.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“And I’ve been talking to the cleaner who does your area.
She tells me you always leave your desk tidy. Tidy – not spotless, but tidy,
like a workspace. And the classroom tidy. No mess on the floor. Shelves tidy.
Resources away. Books on the shelves before the kids leave. That tells me you
are organised, that you have structure.
So you put those things together – a person who uses soap and has a tidy
desk – well, it makes you a well organised person who does the right thing
without someone checking up on you.
Tells me you have pride – pride in yourself and pride in what you
do. Seems like a recipe for a good
teacher to me,” he said and moved away.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Was he right? That’s not for me to say – but I was promoted
twice within that school. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Our profession is now so dominated by data, controlled by
protocols, and prejudiced by procedures that we sometimes forget one of the
quotations often attributed to Albert Einstein.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="background: white;">“Not everything that counts can be counted, and not
everything that can be counted counts.</span>”</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> (The attribution is likely to be wrong – </span><span style="background: white;">researchers believe that the phrase may have originated
with William Bruce Cameron in his 1963 text “Informal Sociology: A Casual
Introduction to Sociological Thinking”. But who wants to sacrifice star power
for historical accuracy?)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;">Regardless of the origins of
the quote there is no doubting the perception of its originator. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;">So what then makes a good
teacher? There is no end of research…perhaps
none more user friendly than this <a href="https://teachingcommons.stanford.edu/resources/teaching/planning-your-approach/characteristics-effective-teachers">list
of effective teacher characteristics</a> from Stanford. But ultimately, even
this type of informed research does not necessarily capture the essence of a
good teacher. It is a bit like deconstructing
the word count of a good book and saying that good books use the letters a, t,
and e more than x, y and z – it misses the point.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;">A good teacher certainly has
all the usual organisational and behavioural traits usually attributed to them.
They certainly have the skills itemised above. But more than that - they care. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;">They care about their
students. They take responsibility for their learning and work tirelessly to
address their learning needs. Everything else is a bonus.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;">Oh, and they probably wash
their hands.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 3.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: wave windowtext 3.0pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: wave windowtext 3.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm; padding: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;">Credits<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;">Einstein / Cameron quote from
Quote Investigator – <a href="file:///H:/Documents/Documents/uoteinvestigator.com/2010/05/26/everything-counts-einstein/"><span style="color: windowtext;">here</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;"><a href="http://www.google.com/search?site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1093&bih=534&q=Soap&oq=Soap&gs_l=img.3..0l10.1929.2537.0.3913.4.4.0.0.0.0.537.537.5-1.1.0....0...1ac.1.58.img..3.1.537.LWi0EiCQnn0#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=DHbpBkpriUInWM%253A%3BtevUHhqmeugAuM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fimages.idiva.com%252Fmedia%252Fhealthmeup%252Fcontent%252F2014%252FSep%252Fsoap.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fhealthmeup.com%252Fnews-healthy-living%252Fhow-does-soap-work%252F32234%3B600%3B450">Image</a>
= Google images.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Did you find this post interesting? If so you might also
enjoy “Do we blame dentists for tooth decay?” <a href="http://nbnotewell.blogspot.com.au/2011/05/do-we-blame-dentists-for-tooth-decay.html">here</a>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Nevillehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075960954633057645noreply@blogger.com2Burnie TAS 7320, Australia-41.0524649 145.90685129999997-41.076412899999994 145.86651079999996 -41.0285169 145.94719179999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076445840028573244.post-50952176924540427552014-07-17T18:14:00.001+10:002017-02-08T13:22:31.997+11:00Random Acts of Kindness in the classroom.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsKuRu0jnxiljilvKd2zyn6Xyzf-r6-STfyyuoXqtbw7e7XSeETqcqrgScEKXIJxi5ZQ9qNbNvfrd_yjgI53T2b95a3yyVMJuXE9a72CuGdMe_WXh9U9w_0PQ4J-PKgeR8PToCTA8k4IU/s1600/Random+Acts+of+kindness+image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsKuRu0jnxiljilvKd2zyn6Xyzf-r6-STfyyuoXqtbw7e7XSeETqcqrgScEKXIJxi5ZQ9qNbNvfrd_yjgI53T2b95a3yyVMJuXE9a72CuGdMe_WXh9U9w_0PQ4J-PKgeR8PToCTA8k4IU/s1600/Random+Acts+of+kindness+image.jpg" width="178" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Schools have become high pressure environments. The constant demands to raise test
scores (despite the widely held belief that test scores have little genuine value outside of the institution that generates them)
and the expectation that schools will cope with society’s inequalities
and the resultant behavioural issues that go hand in hand with that mean there
is little time to enjoy the process. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But surely this is simply unacceptable – self-evidently wrong
in fact. Going to school, learning and
becoming educated should be an enjoyable experience. Fortunately there are some schools brave
enough to go well beyond the norm who continue to teach what is important.<br />
<br />
“Random acts of kindness” is a simple yet
powerful method of learning about social contribution, tolerance, and simply
being a decent individual. Call it “citizenship”
and you can even squeeze it into the curriculum. In essence it is simply doing
something positive for someone else with no thought of return or personal
benefit … or even recognition. And it turns out that helping others is probably the best way of helping ourselves.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Have a look at the what happened at one school in the USA. Pitt River’s ”Breakfast Club” provides a powerful insight into what can be
achieved.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/0Lj5pWWA_MY" width="420"></iframe>
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
At first glance “Random Acts of Kindness” seems to be a
concept more aligned to hippies reluctant to leave the 60s behind than the
classroom of today. Yet it would be
wrong to think that way. Even if the notion doesn’t resonate with your personal
value system there is significant and growing scientific evidence to support
the positive impact of concepts such as gratitude and compassion in our daily
lives. “Scientists” with a capital “S”
are finding plenty of reasons to engage in socially meaningful activities. The <a href="http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/">Greater Good</a> site based at Berkeley
is one source of research backed by science that educators would benefit from
visiting. There is also a support <a href="http://www.randomactsofkindness.org/kindness-in-the-classroom/faq">site
for schools</a> interested in trying the approach.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The only question I have about the whole process is the
name. Kindness in our schools should not be random. Along with the essential subject skills contained within the
testable curriculum let us continue to teach what is really important – how to
live meaningful lives.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<o:p> ~~~~~~~~~~</o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Credits:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Pitt River Random Acts of Kindness video via youtube<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Random Acts of Kindness graphic via Google Images<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3IpJoYMCy2O7l08F4i-r5ZKMZ0p-wevX7yBjJ-TReRJWDLBhyxfViljUeOQdwXpLjwjpQUS3Pw4dzpgsSi5wV-78uV0NMYDwmrPh8cjV1CS-dh2I0syKgB7tKeQynQwIvB9wslG6Wiec/s1600/Random+Acts+of+Kindness.jpg" target="_blank"> here</a>.</div>
Greater Good & RAK support site links both go to original sources.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Nevillehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075960954633057645noreply@blogger.com2Burnie TAS 7320, Australia-41.0524649 145.90685129999997-41.076542399999994 145.86633929999996 -41.0283874 145.94736329999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076445840028573244.post-1850346990681608992014-07-05T19:55:00.000+10:002014-07-05T19:56:22.362+10:00The best educational cartoon ever. EVER.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5NO7qb-eO8Tqb4CqN-9xvxVrFkQMSz-pgIwNvkZC9CPDVklUz7H49qT0o44rdKJncXulmUYCKoD1PXf6rNbLpWE7Hhe_fS7sl_JME8WgcrY5yf7KADN02rFBXG4lMYqx6pYJ8fg9cQFE/s1600/Animal+equality+cartoon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5NO7qb-eO8Tqb4CqN-9xvxVrFkQMSz-pgIwNvkZC9CPDVklUz7H49qT0o44rdKJncXulmUYCKoD1PXf6rNbLpWE7Hhe_fS7sl_JME8WgcrY5yf7KADN02rFBXG4lMYqx6pYJ8fg9cQFE/s1600/Animal+equality+cartoon.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
Those who support the current mania for educational testing please take note...Nevillehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075960954633057645noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076445840028573244.post-52221126366644279432013-11-04T18:59:00.000+11:002013-11-04T18:59:16.088+11:00The paradox of our age - and our schools<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">"THE PARADOX OF OUR AGE"</span></h2>
<div class="post-body" style="margin: 0px 0px 0.75em;">
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 0.75em;">
<div style="background-color: white; clear: both; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18.71875px; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuexUSjFI5W3IGx-8M3_3mgubOx6YDBLnJadKY8Hb3Ug4qTB8MV8kXx3WzAjKhzHOn6XurlCJwgDGzvsnhYiC5vlZVDSCMRXrwHSQ8kTUqKfrf_DyNOfpdgN_XgIswdgBWN6M_Qh9AhqA/s1600/Dali+Lama.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuexUSjFI5W3IGx-8M3_3mgubOx6YDBLnJadKY8Hb3Ug4qTB8MV8kXx3WzAjKhzHOn6XurlCJwgDGzvsnhYiC5vlZVDSCMRXrwHSQ8kTUqKfrf_DyNOfpdgN_XgIswdgBWN6M_Qh9AhqA/s320/Dali+Lama.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 1.2em; text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18.71875px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">We have bigger houses but smaller families;</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18.71875px;"><div style="text-align: left;">
more conveniences, but less time;</div>
</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18.71875px;"><div style="text-align: left;">
We have more degrees, but less sense;</div>
</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18.71875px;"><div style="text-align: left;">
more knowledge, but less judgement;</div>
</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18.71875px;"><div style="text-align: left;">
more experts, but more problems;</div>
</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18.71875px;"><div style="text-align: left;">
more medicines, but less healthiness;</div>
</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18.71875px;"><div style="text-align: left;">
We've been all the way to the moon and back,</div>
</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18.71875px;"><div style="text-align: left;">
but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor.</div>
</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18.71875px;"><div style="text-align: left;">
We build more computers to hold more</div>
</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18.71875px;"><div style="text-align: left;">
information to produce more copies than ever, but have less communication;</div>
</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18.71875px;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
We have become long on quantity, but short on quality. These are times of fast foods but slow digestion; Tall men but short character; Steep profits but shallow relationships.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><div style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 18.71875px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">It's a time when there is much in the window, but nothing in the room.</span></div>
<div style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 18.71875px; text-align: left;">
<em style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: right;">The 14th Dalai Lama</em></div>
<div style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18.71875px; text-align: left;">
<div style="display: inline !important; text-align: right;">
<em style="font-style: italic;"><br /></em></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="display: inline !important; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div dir="ltr" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The above text from the Dalai Lama reminds us of some of the contradictions of our modern society. Without wishing in any way to deminish the message of this inspired writing I’d like to suggest my own additions relating to current educational practice to his powerful prose.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="line-height: 18.71875px;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18.71875px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“We have more instruction but less inspiration,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">More trivial answers but fewer significant questions,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">More rote and recall, less speculation and imagination,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">More “tick the box” but less “think outside the square”,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">More “rights”, but fewer “responsibilities”,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">More edutainment but less engagement,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">More talking but less conversation,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">More efficiency but less excellence,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In short, we have more teaching but less learning.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18.71875px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s time to put the focus back where it should be - on the child. The needs of “the system” should be replaced by the needs of our students.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18.71875px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I began this post by citing the Dalai Lama. I’ll end by citing another known for his cosmological musings - Albert Einstein. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “Many of the things you can count, don't count. Many of the things you can't count really count.”</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18.71875px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Education counts. Maybe schooling doesn’t.</span></div>
</span></div>
</div>
</span><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18.71875px;">
</div>
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</div>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 1.2em; text-align: left;">
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Nevillehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075960954633057645noreply@blogger.com1Burnie TAS 7320, Australia-41.0524649 145.90685129999997-41.076412899999994 145.86651079999996 -41.0285169 145.94719179999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076445840028573244.post-82010461398895100192013-03-13T19:20:00.002+11:002013-03-13T19:20:51.369+11:00Teachers - do what you love and do it often. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFySh7NQGraTNu49PKGLVgQldZP60Ch8NcUya3l5SgtyifWPpZVmKZiwssvpPsCSH8aJuuzjG7vw9hjdHghuGFY4HRjKxFlY9BRkWX1WT5C59HFIafhsGzaz6iYEySCDm9SRDIfIHQLoU/s1600/Halstee+manifesto.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFySh7NQGraTNu49PKGLVgQldZP60Ch8NcUya3l5SgtyifWPpZVmKZiwssvpPsCSH8aJuuzjG7vw9hjdHghuGFY4HRjKxFlY9BRkWX1WT5C59HFIafhsGzaz6iYEySCDm9SRDIfIHQLoU/s1600/Halstee+manifesto.jpg" /></a><br />
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.8178764129988849" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Burnout is a major problem in schools. It shouldn’t surprise anyone - teaching is a demanding occupation. As well as being educators teachers are part social worker, part nurse, part de-facto parent, part careers advisor, policeman, counsellor and even relationship advisors. Balancing the dictates of the curriculum and the requirements of site administrators with the capabilities of the students is in itself no easy task. Add to that the emotional impact of dealing with students who often come to school with emotional baggage and stressful domestic issues well beyond their control - and often their comprehension. While addressing these issues teachers also have to keep in mind the special needs of individual children - some of which can be literally life threatening if things go wrong. Into this recipe for stress throw in some seasonal variations such as the lack of hours in the day at peak times like report writing or parent teacher sessions and it is easy to see why burn out is all too common. Teachers, after all, are only human.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Teachers are people, not robots. Through observation of effective teachers over three decades I have noticed one important characteristic that effective long-term educators have in common. They all have interests outside of school. Their careers are important to them, very important in fact, but they have other aspects to their lives. They are not defined but their job - it is an important part of their lives but only one aspect.They have balance - and they cling to their interests despite the unrealistic pressures put on them by the job. I think it is aptly summed up by the opening lines of the Holstee Manifesto;</span></b><br />
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<span id="internal-source-marker_0.8178764129988849" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; text-align: center; white-space: pre-wrap;">“This is your life. Do what you love and do it often.”</span></div>
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.8178764129988849" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Teachers need to follow their passion for life outside of school in exactly the same way that we encourage our students to do. Sometimes we have to discover what it is that stops us from doing what we love - and make some changes. This is probably the only antidote I know for burnout. Outside interests re-energise and re-invigorate people at the personal level. Doing what we love doing makes us healthier people - which in turn helps us to devote real energy to education when we focus on it - and there is plenty of scope and need for that. In the end, our students are the ones who really benefit. </span></b></div>
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.8178764129988849" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What greater advice can we give our students than to quote the opening of the Holstee Manifesto to them over and over again? </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-align: center; white-space: pre-wrap;">“</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-align: center; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is your life. Do what you love and do it often.”</span><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> If that attitude is the only thing our students pick up from us we may well have taught them one of life's most important lessons.</span></b></div>
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<object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://2.gvt0.com/vi/QDmt_t6umoY/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/QDmt_t6umoY&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/QDmt_t6umoY&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.8178764129988849" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span>Enjoy this great interpretation of the Holstee Manifesto. </b><br />
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.8178764129988849" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Credits:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Holstee manifesto image: Google images.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Video - via youtube.</span></b>Nevillehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075960954633057645noreply@blogger.com0Burnie TAS 7320, Australia-41.0524649 145.90685129999997-41.076412899999994 145.86651079999996 -41.0285169 145.94719179999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076445840028573244.post-9200509027482584572013-02-27T17:14:00.001+11:002020-10-27T15:32:02.835+11:00Mathematics from the masses #4<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlDHjYRgXzjm1KPHoTZMkrPeiiu2k8YYJzEgMHEIuePf8Bz04HhJ4dgCY8gM8CU9sXmCnIWlL-MJYAGKC_OexsylqKGUjqyz9SBKnF5oKItGeRfwVAml4sUoXOyCKVNYYhTZyHAHU6sU0/s1600/Find+x.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlDHjYRgXzjm1KPHoTZMkrPeiiu2k8YYJzEgMHEIuePf8Bz04HhJ4dgCY8gM8CU9sXmCnIWlL-MJYAGKC_OexsylqKGUjqyz9SBKnF5oKItGeRfwVAml4sUoXOyCKVNYYhTZyHAHU6sU0/s1600/Find+x.jpg" /></a></div>
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.9659754605963826" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Each month I collect some of the gems from the web that relate to mathematics. This month there are fewer links than previously - maybe I’m just becoming more selective...</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So you think you know how to teach mathematics?</span></b><br />
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<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mathematics curricula all over the world require teachers to teach with rigor. But what does it mean? This brief and insightful piece by </span><a href="about:blank"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">NCTM </span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">President Linda M. Gojak sheds some light on what it should mean.</span></b></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Every successful teacher knows that motivated students learn more and more easily than less engaged students. But how do you motivate students in the mathematics classroom? This info from </span><a href="http://www.nctm.org/resources/content.aspx?id=16481"><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">nctm</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> has some useful tips, more correctly they are philosophical positions that generate teacher behaviour that all teachers could benefit from adopting - and not just in mathematics classes.</span></b></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This post at </span><a href="http://mashable.com/2013/02/19/8-cool-applications-math/"><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mashable</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> features 8 videos with a mathematical theme showing how much fun can be had with mathematics. </span></b></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Another piece from </span><a href="http://www.nctm.org/resources/content.aspx?id=23805"><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">nctm</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, this time showing how conservation of materials at school can save money. Most of the ideas are not fully fleshed out - but a bit of creative thought could spark a series of “How much money could we save by...” questions.</span></b></li>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Resources</span><br /><ul style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Maths"><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ICT Magic</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is a site dedicated to the use of technology to enhance education. This link goes to a section devoted to some worthwhile maths games etc. </span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hmm....</span><br /><ul style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m really not sure which side of the fence I’m on with this issue - mobile phones in classrooms. </span><a href="http://www.edweek.org/dd/articles/2013/02/06/02bits-smartphones.h06.html?tkn=PYCCFXiPkFJkHTUKcIWNIdLrjqGKM4hAnSH%2F&cmp=clp-sb-nctm"><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Education Week</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> reports on a study that finds up to 39% of middle school students in the USA use their smart phones for help with homework - yet only 6% are allowed to access their devices during class time. I’ve taught high school classes so I understand the reasons behind the ban during lessons - but I also understand that smart phones are very powerful devices, most have more computing power than the </span><span style="font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">combined </span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">computing power in the control room at NASA during the moon landing. Surely we can use these resources in some way?</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This piece at </span><a href="http://mobile.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/02/05/curtis_cooper_has_found_the_new_largest_prime_number.html?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=t.co&original_referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.snsanalytics.com%2Fa2lty4"><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Slate</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> tells us that there is now a “new” largest known prime. Discovered by Curtis Cooper of the University of Central Missouri it is </span><a href="http://www.mersenne.org/various/57885161.htm"><span style="color: #0066cc; font-family: Verdana; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2</span><span style="color: #0066cc; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap;">57,885,161</span><span style="color: #0066cc; font-family: Verdana; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">-1</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - a number so large that it apparently takes 17 425 170 digits to write it. If you want to get a sense of that click </span><a href="http://www.isthe.com/chongo/tech/math/digit/m57885161/prime-c.html"><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">here</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Some interesting discussion and background in this piece - well worth a browse.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Credits:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All links go to original sources.</span><br /><a href="https://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&site=&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1517&bih=714&q=maths+cartoon&oq=maths+cart&gs_l=img.1.0.0l6j0i5l2j0i24l2.2814.4578.0.9347.10.10.0.0.0.0.237.838.8j1j1.10.0...0.0...1ac.1.4.img.BcIgy48fW0E&safe=active#imgrc=BYDzPWtRkNQMOM%3A%3B4KdzNVaq1XMRSM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fmedia-cache-ec8.pinterest.com%252Fupload%252F220394975484796875_5JPZQjC5_f.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fmathenjoyment.com%252Fhumor%252Fmath-cartoons%252F%3B307%3B227"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Image</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> via google images.</span></b>Nevillehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075960954633057645noreply@blogger.com0Burnie TAS 7320, Australia-41.0524649 145.90685129999997-41.076412899999994 145.86651079999996 -41.0285169 145.94719179999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076445840028573244.post-2305468996490516142013-02-04T13:16:00.000+11:002013-02-11T13:42:25.486+11:00Mathematics from the masses #3<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrARn8bUkP1Et2HWC-ff3SknzzshUYLmufRJy_MiIiSI7t-5sEgZqkzTRr_fVpL90G5zHmas1omT-qyb8S7vv4CrKQdCpyDsPMsu51Tn5twbvD2nF998P5YJLOePPLY0hr58DMf413PQI/s1600/Algebra.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrARn8bUkP1Et2HWC-ff3SknzzshUYLmufRJy_MiIiSI7t-5sEgZqkzTRr_fVpL90G5zHmas1omT-qyb8S7vv4CrKQdCpyDsPMsu51Tn5twbvD2nF998P5YJLOePPLY0hr58DMf413PQI/s320/Algebra.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.8121780892834067" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The web is full of great material dealing with mathematics. Below is a selection of sites, reports and ideas dealing with mathematics in general and the teaching of mathematics more specifically. The criteria for inclusion is completely idiosyncratic - if it appeals or interests me, or if I think if might be useful to maths educators it gets included. Enjoy... but be warned - there are some sites listed this month that are seriously distracting and damaging to productivity. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So you think you know how to teach mathematics?</span></b><br />
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<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.8121780892834067" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You have to be smart to do well at school maths right? Wrong. This</span><a href="http://www.financialexpress.com/news/motivation-not-iq-behind-your-liking-for-maths/1052129"><span style="color: black; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">report</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> of a German study finds that motivation and work habits are more important than IQ. Educators should not be surprised by this finding as IQ as a predictor of success (even if it could be measured properly) has long been deemed of questionable worth as a predictor of anything much. Attitude is everything – a “</span><a href="http://nbnotewell.blogspot.com.au/2011/07/more-i-practice-luckier-i-get-mindset.html"><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">growth mindset</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">” is frequently (always?) found to be more important than innate ability.</span></b></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.8121780892834067" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Maybe the best teachers are students? This </span><a href="http://www.freep.com/article/20130113/NEWS01/301130202/Teenage-tutors-inspire-young-pupils-learn-life-skills-in-DPS-program?odyssey=nav%7Chead"><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">study </span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">found a program that used older students to tutor younger ones was very effective. Given so many other initiatives fail this might be worth trying in other places...</span></b></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.8121780892834067" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Maybe we simply need to get students to spend more time at school? </span><a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=169263320"><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">NPR </span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">reports that a number of states in the USA are trialing just that in an effort to curb holiday brain fade and forgetfulness of material “taught” last year. (Maybe making the material worth remembering might be a better approach...)</span></b></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.8121780892834067" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Maybe we should all just up and move to smaller towns and leafy suburbs. This study reported in </span><a href="http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/rural_education/2013/01/rural_urban_children_starting_kindergarten_have_worse_reading_math_skills.html"><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Education Week</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> has found that rural and inner city tend to underperform in mathematics relative to their peers from other areas. (Again, I’m not sure this is really news to experienced teachers.)</span></b></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.8121780892834067" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m not sure if this is new or simply supporting an understanding of teachers all over the globe. A </span><a href="http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/inside-school-research/2013/01/little_numbers_add_up_to_big_d.html"><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">study</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> has found that students who struggle with mathematics use a different part of the brain to those students who are competent at mathematics. Those that cope well appear to be using a part of the brain that accesses memory for facts - lending support to the old fashioned notion of automatic recall of basic number facts as being important in mathematical performance. It has to be said that the study involved only a relatively small number of participants (N=43), but given the hi-tech nature of the study this might not be a major indicator.</span></b></li>
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.8121780892834067" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Resources:</span></b><br />
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<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.wolframalpha.com/"><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Wolframalpha</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is a great site for online calculations. </span><a href="http://blog.wolframalpha.com/2013/01/15/math-for-all-ages-online-manipulatives-for-basic-arithmetic/"><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This blog</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> from the creators shows some really useful automatic displays related to simple calculations - most if not all teachers of mathematics would be able to find a use for this site - so easy to use but with so much potential to explain answers... I really like the fact that a completed numberline of the calculation is provided almost instantly - which makes it a really handy way of explaining order of operations to primary age children.</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The </span><a href="http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/"><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">PBS Learning media</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> site has lots of useful video / teaching material on a range of subjects - including mathematics. The parent site can be searched for via subject and grade level. Well worth investigating for some teaching media. </span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In a similar vein, everybody’s favourite site </span><a href="http://illuminations.nctm.org/"><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“lluminations”</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> continues to be an almost unbeatable source of sound resources based around active learning principles. </span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On a related theme comes this </span><a href="http://www.kwwl.com/story/20652985/2013/01/22/western-dubuque-school-district-taking-technology-strides"><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">blog item</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> revealing that use of Interactive White Boards in maths lessons not only improves student attention and participation but leads to improvement in maths scores. </span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Looking for a really simple site that makes use of your IWB? This site from </span><a href="http://harcourtschool.com/activity/elab2004/gr3/10.swf"><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">harcourtschool</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> allows simple arrow clicking to create visual matchings of equivalent fractions. </span></li>
</b></ul>
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</b>
<br />
<ul style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.8121780892834067" style="font-weight: normal;">
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the same vein, the old fashioned geoboard gets a virtual makeover at the </span><a href="http://www.mathlearningcenter.org/web-apps/geoboard/"><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mathlearningcentre</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. It may not be as organic as the “hands on” variety but it is still lots of fun … and has the distinct advantage that the “rubber bands” can’t be flicked all over the classroom.</span></li>
</b></ul>
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<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.mathrecap.com/"><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mathrecap</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is a site edited by Dan Meyer - presumably the same maths teacher who made a name for himself with his </span><a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_meyer_math_curriculum_makeover.html"><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">TED talk </span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">on teaching mathematics. The site recaps (which no doubt explains the name) a variety of presentations made at maths conferences around the USA. A source of some very worthy techniques and good ideas for maths instruction. </span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Normally I’d avoid any article using the word “cool” in the header - but this time it leads to a </span><a href="http://www.livescience.com/19453-cool-math-games.html"><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">collection of maths games </span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">suited to primary students. It’s, … well, ... cool - especially the game called </span><a href="http://coolmath-games.com/0-b-cubed%2Findex.html"><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">B-Cubed</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This </span><a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2013/01/23/170083243/wile-e-coyote-teaches-math-and-despair-to-lucky-students-in-new-zealand"><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">NPR</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> piece gives some nice examples of how New Zealand teachers are teaching probability - applying Murphy’s Law (“Anything that can go wrong will go wrong”) to stats. Does butter </span><span style="font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">really </span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">always fall butter side down? Some cartoon graphics provide a good starting point for other like minded engaging explorations. </span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://mathmunch.wordpress.com/"><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Math Munch</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is a blog after my own heart - a site dedicated to cherry picking the best of the web’s maths related site and sharing them with people with a similar mind set. It is updated on a regular basis (usually weekly) and has a host of really useful educational mathematics related sites as well as material that is simply of a mathematical nature. Highly recommended - you will almost certainly want to put this one in your favourites.</span></li>
</b></ul>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hmm....</span></b><br />
<ul style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.8121780892834067" style="font-weight: normal;">
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Does mathematics make research sounder? Yes - well, apparently we all think so. A recent piece reported on at </span><a href="http://www.freakonomics.com/2013/01/09/does-math-make-research-better/"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Freakonomics</span></a><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> cites a study where academics were asked to evaluate the strength of research papers - some of which were doctored with meaningless maths out of context. The maths "enhanced" studies were considered to be the stronger. The </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">really </span><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">scary thing here is that the participants all held post graduate degrees. So what chance does the general public have?</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A rather depressing report in the </span><a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2263705/It-adds-Tried-tested-maths-techniques-replace-unwieldy-chunking-gridding-systems-baffle-pupils.html"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mailonline</span></a><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> cites UK authorities requiring teachers to return to “traditional” methods of teaching long multiplication and division and away from more progressive processes based on mental maths and number sense. Looks like the pendulum of reform didn’t even get to complete a full swing ... teaching procedural competence replaces conceptual understanding yet again... </span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Is there a relatively </span><a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2013/01/22/169976655/nature-has-a-formula-that-tells-us-when-its-time-to-die"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">simple formula </span></a><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">that governs how long we (and just about everything else) will live? This NPR piece tells more … it appears so (well... maybe). Perhaps. Possibly.</span></li>
</b></ul>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">~~~~~</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you found this post useful you might enjoy my <a href="http://nbnotewell.blogspot.com.au/p/mainly-maths.html" target="_blank">maths page</a>.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">~~~~~</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Credits:</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">All links to original sources.</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Image details <a href="http://fasttrack.hk/other-good-stuff/dear-algebra/attachment/dear-algebra/" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></span></div>
</b>Nevillehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075960954633057645noreply@blogger.com1North West, TAS, Australia-41.099016761754839 145.85723876953125-41.194769761754841 145.69587726953125 -41.003263761754837 146.01860026953125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076445840028573244.post-67733380187499686642013-01-23T13:51:00.002+11:002013-01-31T08:12:09.694+11:00The emotion of learning <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1lPzaZJOG4IYIwNffekqz9cVDJWW0SZ2iirdf-tAdtWYIrJGa26MLxraIJrD6BhBmhGOcQC_DcyH-N_-9Bir-G_nCjrWRDFH9La7aqCGV9MPgGx6HlPxwHavwrdHtWFdU703L_tmaOiU/s1600/Magnifying+glasses.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1lPzaZJOG4IYIwNffekqz9cVDJWW0SZ2iirdf-tAdtWYIrJGa26MLxraIJrD6BhBmhGOcQC_DcyH-N_-9Bir-G_nCjrWRDFH9La7aqCGV9MPgGx6HlPxwHavwrdHtWFdU703L_tmaOiU/s320/Magnifying+glasses.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m breaking a self imposed rule with this post. I’m writing
it while on holiday. The reason is simple, I’ve achieved a boyhood ambition - decades
after the seed was planted.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Today I created fire.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Not with a match.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Not with a lighter.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
With a magnifying glass.
</div>
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<br /></div>
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For as long as I can remember I have wanted to do it. Memories of summer delights as a boy have
resurfaced – as a boy / teenager I used to use a magnifying glass to burn my
initials into my summer thongs with a magnifying glass. My public explanation was that it made it
easier to find my thongs when “the gang” came over and all our thongs were
piled up by the back door. True enough –
but the other truth was that I enjoyed doing it. I enjoyed seeing the snail
trail of my initials “magically” appear as a result of nothing more complicated
than the sun and some curved glass. However,
given the long, tinder-dry grass in the paddocks that surrounded my boyhood home,
I never attempted to light a true fire – despite a burning desire
to do so (pardon the pun).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Today, decades after my teenage years faded into the fog of
time, I finally tried to light a fire using nothing more than the material I wanted to burn and a
magnifying glass. In theory there was no
doubt that it would work and I knew that it would take marginally more effort
than using a match. But I wanted to do it – simply because I wanted more than
intellectual knowledge that it would work. I wanted to actually <i>do </i>it. So I did.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It occurred to me while I was holding the magnifying glass that
there were broader lessons in the action.
I needed to maintain focus – my own and that of the magnifying glass.
The pin point of concentrated solar energy had to be held over the same spot
and I had to concentrate to ensure that this happened. It is probably
dignifying the action a little to say that I needed to employ a technique but
in a sense it was true. If I didn’t hold
the glass in the correct way nothing would happen. I also needed to clarify my own definition
of success. Was singeing the paper the
same as creating fire? I decided “no” -
but it was probably acceptable as an encouraging sign. Was creating smoke (after mere seconds) creating
fire? Again I decided “no” – but it was
probably proof of concept. What did I
mean by fire? I decided that it was flame that consumed the material that I
wanted burned and that only that could be considered success. After passing through the first stages towards
success I needed to adjust my approach by getting some smaller twigs from the garden –
which, in academic terms could be considered refining my practice in the face
of observable results.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So I was learning. But the feeling of success and achievement when
the flame burst into life was out of all proportion to the lack of effort
required to achieve it. It turns out the
lighting a fire with a magnifying glass <i>is
</i>as easy as it is reported to be. But
the key aspect for me is that now I <i>know </i>it,
I’ve done it myself. Second hand
knowledge has been replaced by experience.
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The other aspect is that this was a fiercely personal
objective. I doubt any of my family or friends share this desire to “achieve”
this goal. In world terms it is
insignificant. But in personal terms it brought a glow to my face that was not
simply a reflection of the fire. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It occurs to me that this is true of all personal
learning. Is this why musicians try to
reproduce the sound of their favourite guitarist when the mp3 player can do it effortlessly
for them? Is this why painters use
pigment to capture the landscape when a camera can do a more accurate job in an
instant? Is this the feeling of truly
significant personal learning? If it is,
then surely we as teachers owe it to our students to let them experience this success
in Iearning or achieving something of personal significance? I wonder how many discipline problems would
fade away and how the motivation levels of our students would increase if this
feeling was a regular part of our classrooms? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Easily the most popular post on this site is one I wrote
dealing with <a href="http://nbnotewell.blogspot.com.au/2011/09/project-based-learning-meaningful.html">PBL</a>. If I may say so my-self it provides a good
summary of the concept and links to a host of very useful resources. My experiences today re-affirm my reasons for
writing that post; we need to meet the personal interests of our students in
our programs. Adding the <i>emotion </i>of learning to our classrooms may
be a key ingredient in a truly motivated learning environment.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Truly personal learning is significant; it produces <i>emotion</i> in the part of the learner – not
just intellectual advancement. If it
doesn’t then maybe it isn’t as significant to the learner as it is to the
teacher.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<o:p> ~~~~~~~~~~~~</o:p> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Credits:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Image via google images:
<a href="http://www.clker.com/clipart-2285.html">http://www.clker.com/clipart-2285.html</a>
</div>
Nevillehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075960954633057645noreply@blogger.com0Burnie TAS, Australia-41.0636111 145.89194440000006-41.159364100000005 145.73058290000006 -40.9678581 146.05330590000005tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076445840028573244.post-26095495473451865502012-12-20T13:40:00.001+11:002012-12-20T13:42:27.961+11:00Mathematics from the masses #2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp6_HE75sVa2IkvzBNHq4XgTeA8lpB7MuYs_wN4wftzIjy7kMRF7sWuAwsPNTeQm_rzFBBsSBRRF3E5U9lIPpNEaIIUwhZjPejTMd1yIpVf2OENSO_r9LcvSGo7lFHDOtdIEQcgVJwEHo/s1600/maths+symbols+numerals.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp6_HE75sVa2IkvzBNHq4XgTeA8lpB7MuYs_wN4wftzIjy7kMRF7sWuAwsPNTeQm_rzFBBsSBRRF3E5U9lIPpNEaIIUwhZjPejTMd1yIpVf2OENSO_r9LcvSGo7lFHDOtdIEQcgVJwEHo/s200/maths+symbols+numerals.gif" width="198" /></a></div>
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.7317084239330143" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The web is awash with wonderful resources for teaching mathematics - plus some sites pedalling pedagogy best avoided. What follows is a purely personal selection of some of the more interesting and worthwhile sites that beamed out from my screen this month. (Follow the underlined blue links to be taken to the sites mentioned.)</span><br /><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So you think you know how to teach mathematics?</span><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br />
<ul style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.7317084239330143" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The </span><a href="http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2013009"><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2011 TIMSS study </span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">was out this month - and produced much hand wringing all over the globe. This link takes you to a site where you can access the report - and commissioners comments etc. It seems that maths education is in trouble just about everywhere.</span></b></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.7317084239330143" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is probably not news to most mathematics teachers - an article from the broader press that highlights the changes away from textbook focussed instruction and the improvements that can come with it. US site </span><a href="http://www.dailybreeze.com/ci_22051488/unorthodox-math-lessons-add-up-real-gains-at"><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">dailybreeze.com</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> reports on the success of teaching for meaning rather than memory in a local high school. </span></b></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.7317084239330143" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A collection of maths instructional videos at </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/Mathscasts"><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mathcasts</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Suitable for high school students.</span></b></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.7317084239330143" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">From the Detroit News comes an article of schools </span><a href="http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20121203/SCHOOLS/212030339/1026/schools/Metro-Detroit-educators-teach-telling-time-old-fashion-way"><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">installing analog clocks i</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">n order to help children tell the time. It goes on to mention their experiences that children can use digital clocks more easily - but that this doesn’t necessarily translate into genuine understanding of the concepts involved. A welcome example of ensuring conceptual understanding over procedural competence.</span></b></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.7317084239330143" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">From England’s </span><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2012/dec/03/alternative-primary-maths-curriculum"><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Guardian</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> newspaper a sensible discussion about reform of the mathematics curriculum in England - with the observation that you can’t necessarily “cherry pick” techniques from one country and transport them to another, but recognising that the approach of some countries does seem to produce better results than others.</span></b></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.7317084239330143" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Also from England is this piece on the </span><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-20678353"><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">BBC site</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> discussing the fact that rushing through the curriculum does not allow for the development of deep understanding. It is an issue for teachers all around the globe. This is an issue more worthy of discussion than the hand wringing that has been seen around the world as the latest round of international testing results have come out. Surely getting the curriculum right, and creating space for genuine understanding of the key developmental concepts is more important than the current league table results? Fixing the former will address the second.</span></b></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.7317084239330143" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Vedic mathematics is a fascinating - and neglected area. This post / video at </span><a href="http://www.firstpost.com/living/tedx-profile-here-to-prove-vedic-maths-is-secular-says-tekriwal-539864.html"><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Firstpost</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> provides an introduction to those who are not familiar with it - and might prompt further exploration. A personal blog about the fascinating story behind the “rediscovery” of </span><a href="http://nbnotewell.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/vedic-maths-facts-fiction-fantastic.html"><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Vedic mathematics</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> might also interest.</span></b></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.7317084239330143" style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://theconversation.edu.au/explainer-why-is-the-sky-blue-10821?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest+from+The+Conversation+for+7+December+2012&utm_content=Latest+from+The+Conversation+for+7+December+2012+CID_752ccff60ca017b168bb0da9f381522d&utm_source=campaign_monitor&utm_term=Explainer%20why%20is%20the%20sky%20blue"><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Why is the sky blue?</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> This simple question takes some serious explanation - and is not without mathematics to make sense of the science. Would suit upper high school students.</span></b></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.7317084239330143" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The “</span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7B9XVYSm80A"><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">12 days of Christmas</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">” gets a fair run in many mathematics classrooms at this time of year. This self produced video on youtube uses it to explore triangular numbers and goes on to the classic “handshake at a (New Years Eve) party for good measure. Fun and has potential if pitched at the right grade level. (Apologies to the anonymous creator - can’t attribute due to lack of details in the clip.)</span></b></li>
</ul>
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.7317084239330143" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Just for fun</span></b><br />
<ul style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.7317084239330143" style="font-weight: normal;">
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaWcL3oOd-E"><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">prediction trick</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> has been around in more traditional forms for a while - but it has been given a retweet for the youtube generation by Richard Wiseman. Lots of fun. </span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This video is great - </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBNHPk-Lnkk"><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Amazing Anamorphic Illusions</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. If you like the illusions there are links to the images so you can “perform” the same trick yourself.</span></li>
</b></ul>
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.7317084239330143" style="font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hmmm....</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A collection of TED talks about mathematics.</span><br /><ul style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://blog.ted.com/2012/11/21/8-math-talks-to-blow-your-mind/"><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">8 math talks to blow your mind - </span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> hard to elaborate on the title really. My favourite was / is Benoit Mandelbrot’s talk on fractals - but that’s just a personal preference. They are all worth watching over a cup of coffee.</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“</span><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20559052"><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Is Zero an even number</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">” asks the BBC. Brief piece re the public perception of zero.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">More from before</span><br /><ul style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In Maths from the Masses #1 I linked to some research suggesting that some people literally feel pain at the thought of “having” to “do” mathematics. This is piece from the </span><a href="http://www.newstatesman.com/sci-tech/2012/11/teaching-kids-fear-maths-will-harm-britains-chances-global-economy"><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Newstatesman</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> follows a similar vein - but interestingly, people’s fear of mathematics seems to disappear when they actually start “doing” it (as opposed to merely completing endless calculations). This is a widespread issue and impacts on parents. How do parents who suffer from maths anxiety support their children at home? This piece from the </span><a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/education/2012/1211/1224327719651.html"><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Irishtimes.com</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> addresses this issue via the lens of confidence rather than calculations and contains some sensible advice.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><a href="http://nbnotewell.blogspot.com.au/p/mainly-maths.html"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Math page</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you enjoyed this post you might enjoy exploring my </span><a href="http://nbnotewell.blogspot.com.au/p/mainly-maths.html"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">maths page </span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">which features other posts of a similar nature - some with video worth using with students, and some recreational maths developed to share a love of mathematics. </span><br /><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Credits: All links go to original sources.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Image from Google images: </span><a href="http://web1.northmead-h.schools.nsw.edu.au/moodle/pluginfile.php/2/course/section/1/maths21-15bpx4o.gif"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://web1.northmead-h.schools.nsw.edu.au/moodle/pluginfile.php/2/course/section/1/maths21-15bpx4o.gif</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br /><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>Nevillehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075960954633057645noreply@blogger.com0Burnie TAS, Australia-41.0636111 145.89194440000006-41.159364100000005 145.73058290000006 -40.9678581 146.05330590000005tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076445840028573244.post-34327065993788403202012-12-13T08:51:00.000+11:002012-12-13T08:51:11.395+11:00How to be a great maths teacher #2 - what the research continues to say<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfYWYMi6thf8IEHHwSN2LIQ3xrLwo6IwzW07sYXeuTmlnVutyv_FH_m3px4FQZ2XCALHfpXCOuR7wvooJZ7Yg1q2kD2Xr4yULJmv8GVFIUCC05mKjq-UbhO_AsQekT3jgnY5w0UU-t8TM/s1600/Math-Symbols.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfYWYMi6thf8IEHHwSN2LIQ3xrLwo6IwzW07sYXeuTmlnVutyv_FH_m3px4FQZ2XCALHfpXCOuR7wvooJZ7Yg1q2kD2Xr4yULJmv8GVFIUCC05mKjq-UbhO_AsQekT3jgnY5w0UU-t8TM/s320/Math-Symbols.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.2305050427094102" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There is no shortage of people telling teachers how to improve education. Sometimes it seems that all the educational experts are either cutting hair or driving taxis - or perhaps in public office. So it is useful to find clearly written advice based upon educational research and free from economic motivations. The </span><a href="http://www.iaoed.org/"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">International Academy of Education </span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(IAE) publishes a series of pamphlets that distills educational research into useful summaries of current teaching techniques that have been found to promote student learning. </span><a href="http://www.iaoed.org/files/prac04e.pdf"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">”Improving student achievement in mathematics</span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">” </span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">by Douglas Grouws and Kristin Cebulla provides a succinct summary of how effective educators can approach their teaching. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Their research suggests that teachers can improve mathematical learning via;</span><br /><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1.Opportunity to learn</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The extent of the students’ opportunity to learn mathematics content bears directly and decisively on student mathematics achievement. “As might be expected, there is also a positive relationship between total time allocated to mathematics and general mathematics achievement.” </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> No surprise there I suspect - but this aspect is worth contemplating; </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Short class periods in mathematics, instituted for whatever practical or philosophical reason, should be seriously questioned. Of special concern are the 30-35 minute class periods for mathematics being implemented in some middle schools.” </span><br /><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2. Focus on meaning</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Focusing instruction on the meaningful development of important mathematical ideas increases the level of student learning. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Teachers should stress </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“...the mathematical meanings of ideas, including how the idea, concept or skill is connected in multiple ways to other mathematical ideas in a logically consistent and sensible manner.” </span><br /><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3. Learning new concepts and skills while solving problems</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Students can learn both concepts and skills by solving problems. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This clearly addresses the “chicken and egg” issue of some teachers - it is NOT necessary to teach specific computation techniques BEFORE addressing real life applications. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“There is evidence that students can learn new skills and concepts while they are working out solutions to problems.” </span><br /><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4. Opportunities for both invention and practice</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Giving students both an opportunity to discover and invent new knowledge and an opportunity to practise what they have learned improves student achievement. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The research finds that in the USA over 90% of class time is spent on practicing routine procedures. In Japan about 45% of instructional time is spent practising routine procedures, 15% applying procedures in new situations and 45% inventing new procedures or analysing new situations. Like to predict which system is ranked higher in international comparisons?</span><br /><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5. Openness to student solution methods and student interaction.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Teaching that incorporates students’ intuitive solution methods can increase student learning, especially when combined with opportunities for student interaction and discussion. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Student interaction - sharing their solutions and the how they approached maths tasks - makes for enhanced student learning. The notion of a good classroom is a quiet classroom with children working in isolation is simply not supported by the research. Students learn better when they interact - which, if the social-constructionist theory of learning is applied, is what we would expect. </span><br /><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6. Small group learning</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Using small groups of students to work on activities, problems and assignments can increase student mathematics achievement. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Again, co-operative methods of teaching featuring both group goals and individual accountability are associated with enhanced student learning. Teachers would be advised to select mathematical tasks that lend themselves to group exploration rather than simply getting students to “work together” on standard tasks.</span><br /><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">7. Whole class discussion</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Whole class discussion following individual and group work improves student achievement. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The adult in the room need not be the only teacher in the class.</span><br /><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">8. Number sense</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Teaching mathematics with a focus on number sense encourages students to become problem solvers in a wide variety of situations and to view mathematics as a discipline in which thinking is important. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Number sense - that feeling accomplished people get when they get an answer that “doesn’t look right” - is an important part of developing mathematical skills...and it requires that students are actually thinking about what they are doing, why they are doing it, and estimating / predicting internally what sort of result would be reasonable. </span><br /><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">9. Concrete materials</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Long-term use of concrete materials is positively related to increases in student mathematics achievement and improved attitudes towards mathematics. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> So, a warning sign of a less than effective teacher may be the pile of worksheets students are expected to complete. Combine this with a lack of manipulatives or concrete support materials and students have a problem - and it isn’t the mathematics.</span><br /><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">10. Students’ use of calculators</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Using calculators in the learning of mathematics can result in increased achievement and improved student attitudes.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Study after study support this notion. The use of calculators enhance mathematics learning. Why? It lets the students think about the mathematics, not the calculation.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Grouws and Cebulla add a caveat to their list of behaviours - the quality of the implementation of the teaching practices listed above greatly impact upon student learning; for example, it is not only whether manipulatives are used but how they are used that determines effectiveness. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Much of this list will not be new to those with an interest in mathematics education. However, it seems to my casual eye that mathematics classrooms are often still the domain of worksheets with a focus on procedural competence rather than conceptual understanding, places of compliance rather than engagement. Reading and discussing research findings such as this may help us improve the quality of our mathematics teaching. Reading the </span><a href="http://www.iaoed.org/files/prac04e.pdf"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">original pamphlet </span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">would be worthwhile for all teachers with an interest in the area.</span></b><br />
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">An earlier post - “</span><a href="http://nbnotewell.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/how-to-be-great-mathematics-teacher.html"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How to be a great mathematics teacher - what the research says</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">” was mined from another pamphlet in the IAE’s “Educational Practice Series”. The post summarises the content of that pamphlet and provides links to the original source material - which is well worth reading.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Those with an interest in improving mathematical pedagogy might like to read a related post dealing with the work of Alistair McIntosh -</span><a href="http://nbnotewell.blogspot.com.au/2011/08/improving-numeracy-with-7cs.html"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Improving numeracy with the 7Cs</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Those with a general interest in mathematics might enjoy the maths page on this site which collects a range of posts dealing with</span><a href="http://nbnotewell.blogspot.com.au/p/mainly-maths.html"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mathematics</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></b><br />
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">Credits: All links go to original sources.</span></b></div>
</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Image: via google images: </span><a href="http://www.kingslangley.ps.education.nsw.gov.au/images/Math-Symbols.jpg"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.kingslangley.ps.education.nsw.gov.au/images/Math-Symbols.jpg</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></b>Nevillehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075960954633057645noreply@blogger.com0Burnie TAS, Australia-41.0636111 145.8919444-41.1115001 145.8129804 -41.015722100000005 145.9709084tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076445840028573244.post-89346490743916619482012-12-01T12:03:00.000+11:002012-12-01T12:03:45.337+11:00Mathematics from the masses<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6cFgrx-5lWZFtcAjJpUJBPeauXb6Vt3onZGspUWpi6ZqKCo8BmDaMRdYcweIC_i_Z25PZ3-RWafoMKMaxvg-NAdosNn7_J263G7bphb2fp1EywLb26Gp-wc0ruS_Unaz8MtoZDkAKw9Y/s1600/social-media-banners.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6cFgrx-5lWZFtcAjJpUJBPeauXb6Vt3onZGspUWpi6ZqKCo8BmDaMRdYcweIC_i_Z25PZ3-RWafoMKMaxvg-NAdosNn7_J263G7bphb2fp1EywLb26Gp-wc0ruS_Unaz8MtoZDkAKw9Y/s320/social-media-banners.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.7361416460480541" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The web is awash with wonderful resources for teaching mathematics - plus some sites pedalling pedagogy best avoided. What follows is a purely personal selection of some of the more interesting and worthwhile sites that beamed out from my screen this month. (Follow the blue links to be taken to the sites mentioned.)</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So you think you know how to teach mathematics?</span></b><br />
<ul style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.7361416460480541" style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.wise-qatar.org/content/stop-teaching-calculating-start-learning-maths-conrad-wolfram-0"><span style="color: blue; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Stop teaching Calculating, Start Learning Maths” - Conrad Wolfra</span><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">m</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></li>
</ul>
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.7361416460480541" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Conrad Wolfram is renown as a “boat rocking” thinker and innovator. This presentation challenges current educational methods for teaching mathematics. In an entertaining speech Wolfram asks what is mathematics and then describes it as a four stage process consisting of:</span></b><br />
<ol style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.7361416460480541" style="font-weight: normal;">
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Posing the right question</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Putting the question into a mathematical framework or context</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Calculating</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Converting the answer back into a real world context.</span></li>
</b></ol>
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.7361416460480541" style="font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Wolfram states that students spent 80% of their time at stage three - performing calculations, often manually. He states that this is odd given that computers / calculators can do this much better than any human brain and that we should be concentrating our efforts on the other three stages. A thought provoking video lasting 26 minutes - watch it over a coffee and think about it long after. </span><br /><ul style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Open ended questions.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The maths world is awash with the power of open ended questions rather than a steady diet of closed questions. But how do we formulate good open ended questions? This </span><a href="http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=open%20ended%20mathematical%20tasks&source=web&cd=7&ved=0CEsQFjAG&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmat.aamt.edu.au%2Fcontent%2Fdownload%2F18896%2F250180%2Ffile%2FDesigning%2520quality%2520open%2520ended%2520tasks.pptx&ei=JtmiUJ3HG-iZiQeOnID4Dg&usg=AFQjCNHgMANJ47tmHYmr_LoTi403EHDELQ"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">powerpoin</span></a><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">t</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, based upon the work of Peter Sullivan, shows how it can be done. </span><br /><ul style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: blue; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Early Counting . </span><a href="http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/early_years/2012/11/_when_children_are_just.html"><span style="color: blue; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Research</span></a><span style="color: blue; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">cited at edweek.org says that teaching pre-schoolers to count (as opposed to just recite numbers) to 20 is an advantage later in life</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Resources that you might find useful.</span><br /><ul style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A </span><a href="http://pinterest.com/lauracandler/math-teaching-resources/"><span style="color: blue; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">pinterest site</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> shared by classroom teacher Laura Chandler with lots of resources used by mid-primary teachers. Not all of it pushes the boundaries of mathematics teaching but much of it would be useful to classroom based teachers at this level. </span></li>
</ul>
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<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.mathplayground.com/index.html"><span style="color: blue; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mathplayground</span><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- a good site for classroom teachers with lots of areas to explore - allows effective teaching not just drill and practice.</span></li>
</ul>
<br /><ul style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/"><span style="color: blue; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">NCES Kid’s Zone</span></a><span style="color: blue; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> A collection of web based tools for graphing and probability for primary students. The applications are accessed via buttons on the top of the screen.</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.aplusclick.com/grade3.htm"><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A+ click</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> A wide ranging free site from grad 1 to 12 covering wide range of mathematics. Problem and logical thinking questions to suit the needs of most teachers.</span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How many texts are sent every day in your town? The </span><a href="http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/19/test-yourself-math-nov-19-2012/"><span style="color: blue; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York Times</span><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">provided this bit of maths based on a perhaps surprising statistic - that the number of texts sent last month fell for the first time in history. However, the linked article provides all the information students would need to extrapolate to your home area. If we assume that the number of texts sent per person is constant across all areas (but we may choose not to accept this assumption - coming up with another figure might be useful in itself) and the population of our area is (???) then how many texts might be sent from our home? In fact, challenging the statistics provided might be even more fun. What </span><span style="font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> the average number of text sent each day by members of your class? Would this hold true across all grade levels and classes? How might we find out? Once done, what </span><span style="font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is </span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">our estimate? </span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hmmm...</span><br /><ul style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Not everyone enjoys mathematics. New </span><a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/science/sciencenow/la-sn-anticipating-math-causes-pain-20121105,0,2077392.story"><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">research</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> has found that just thinking about doing mathematics can cause headaches in some people. </span></li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Still on the brain, Scientific American reports </span><a href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-unconscious-brain-can-do-math"><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">research</span></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> that suggests that the brain can do mathematics unconsciously. (This might explain the phenomena of students who appear asleep in class but still manage to get some work done.)</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><a href="http://nbnotewell.blogspot.com.au/p/mainly-maths.html"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Math page</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you enjoyed this post you might enjoy exploring my </span><a href="http://nbnotewell.blogspot.com.au/p/mainly-maths.html"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">maths page </span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">which features other posts of a similar nature - some with video worth using with students, and some recreational maths developed to share a love of mathematics. </span><br /><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Credits: All links go to original sources.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Image from Google images: </span></b><br />
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.7361416460480541" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Image from Google images:http://www.ihub.co.ke/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/social-media-banners.jpg </span></b><b id="internal-source-marker_0.7361416460480541" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span></b><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></b>Nevillehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075960954633057645noreply@blogger.com1Burnie TAS, Australia-41.0636111 145.8919444-41.1115001 145.8129804 -41.015722100000005 145.9709084tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076445840028573244.post-36345367077236332882012-11-23T08:19:00.001+11:002012-11-23T08:19:59.712+11:00How to be a great mathematics teacher - what the research says<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvBhXObbndcTG1xoiD4NnCYCUd-_JmO-wDufwwmFgI0GEAy9jXx8_M_ly0YFCxZEJm0Krwn1unLxpLJmYeM8CzetbECY8JYrNrEHevXRtIQiPchS2pvr3re_4AUw1pl0jWZWDZwqUR7mo/s1600/Maths+symbols.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvBhXObbndcTG1xoiD4NnCYCUd-_JmO-wDufwwmFgI0GEAy9jXx8_M_ly0YFCxZEJm0Krwn1unLxpLJmYeM8CzetbECY8JYrNrEHevXRtIQiPchS2pvr3re_4AUw1pl0jWZWDZwqUR7mo/s200/Maths+symbols.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.41174566047266126" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Being a teacher is hard work. Being an effective teacher is even harder. It is surprisingly difficult to find clear advice on how to improve classroom performance - or rather, it is surprisingly difficult to find advice that is pedagogically sound or not advocating some form of educational bandwagon. To the rescue comes a series of pamphlets produced by the </span><a href="http://iaoed.org/"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">International Academy of Education</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - an organisation with the aim of producing “a syntheses of research on educational topics of international importance”. Despite the somewhat weighty title of “</span><a href="http://www.ibe.unesco.org/fileadmin/user_upload/.../EdPractices_19.pdf"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Effective pedagogy in mathematics</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">” they have produced a highly readable, highly relevant booklet containing some principles of effective mathematics instruction.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">According to the authors of the booklet, Glenda Anthony and Margaret Walshaw, both associate professors at Massey University and also directors of the Centre of Excellence for Research in Mathematics Education, the traits of effective mathematics pedagogy can distilled to;</span><br /><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1. An ethic of care</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Caring classroom communities that are focused on mathematical goals help develop students’ mathematical identities and proficiencies. “Teachers who truly care about their students work hard at developing trusting classroom communities.”</span><br /><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2. Arranging for learning</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Effective teachers provide students with opportunities to work both independently and collaboratively to make sense of ideas.</span><br /><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3. Building on students' thinking</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Effective teachers plan mathematics learning experiences that enable students to build on their existing proficiencies, interests and experiences.</span><br /><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4. Worthwhile mathematical tasks</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Effective teachers understand that the tasks and examples they select influence how students come to view, develop, use and make sense of mathematics.</span><br /><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5. Making connections</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Effective teachers support students in creating connections between different ways of solving problems, between mathematical representations and topics, and between mathematics and everyday experiences.</span><br /><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">6. Assessment for learning</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Effective teachers use a range of assessment practices to make students’ thinking visible and to support students’ learning.</span><br /><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">7. Mathematical communication</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Effective teachers are able to facilitate classroom dialogue that is focused on mathematical argumentation.</span><br /><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">8. Mathematical language</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Effective teachers shape mathematical language by modelling appropriate terms and communicating their meaning in ways that students understand.</span><br /><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">9. Tools and representations</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Effective teachers carefully select tools and representations to provide support for students’ thinking.</span><br /><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">10. Teacher knowledge</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Effective teachers develop and use sound knowledge as a basis for initiating learning and responding to the mathematical needs of all their students.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><a href="http://www.ibe.unesco.org/fileadmin/user_upload/.../EdPractices_19.pdf"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The bookle</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">t is well worth reading and expands upon the extracts presented above.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There is little contained in the publication that will shock educators with an interest in mathematics teaching who have ventured beyond the use of standardised worksheets or textbooks. However, there are some really reassuring aspects to this booklet. What pleases me most is that an ethic of care is mentioned first - caring for both the student as a learner of mathematics but also as a person. This reflects the adage I first heard decades ago when I was training; </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Students don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Mathematics tends to have a dry and dusty “skills based” reputation so it is reassuring to see such a significant body placing emphasis on the teacher-student relationship as being of fundamental importance to effective teaching.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When we care about our students as much as the subject good things tend to result.</span></b><br />
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.41174566047266126" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Those with an interest in improving mathematical pedagogy might like to read a related post dealing with the work of Alistair McIntosh - </span><a href="http://nbnotewell.blogspot.com.au/2011/08/improving-numeracy-with-7cs.html"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Improving numeracy with the 7Cs</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Those with a general interest in mathematics might enjoy the maths page on this site which collects a range of posts dealing with </span><a href="http://nbnotewell.blogspot.com.au/p/mainly-maths.html"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mathematics</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></b><br />
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.41174566047266126" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Credits:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All source material is hyperlinked within the post. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Image via google images:</span></b><b id="internal-source-marker_0.41174566047266126" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="http://montymaths.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/20120930-1150041.jpg?w=490"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://montymaths.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/20120930-1150041.jpg?w=490</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></b>Nevillehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075960954633057645noreply@blogger.com1Burnie TAS, Australia-41.0636111 145.8919444-41.1115001 145.8129804 -41.015722100000005 145.9709084tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076445840028573244.post-51970985369626741912012-11-16T15:48:00.000+11:002012-11-16T15:48:19.678+11:00What you see is what you get - literally<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD_rp7cuegQc74YP5BwHUvYmPj2E-0z0xBMxQlFXR9elHXd-Xeq2aV1Ml3fndSUItbU7m1YtHLIkdSR6eRGpPXizNiwZzh0CW70zBYl7ufF37p0SZb36uFHwbqAoR1eI717hA6I83YR0E/s1600/optical+illusion+-+candles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD_rp7cuegQc74YP5BwHUvYmPj2E-0z0xBMxQlFXR9elHXd-Xeq2aV1Ml3fndSUItbU7m1YtHLIkdSR6eRGpPXizNiwZzh0CW70zBYl7ufF37p0SZb36uFHwbqAoR1eI717hA6I83YR0E/s320/optical+illusion+-+candles.jpg" width="238" /></a></div>
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.06659329985268414" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is a very well known optical illusion - it seems that everyone has seen it. Everyone knows that it is either two faces or a vase. Wrong. It is both. It is two faces </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">it is a vase - but you can’t see them at the same time. It is a classic demonstration of attention equals perception - we see what we are looking for.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Over time, we tend to wear lens’ that frame our vision, that shape our perceptions. We learn from experience and form our world view according to those experiences. However, once our world view is established the reverse seems to happen - our expectations and beliefs actually shape our perceptions; in other words, we see what we expect to see. Literally. No less a figure then </span><a href="http://www.dailygood.org/view.php?sid=241"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Einstein wrote about this</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - and he believed that we not only tend to see what we expect to see but that we ignore what doesn’t fit our expectations. This holds true, not only for psychological perceptions - but also for our </span><a href="http://www.awakin.org/read/view.php?tid=251"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">physical bodies</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. What we think determines what we feel. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For educators this is significant. We’ve all heard studies of </span><a href="http://www.cehs.ohio.edu/gfx/media/pdf/kelsey.pdf"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">self-fulfilling prophecies </span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">where teacher expectations predict student achievements. (Strangely enough we tend to recognise this as a theoretical consideration but rarely seem to acknowledge it in our own practice.) In short - we tend to see a child as a slow-learner, smart, a behaviour problem...and ‘lo and behold the child performs to our expectations. The child who is perceived to be a behaviour problem tends to become a behaviour problem, or at least is perceived to be one. Perception does indeed become reality. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This means that children may become locked into our version of reality … which in turn becomes their own. Our view of students may become their version of themselves. </span><br /><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Perhaps an answer is in training ourselves to look for the things that surprise us, for the things that don’t follow a pattern or meet our expectations. We need to train ourselves to see what is really happening rather than think in mental cliches. In practice this is not as easy as it seems. The notion of observing students, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">really observing</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, is important. Perhaps the increasingly popular notion of the “focus child” offers some help. During this time, as well as learning the strengths and areas for further development, perhaps teachers should try to discover something that surprises them about the student, to find out something that they did not know about the child, to take the chance to remind themselves that this student is also a person. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When we approach our students with a deficit model we limit our perceptions to what they can’t do. Shifting our focus to what they can do, perhaps adopting a </span><a href="http://assess-baseline-track.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=53&Itemid=60"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">strength based approach</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and helping them to build on that might just provide the shift in emphasis that is needed to re-engage those students who can’t see any relevance or purpose in schooling.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s an idea worth looking at.</span></b><br />
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.06659329985268414" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span></b></div>
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.06659329985268414" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Related posts dealing with “</span><a href="http://nbnotewell.blogspot.com.au/2011/07/more-i-practice-luckier-i-get-mindset.html"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The more I practice the luckier I get - Mindset and Carol Dweck” </span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and another dealing with the importance of attitude - “</span><a href="http://nbnotewell.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/the-second-most-important-word-in.html"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The second most important word in education”</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> may also be of interest.</span></b><br />
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.06659329985268414" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Credits:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Links are active and go to the appropriate sites.</span><br /><b id="internal-source-marker_0.06659329985268414" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Image via Google images: </span><a href="http://s2.hubimg.com/u/2012669_f260.jpg"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://s2.hubimg.com/u/2012669_f260.jpg</span></a></b></b>Nevillehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075960954633057645noreply@blogger.com2Burnie TAS, Australia-41.0636111 145.8919444-41.1115001 145.8129804 -41.015722100000005 145.9709084tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076445840028573244.post-19266002510178339682012-11-08T16:37:00.000+11:002012-11-08T16:37:20.301+11:00The second most important word in education?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc3L2okL4F9bn-1xkKhLhZ8WWFQY2Rx-NGPbQg7pqXee3i9Ew4ercfLEOcJNcUL5OVjhXdhxPWp0AOCElddnDZ6-gVsWJnasXU57BAU-Gso0ObQ-9SeFawdKUerAbi4QCwK3QQVIbI-o8/s1600/Dylan+Wiliams.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc3L2okL4F9bn-1xkKhLhZ8WWFQY2Rx-NGPbQg7pqXee3i9Ew4ercfLEOcJNcUL5OVjhXdhxPWp0AOCElddnDZ6-gVsWJnasXU57BAU-Gso0ObQ-9SeFawdKUerAbi4QCwK3QQVIbI-o8/s320/Dylan+Wiliams.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.30953937536105514" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It has been said that the most important word in the language is a person’s name. And it is probably true - we all respond well to the use of our name, we feel that the speaker knows us, which makes us feel valued. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But, at professional development session recently with </span><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dylan Wiliam,</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> author of</span><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Embedded formative assessment”</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, he mentioned a word he ranks as the most important word in education. “Yet.”</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It is a simple word that carries a powerful message.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Consider the child who says “I can’t do this.” The educator’s response is “Yet."</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The message is clear - this simple word sends powerful messages;</span></b><br />
<ul style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.30953937536105514" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You may not be able to do this task now, but with effort and practice you will be able to. </span></b></li>
</ul>
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<li style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.30953937536105514" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You have the capacity to do this. </span></b></li>
<li style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.30953937536105514" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You can improve. </span></b></li>
<li style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.30953937536105514" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You can get better.</span></b></li>
<li style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.30953937536105514" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You can and will learn.</span></b></li>
<li style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.30953937536105514" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Making an excuse is not an escape -you can and will learn this thing.</span></b></li>
</ul>
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.30953937536105514" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What a simple way to deliver a powerful message - possibly the most effective way of sending this message I’ve come across - yet.</span><br /><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Readers might like to read a longer and more detailed post on a similar theme - “The more I practice the luckier I get - mindset” </span><a href="http://nbnotewell.blogspot.com.au/2011/07/more-i-practice-luckier-i-get-mindset.html"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">here</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span></div>
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</b>Nevillehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075960954633057645noreply@blogger.com0Burnie TAS, Australia-41.0636111 145.8919444-41.1115001 145.8129804 -41.015722100000005 145.9709084tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076445840028573244.post-62076743755413859802012-11-01T16:59:00.000+11:002012-11-30T15:37:33.287+11:00If schools are gardens of children - I want to plant seeds<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgewizZfD0CeAdmeGk2dv1SFNOMBF708GbPUYQPRQ1k0DUy9exz-BJZoxtiEhWD2GQlgaaBnAYgXfmTH4IJCGy-E3OZzOYtB9zjgs3Re1TskNxO2UA_O5up2ApQSg6eutqM8fqwJnO2yNY/s1600/seed-life.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgewizZfD0CeAdmeGk2dv1SFNOMBF708GbPUYQPRQ1k0DUy9exz-BJZoxtiEhWD2GQlgaaBnAYgXfmTH4IJCGy-E3OZzOYtB9zjgs3Re1TskNxO2UA_O5up2ApQSg6eutqM8fqwJnO2yNY/s320/seed-life.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.8949707567226142" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Schools have been likened to gardens. It’s well known that the German educator Friedrich Frobel coined the term “kindergarten” - which means “children’s garden”. If that’s the case, then teachers can be likened to gardeners. The metaphor has much to recommend it - but recently I’ve been asking myself do I do anything but weed the garden? Do I actually plant any seeds?</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For classroom teachers the answer to this is easy - of course teachers plant seeds. They do it every day, in every lesson. But the answer is not so obvious for educational administrators. Sure, we work hard to ensure that the garden has everything it needs, and we support our “gardeners” to the best of our ability. But it is the “gardeners” who actually plant the seeds. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So today I left the paperwork for 15 minutes and sat on the floor while a grade one child read me a story. I did a lot of other work today - including some significant weeding and supporting of the “gardeners”. I dealt with a lot of students - but mostly “weeding” or perhaps “pruning” might be more apt. I did a lot of good things. But as I walk towards the car park thinking of the highlight of my day it was the 15 minutes I spent on the floor hearing a child read.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I had planted a seed. </span></b>Nevillehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075960954633057645noreply@blogger.com2Burnie TAS, Australia-41.0636111 145.8919444-41.1115001 145.8129804 -41.015722100000005 145.9709084tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076445840028573244.post-21057255118796114562012-10-18T15:43:00.000+11:002012-10-18T15:50:51.734+11:00The curse of Max Headroom in the classroom...and everywhere?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaUiUbzTH90Jhr0LZo9w0HIVp-MVas8D86uANcFedq6IhEPONAfXSn6EdZgMjJAxG8qqpKJJpHSXhCa8vLVDcaXvk4sUcGOnhDCA1-R41whkTeCQYoisDefNJU8NFK50JfUXAYy0ZdBwQ/s1600/Max+Headroom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaUiUbzTH90Jhr0LZo9w0HIVp-MVas8D86uANcFedq6IhEPONAfXSn6EdZgMjJAxG8qqpKJJpHSXhCa8vLVDcaXvk4sUcGOnhDCA1-R41whkTeCQYoisDefNJU8NFK50JfUXAYy0ZdBwQ/s200/Max+Headroom.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.7079488122835755" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Many years ago there was a short lived T.V. program called </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Max Headroom”</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. It was a spoof on egotistical T.V presenters and supposedly hosted by the worlds first “computer generated host”. It wasn’t - it was a heavily “made up” actor. Part of the scenario was that the world had evolved into a place where there was a TV everywhere - in every private room, in every public place - everywhere. Everywhere you went in this future world Max was there with you, babbling away in the annoying smarmy language that is the domain of television hosts. There was no way to escape this for the TVs came with no “off” switch. The television could never be turned off, never be silenced - it was a constant aspect of people’s lives.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What was once a parody is now almost reality. Screens are with us now far more than even in the Max Headroom scenario - screens are not only everywhere but they are mobile; computers, tablets and smart phones mean that we now have screens with us everywhere all the time. Children in cars now don’t have to ask “Are we there yet?” They may have DVDs to watch or PSPs (or equivalents) to keep them occupied.The social impact of this is debated frequently in social media and serious literature. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m far from a luddite. In fact, I am a huge fan of technology. I enjoy being online and consider the web as much a part of my recreation as of my employment. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But it occurs to me that, in an age of “screenagers”, we are actually missing something. Our students are conditioned to rapidly respond and react to stimuli via the screens. They can find out what other people think in an instant. But what do </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">they </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">think? When do we teach them how to reflect? </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m not simply speaking here of using the powerful “</span><a href="http://agpa.uakron.edu/p16/btp.php?id=wait-time"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">wait time</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">” approach when asking questions in the classroom. When do we teach students that there are some things that Google can’t answer, that merely “liking” something on Facebook is not really making a social contribution or a sign of involvement?</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m talking about giving students time in which to think about matters of substance to them. But what are these significant questions? What is important to our students?</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Perhaps we should ask them. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In person. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Face to face. </span></b><br />
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">As Miles Kington said, "Knowledge is knowing the tomato is a fruit, wisdom is not putting it in your fruit salad." </span></span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Since knowledge is now effectively available at the press of a button we need to develop wisdom and understanding - and that means giving students time to think for themselves.</span></div>
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</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Credits:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Active links go to original sources.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Image via Google</span><a href="http://www.google.com.au/imgres?num=10&hl=en&safe=active&biw=1366&bih=643&tbm=isch&tbnid=h0EHyV70zMETvM:&imgrefurl=http://bopuc.levendis.com/weblog/archives/-2005/07/07/a_brief_history_of_podcasting.php&docid=gXpsJKyc5F-knM&imgurl=http://bopuc.levendis.com/weblog/archives/pics/MaxHeadroom.jpg&w=490&h=364&ei=NqtrULCmMY2XmQW6nIDwCA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=349&vpy=300&dur=2536&hovh=193&hovw=261&tx=144&ty=79&sig=105001391955827583901&page=1&tbnh=144&tbnw=193&start=0&ndsp=21&ved=1t:429,r:8,s:0,i:93"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> images</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">:</span></b></div>
Nevillehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075960954633057645noreply@blogger.com0Burnie TAS, Australia-41.0636111 145.8919444-41.1115001 145.8129804 -41.015722100000005 145.9709084tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076445840028573244.post-10501199498362699972012-10-07T15:16:00.000+11:002012-11-30T15:27:43.477+11:00How an apple changed my world...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB4vYCNMyucqc6kKvX41fbbD6bsOZUYZMEUz5s_77koizNFY-zjMfr6vojfgyUDCWQLZkVNB_mPAWy7hacTMq_-dGooGhq4ygXkORJV0r3nuD_0LhNIRVvxvPDOzluxRmsOkcQsEc3Yv8/s1600/MasaruEmoto+book.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB4vYCNMyucqc6kKvX41fbbD6bsOZUYZMEUz5s_77koizNFY-zjMfr6vojfgyUDCWQLZkVNB_mPAWy7hacTMq_-dGooGhq4ygXkORJV0r3nuD_0LhNIRVvxvPDOzluxRmsOkcQsEc3Yv8/s320/MasaruEmoto+book.jpg" width="222" /></a></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m a little uneasy writing this post. It takes me so far outside my professional comfort zone that actually committing my thoughts to screen is challenging. But, if there is even a grain of truth in what follows, the implications are significant...</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was intrigued when shown some isolated images from Masuro Emoto’s book “<i>The Hidden Messages in Water</i>”. In essence the claims are simple - that our thoughts and words can impact upon water. When water exposed to various influences is frozen and photographed under certain conditions crystals are often visible - and there can be significant differences in the shape of these crystals. Emoto claims that positive thoughts, words and music result in well formed, balanced “snow flake” like crystals whereas negative thoughts and words produce malformed murky crystals that are not pleasing to the eye. </span></b><br />
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></b> <b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The clip below provides a clever introduction to Emoto’s work.</span></b><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/nWn4QF6dCwM" width="560"></iframe><br />
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</span></b> <b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Those who would like to see more might enjoy this slideshow via Youtube.</span></b></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"> <iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/tAvzsjcBtx8" width="420"></iframe><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My reaction was one of scepticism; I dismissed it as new-age pseudo-science. Even a layman such as myself could see flaws in Emoto’s work. The information about how the images were captured is superficial - meaning it would be hard to replicate the work. Only one image of each stimulus is provided. Were all samples identical - or even similar? Were there “failures”? If so what did they look like? How many “successful” images followed each stimulus? These and a host of other questions flowed readily. Reading Emoto’s book did not answer these questions. The fact that the answers to such obvious questions were not provided was, to my mind, daming. However, it haunted me. What if there was some truth to it?</span></b><br />
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</span></b> <b style="font-weight: normal;"> <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I soon discovered this clip which suggests that Emoto’s work may not be as obscure and off-beat as I had first thought. </span></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"> <iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ILSyt_Hhbjg" width="560"></iframe><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This would suggest that something odd is actually going on - unless this is an elaborate hoax, there is support for the notion that water is influenced by the people who come in contact with it.</span></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></b><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">While researching further I came across a </span><a href="http://is-masaru-emoto-for-real.com/"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">balanced critique of Emoto’s work</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> which asks many of the same questions that I had and is well worth reading. As worthy as the article is, the comments following are also worth exploring. Hidden amongst the range of sceptical responses and uncritical acceptance was a link to a </span><a href="http://javeria.wordpress.com/2011/03/07/effects-of-quran-vs-effects-of-music-on-an-apple/"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">personal blog</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> which showed both initiative and religious belief - in equal parts. In a variation on a process mentioned in Emoto’s book an apple was substituted for water. Given that living things are mostly water, the theory goes, if you subject any living thing to the stimuli mentioned by Emoto then you might be able to produce an observable effect. </span></b><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Quanita Rizy’s blog</span></b><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> contains photos where the apple does in fact show such effects. Rizy had replaced the generic positive messages with quotations from the Quran but the photos seemed to indicate that something odd was certainly occurring. Two sides of the apple were clearly aging differently. Moreover, they provided an easily replicated procedure to test the hypothesis.</span></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"> <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So I did just that. I cut an apple in half and placed each half in a sealed “sandwich” bag. Then I spoke to each half - using the terminology used by Emoto himself. The positive message was “Love and gratitude” whilst the negative message was “You fool”. (The irony of the situation did not escape me - here was me calling half an apple a fool yet I was the one talking to a piece of fruit.) The apple halves were then placed side by side in a disused room with conditions which, to all intents and purposes, were identical.Twice a day, in the morning and in the evening, I spoke the words to the fruit. After six days I asked an interested observer (you might not be surprised to see how much interest is generated when you start talking to fruit!) was asked to identify which half was in the better condition - the “Love and gratitude” half was correctly identified easily. </span></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></b>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This experiment now leaves me with a challenge. My small scale experiment tends to support Emoto. I find this fascinating … and the implications are significant. If a piece of fruit really does respond to language then how much more so is a human being affected by harsh words? </span></b><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We do not need to adopt “new age” philosophies to know that feedback that we give to students is significant. (If you need a refresher on why this is so click </span><a href="http://specialed.about.com/od/characterbuilding/a/esteem.htm"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">here.</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span> <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Regardless of the “truth” or otherwise of the water crystal belief perhaps it is timely to remind ourselves that the youngsters in our classes are more than students - they are people. Each person on the planet deserves to be valued and respected - not because it improves student outcomes, but simply because people are so much more significant than apples - or even a pretty water crystal.</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Challenge: I will continue to “test” the hypothesis using the methods outlined above. I will also be trying a variation involving cooked rice mentioned in Emoto's book. There are examples of this on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yvWY53ZUsw&feature=fvsr" target="_blank">Youtube</a> as well. I'd if I’d be REALLY interested in hearing from anyone else of a similar mind who also conducted their own investigations. “Failures” would be just as interesting as “success stories”.</span><br />
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Credits.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All embedded links go to original sources.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cover to Emoto’s book “The hidden messages of water” via Google images.</span></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Subway" clip via Youtube:</span></b><br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWn4QF6dCwM">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWn4QF6dCwM</a> <b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Slide show of images from Emoto's book via youtube:</span></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAvzsjcBtx8"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAvzsjcBtx8</span></a></b> <b style="font-weight: normal;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span> <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Is emoto for real - critique:</span><br />
<span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://is-masaru-emoto-for-real.com/">http://is-masaru-emoto-for-real.com/</a></span></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Quanita Rizy’s blog:</span></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://javeria.wordpress.com/2011/03/07/effects-of-quran-vs-effects-of-music-on-an-apple/">http://javeria.wordpress.com/2011/03/07/effects-of-quran-vs-effects-of-music-on-an-apple/</a></span></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Water has memory" clip via Youtube: </span></span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILSyt_Hhbjg&feature=related"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILSyt_Hhbjg&feature=related</span></a></b>Nevillehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075960954633057645noreply@blogger.com0Burnie TAS 7320, Australia-41.0524649 145.90685129999997-41.059600399999994 145.89821329999998 -41.0453294 145.91548929999996tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076445840028573244.post-92202317420139136362012-10-01T09:16:00.000+10:002012-10-01T09:16:57.314+10:00Be kind to your mind<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd12WdAqtNex3F7sdsIZfk1z4auARCb7MR1s0MXS0jJXBNiKebUzpetRTDIlNN7xlEW2TwGzRj3UxVRpeHXxfFRfkzj_Wl4ueACUTru9MfCEZ2ijgYMr5oYrbZaZUOjshKqlitk-o0uvU/s1600/Buddhas+brain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd12WdAqtNex3F7sdsIZfk1z4auARCb7MR1s0MXS0jJXBNiKebUzpetRTDIlNN7xlEW2TwGzRj3UxVRpeHXxfFRfkzj_Wl4ueACUTru9MfCEZ2ijgYMr5oYrbZaZUOjshKqlitk-o0uvU/s1600/Buddhas+brain.jpg" /></a></div>
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.7753292808774859" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rick Hanson, author of “Buddha’s brain”, has some fascinating things to say about brain neuroplasticity. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In this post on </span><a href="http://www.dailygood.org/view.php?sid=314"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">dailygood.org</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Hanson discusses neural plasticity - the concept that, contrary to the views of earlier generations, the brain is not permanently “hard wired” and that it changes with experience. In brief - change the experiences and you change the brain. Few would find this a revelation. But Hanson also suggests that changes in </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">attitude</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> can also change the brain / mind. It is fascinating work - and work with great significance for educators.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The post is structured around three key points:</span></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fact 1</span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As the brain changes, the mind changes, for better or for worse.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fact 2</span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As the mind changes the brain changes.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fact 3.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You can use the mind to change the brain to change the mind for the better.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ll keep this post brief and simply encourage readers to </span><a href="http://www.dailygood.org/view.php?sid=314"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">follow this link</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to a more extensive discussion (which is still easily accessible and “blog” sized) of Hanson’s ideas. Both the text and the embedded video are well worth reflecting on over a cup of coffee.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hanson suggests that we should be more mindful of our brain - and vice versa. This may seem a little “on the fringe” for mainstream educators - but really it is our core function. We all know that the state of mind of our students impacts upon their learning. If we can impact on their mental health in general terms we can help them become people with a positive outlook on life and their place in the world. There is much of benefit here for students - and teachers; some deliberate positive reflection would do much for the emotional and mental health of many teachers.</span><br />
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<a href="http://www.rickhanson.net/"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rick Hanson</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> offers a daily email of practices designed to assist using the mind to change the brain. Subscription is via his </span><a href="http://www.rickhanson.net/"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">website</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><br />
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Credits: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Buddha’s Brain cover via Google images: </span><a href="http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQiV3nxNEk0YYtEbHFsk_TUkLhCJ94AJf1fhWYXQXazcCAzcR1l8WM3E8zeZw"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQiV3nxNEk0YYtEbHFsk_TUkLhCJ94AJf1fhWYXQXazcCAzcR1l8WM3E8zeZw</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Original source = </span><a href="http://www.dailygood.org/view.php?sid=314"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dailygood.org </span></a></b> Nevillehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075960954633057645noreply@blogger.com0Burnie TAS 7320, Australia-41.0524649 145.90685129999997-41.059600399999994 145.89821329999998 -41.0453294 145.91548929999996tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076445840028573244.post-51287818035878659282012-09-15T16:24:00.000+10:002012-12-03T16:57:32.157+11:00The WISE model - A quick and nasty guide to evaluating classroom ICT use.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq0EdwkeUnz0GMVfydEaBHC6fy6rs601EUVXqPSPF53xM_126Qd0SrAPk4trm3S28dtDS1sUTazWhOfDx6kEdlPBNattN91WhQC0ibTfDg9i2SAeSymLlb5-4iPTko8IsPMFmNekKgjZA/s1600/Computers-TwoKdgStudents.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq0EdwkeUnz0GMVfydEaBHC6fy6rs601EUVXqPSPF53xM_126Qd0SrAPk4trm3S28dtDS1sUTazWhOfDx6kEdlPBNattN91WhQC0ibTfDg9i2SAeSymLlb5-4iPTko8IsPMFmNekKgjZA/s320/Computers-TwoKdgStudents.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.8996698991395533" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m fortunate to be able to visit every classroom in our school. Like most schools, we have invested heavily in ICT. Are we getting value for money? Is the investment really improving educational outcomes? In some classrooms I could answer “Yes” - but in some the answer would have to be a </span></b><b id="internal-source-marker_0.8996698991395533" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">disappointing</span></b><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “No”. </span></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It is not necessary to have an in-depth formal instrument or formal testing to get a sense of how well ICT is being used in classrooms. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The first “rule of thumb” indicator I have is a simple one - are the students CREATING product ...or CONSUMING product... or both? If the students are simply consuming product, i.e. using “drill and practice” programs or merely absorbing content from the ‘net, then ICT use in the classroom is likely to be making only a limited contribution to student learning. However, if students are CREATING product then there is a good chance that ICT is being put to good use.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If students are creating learning artefacts then a simple acronym provides another lens through which I can quickly evaluate the significance of the classroom program. That acronym is WISE. </span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">WISE</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> stands for...</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">W hy?</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(or WHAT)</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Why is ICT being used? Could similar artifacts be produced via traditional means? A hand drawn poster is as valid as a Publisher document for example. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What are the teacher’s SPECIFIC objectives, what are the SPECIFIC curriculum links? What can students achieve using computers in this context that could not be achieved otherwise? </span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I mportant (or interesting) </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Is the project / experience both IMPORTANT and INTERESTING to the student? (Tasks need to be important or interesting to the student - not just ”fun”.) If not, then the chances are that the task is electronic “busy work”.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">S haring.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How are the students sharing both their end product and the process of creation? How are they sharing their artifact with the educational community beyond the classroom? If they are not sharing the artifact...why are they producing it in the first place? If it only has worth inside the context of the classroom then why would students value it? If it has wider significance why is it not being shared?</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">E valuation. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> How do the students demonstrate their learning? Is the artifact itself significant outside of the classroom environment? What skills need students display / include? Do they know this? How can a </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">development </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">of skills be demonstrated?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This acronym is hardly cutting edge. (I could dignify it beyond it’s worth and call it “The WISE model”.) However, it does provide me with a lens through which to quickly get a sense of how well ICT is being used in a classroom. As with all technology, classroom ICT is neutral - it is how well it is being used that is important. And to assist with that we all need to be a little WISE when it comes to classroom use of ICT.</span></b> <br />
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.8996698991395533" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span></b></div>
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.8996698991395533" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Credits:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Image = Google images</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://blog.lib.umn.edu/tel/blog/Computers-TwoKdgStudents.jpg</span></b> Nevillehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075960954633057645noreply@blogger.com0Burnie TAS 7320, Australia-41.0524649 145.90685129999997-41.059600399999994 145.89821329999998 -41.0453294 145.91548929999996tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076445840028573244.post-25434051129102042342012-09-10T12:01:00.000+10:002012-12-03T16:59:06.280+11:00Optimism from a half empty glass<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib7cAY4-qqYCr1LDwEqUOeSjAXimiE2hyYWIvaaG5EYqycdSaW-iZu6HQA6igfW7SwIbgK5L85l6fj47mYVPK-68ltxrryH9vuHJyKoFdfUFEV700khg7Eev4qf9Gy3H7Woy0VAWwj0Ps/s1600/Optimism.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib7cAY4-qqYCr1LDwEqUOeSjAXimiE2hyYWIvaaG5EYqycdSaW-iZu6HQA6igfW7SwIbgK5L85l6fj47mYVPK-68ltxrryH9vuHJyKoFdfUFEV700khg7Eev4qf9Gy3H7Woy0VAWwj0Ps/s320/Optimism.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.9179557552561164" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I initially uploaded this image to my facebook page to share the humour with my friends. It’s a joke, a somewhat “down market” spin on an old adage. But then I started thinking...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There is actually some wisdom hidden behind the humour. We know the adage, dare I say it, the cliche, about the glass being half full or half empty. The optimist sees the glass as half full, the pessimist sees the glass as being half empty. But it is the same glass - it is the perception of the user that is the variable. Optimism, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder (or, I am tempted to say in view of the visual, in the hands of the beer holder).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When we see something individually we interpret it through the lens of our own prejudices and biases, we see the glass “our way”. However, when we join with others in a group we learn from the wisdom of the group. Thus the pessimist is exposed to those with more positive outlooks, the enthusiast is tempered by those with a more cautious views.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It is yet another example of the power of the group - the wisdom of the collective. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Most schools are hierarchical - which may have some administrative advantages but tends to assume that the view from behind the desk is the same as the view from the classrooms. Sometimes it isn’t. By genuinely consulting with staff, leaders avoid seeing the issues of the day through the lens of their only their own glass - and allows for the collective wisdom of the group to come into play.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Something to think ( or should that be “drink”?) about... </span></b> Nevillehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075960954633057645noreply@blogger.com0Burnie TAS 7320, Australia-41.0524649 145.90685129999997-41.059600399999994 145.89821329999998 -41.0453294 145.91548929999996tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076445840028573244.post-76920498077219270822012-09-05T15:25:00.000+10:002012-11-30T15:30:24.771+11:00They don't build monuments to teachers<b id="internal-source-marker_0.5897657782770693" style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br />
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.5897657782770693" style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/F4OIO5c8AYKvVy4SleAkQ_0usUgdFMmpKdnsnzydBX2TMNleklL2mQiVydkvTQ5vj_GopbPRlvikrWpkXt4zJAdVYlK3SPT9S1XBES33ZQEDk2GZ8iE" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/F4OIO5c8AYKvVy4SleAkQ_0usUgdFMmpKdnsnzydBX2TMNleklL2mQiVydkvTQ5vj_GopbPRlvikrWpkXt4zJAdVYlK3SPT9S1XBES33ZQEDk2GZ8iE" /></a></b></div>
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<span id="internal-source-marker_0.5897657782770693"><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span><i style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15.454545021057129px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ozymandias</i></div>
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.5897657782770693" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I met a traveller from an antique land</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tell that its sculptor well those passions read</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And on the pedestal these words appear:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nothing beside remains. Round the decay</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The lone and level sands stretch far away.</span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> <i> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozymandias#cite_note-0"><span style="color: #444444;">Percy Bysshe Shelley</span></a></i></span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #444444;"><i> </i></span></span></span></b><br />
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</span></b> <b id="internal-source-marker_0.5897657782770693" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They don’t build monuments to good teachers. They don’t need to. Their legacy is reflected in every successful person. Every person who is able to achieve their dreams can thank, in some part at least, their teachers. And the wonderful thing is, unlike fame and power, that legacy continues on and on...</span></b><br />
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span></b></div>
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.5897657782770693" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Credits:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Image: </span><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/F4OIO5c8AYKvVy4SleAkQ_0usUgdFMmpKdnsnzydBX2TMNleklL2mQiVydkvTQ5vj_GopbPRlvikrWpkXt4zJAdVYlK3SPT9S1XBES33ZQEDk2GZ8iE"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/F4OIO5c8AYKvVy4SleAkQ_0usUgdFMmpKdnsnzydBX2TMNleklL2mQiVydkvTQ5vj_GopbPRlvikrWpkXt4zJAdVYlK3SPT9S1XBES33ZQEDk2GZ8iE</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Poem = Ozymandias, Percy Bysshe Shelley </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></b>Nevillehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075960954633057645noreply@blogger.com0Burnie TAS 7320, Australia-41.0524649 145.90685129999997-41.059600399999994 145.89821329999998 -41.0453294 145.91548929999996tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076445840028573244.post-27980316100186181232012-08-28T16:25:00.000+10:002012-12-03T16:58:15.262+11:00A modern problem meets ancient wisdom? <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.49112858925946057" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve been puzzling on reconciling what the research says about motivation and how to enact it at my workplace. For this I am indebted to the work of Dan Pink and his book “Drive”. For those not familiar with the book I’d suggest you can get a more than adequate overview from this RSA animation of his TED talk.</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/u6XAPnuFjJc" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span> <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pink identifies three prime motivators - autonomy, mastery and purpose. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Purpose.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Teachers should have little trouble with a sense of purpose; surely the profession is one of the most noble and worthy of all? If a teacher doesn’t feel a sense of purpose then perhaps he or she is in the wrong job.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mastery</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The desire to master a task is also easily embedded within teaching. Who can honestly say that they can not improve their practice? Who can not improve their ICT skills, or their questioning ability, or the inclusiveness of their lessons? Teachers have almost limitless opportunities to improve their practice - and the day when they believe otherwise is the day they are in the wrong job. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Autonomy?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Autonomy, however, creates some issues for schools. How do we grant teachers genuine autonomy in an environment of regulation, mandated assessment, school wide procedures and protocols that dictate the shape of lessons and learning experiences? A common response is to say that staff are consulted and included in new school initiatives but then adherence and a common response is required. This is often seen as acceptable since the staff had the input into the decision making process. But is this “input” enough - or even real? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The economic realities of life are such that most teachers need a job - and disagreeing with the administration of a school can require real strength of character - and perhaps tenure. I recall being at meetings where principals have discussed using “guided democracy” to get the staff to make the decision that they wanted. I recall countless planning meetings designed to shift teacher understanding to where school management believed teachers needed to be. In short, staff meetings can be subtly directed to arrive at the destination that the leadership wants. However, such processes only produce superficial compliance; genuine commitment to the concepts being discussed is often lacking.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All of this leads us to a situation where the scope for teachers having significant autonomy is limited. Increasingly teachers have little control over the content of what they teach - and the process by which they teach can also be either “guided” or mandated. Which means that teachers end up with minimal genuine autonomy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yet how can it be otherwise? Effective schools are more than a series of classrooms sharing the same building. A common framework allows schools to operate in a coordinated manner, to structure activities in a way that allows efficient teaching. A common approach in many areas is not only sensible but essential. So, schools with clear direction regarding curriculum content and a commitment to “best practice” methods are understandable - in fact, desirable. Where does this leave teacher autonomy?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Good schools need structure...but passionate teachers need a degree of autonomy. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is where shared vision becomes essential - not a veneer, not an engineered process with a pre-determined outcome, not merely a collection of protocols.. Teachers who share the vision of the school </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">will </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">feel more control over their efforts. In schools with a shared vision and mindset teachers </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">will</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> have a sense of autonomy - they will feel as if they are working towards goals and objectives that they themselves value. The fact that the teacher in the next classroom is making the same decisions will be insignificant, for each will be working towards achieving </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">their </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">goals.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When schools do not really listen we end up with a mismatch in vision between the school and at least some of the teachers who teach there. If Daniel Pink is right, this will lead to teachers not feeling in control of their actions, to teachers who lack a sense of autonomy. And a lack of autonomy leads to a decrease in “drive”. In the school context this manifests as mediocrity, of minimum standards rather than striving for excellence.Surely this leads school management with a paradox? To create group consensus we need to genuinely listen to the voices of the individuals within that group. We need to establish our shared values, we need to be clear about our shared vision - for these things guide the fundamental direction and actions of the school. It is the values and aspirations of the teachers who drive classrooms. If we want teachers with drive we need teachers with vision - a vision they truly share with other teachers in the school.</span><br />
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.49112858925946057" style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXErSbDgTqZ-iCzx7vtJ3i67kvziwG2Ifs3m0TCxtIx_vCKc2KSto_3rdNPLDDkAX-p9GpE5YmMRqb04SeL5057_a2ym7sbcRe8qWVul3ZT82bGrtKg3JeTP70iCtyvncFPQEX6A7YXPY/s1600/Lao+Tze.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXErSbDgTqZ-iCzx7vtJ3i67kvziwG2Ifs3m0TCxtIx_vCKc2KSto_3rdNPLDDkAX-p9GpE5YmMRqb04SeL5057_a2ym7sbcRe8qWVul3ZT82bGrtKg3JeTP70iCtyvncFPQEX6A7YXPY/s200/Lao+Tze.jpg" width="129" /></a></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Creating a situation where teachers can drive their own classroom in the direction that the system dictates is a challenging task for educational administrators. It reminds me of the adage taken from ancient spiritual leader Lao Tzu; “<i>A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.</i>”</span><br />
<a href="http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/l/laotzu121709.html"><span style="color: #660099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">we will have teachers with "drive".</span></b> <br />
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span></b></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Credits:</span></b><br />
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.49112858925946057" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">RSA Animate version of Pink's TED talk: </span><br />
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.49112858925946057" style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc&feature=player_embedded"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc&feature=player_embedded</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></b></b> <br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lao Tzu image: Google Graphics</span></b></b>Nevillehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075960954633057645noreply@blogger.com0Burnie TAS 7320, Australia-41.0524649 145.90685129999997-41.059600399999994 145.89821329999998 -41.0453294 145.91548929999996tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076445840028573244.post-39962766045247443562012-08-03T15:50:00.000+10:002012-12-03T16:56:53.512+11:00Teaching - building a cathedral?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig8nsJzdnCB_2ezATdFlLL8rSjeYi0jCL22K3dDauhTrEN9cCEjruox4kWlf5a3uDr5eTYnJbrpQPLB45WyOwWcaHOfTzwdT5nVozil3kM_ELwmrhnN6L0VXZlOgnxXr7bfEOozHkjEFo/s1600/Stone-Mason.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig8nsJzdnCB_2ezATdFlLL8rSjeYi0jCL22K3dDauhTrEN9cCEjruox4kWlf5a3uDr5eTYnJbrpQPLB45WyOwWcaHOfTzwdT5nVozil3kM_ELwmrhnN6L0VXZlOgnxXr7bfEOozHkjEFo/s320/Stone-Mason.jpg" width="221" /></a></div>
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.21732821315526962" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There is a an ancient parable that goes something like this...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Centuries ago three stone masons were working together chipping away at large blocks of stone. A stranger approached them and asked them what they were doing.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I’m chipping away at a block of stone,” replied the first mason.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I’m working to feed my family,” replied the second.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I’m helping build a cathedral,” said the third.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Same job - but very different attitudes. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Teachers can be like that. The task of teaching is a hard one that is slow to produce results - not unlike chipping away at stone. We all know teachers who have views about their workplace or their job that is similar to the first or even the second mason. We also know that this is reflected in their approach to teaching. However, the good ones know that their “job” is more significant, that the rewards and the outcomes go beyond the here and now, that they are doing something of real significance. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do our teachers think they are teaching phonics … or helping a child learn to read? </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do our teachers think they are teaching computation techniques... or introducing students to the wondrous world of mathematics?</span></b><br />
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15.454545021057129px; white-space: pre-wrap;">It is our attitudes that direct our actions...and our actions that direct student achievement. </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The challenge for us all is to see our actions, not as chipping away at a stone, but as building a cathedral. </span></b><br />
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Credits:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Parable source = anon</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Image = “The Stone Mason” http://www.diego-rivera-foundation.org/The-Stone-Mason.jpg</span></b>Nevillehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17075960954633057645noreply@blogger.com0Burnie TAS 7320, Australia-41.0524649 145.90685129999997-41.059600399999994 145.89821329999998 -41.0453294 145.91548929999996