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Apr
30
Teaching math using real world examples may not facilitate learning
Filed Under The way I see it | 6 Comments
Teaching math using real world examples may be counter-productive [3:16m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (870)
Teaching math to students using real world examples may be counter productive. Wow, that goes against everything that I was taught and believe about teaching math.
Dr. Jennifer Kaminski, a research scientist at the Center for Cognitive Science at Ohio State, evaluated the efficay of teaching math using real world examples by subjecting the practice to scientific scrutiny. After conducting randomized, controlled experiments Dr. Kaminski and her colleagues, Valdamir Sloutsky and Andrew Heckler, concluded that the findings did not support the belief.
Surprisingly, at least to me, their research concluded that real-world examples “obscured the underlying math, and students were not able to transfer their knowledge to new problems”. This study which included 11 year old students as well as college students will be published in the May 2, 2008 issue of the Science Journal.
Dr. Kaminski even questions the efficacy of using concrete materials like blocks and other manipulatives to help preschool and kindergarten students better understand number concepts. She notes that there is no rigorous scientific research to support this practice. Dr. Kaminski and her team have begun to look into that now.
What do other experts in the field think about all this? Douglas Clements, a professor of learning and mathematics at the University of Buffalo allows that there’s no denying what the research has shown, but he cautions that we shouldn’t over generalize because “one size can’t fit all”.
That makes some sense to me given that different people have different learning style preferences. One style works well for some, but doesn’t for others. it all depends on the individual. Dr. Clements suggests that using manipulatives is a good idea for kids when they are beginning to learn the basics, just as a starting point.
My own experience as a teacher supports the use of manipulatives to facilitate learning. Besides, students know when using manipulatives is appropriate for them. They’re quick to tell me that they don’t need them any more or quick to ask for the them to help make sense of things. I don’t know. I didn’t do the research, so maybe the most I can say is that I believe that using manipulatives facilitates learning.
I’ve just had a thought here. Maybe the actual manipulatives don’t facilitate learning. Maybe it’s the students’ belief that using manipulatives facilitates learning. Maybe there’s a placebo effect happening here- they believe it, so it does.Now that’s an interesting thought.
It would be interesting to hear what other math teachers have to say on the matter. What’s your experience using manipulatives? Does the use of manipulatives facilitate learning in your classroom? How can you tell?
Apr
27
I love taking a strand of yarn and creating a three dimensional object. Here’s a picture of my latest creation.
It just dawned on me recently knitting socks involves a lot of math. I don’t know why I didn’t see the connection before. But, knitting socks involves
- rate -the number of stitches per inch or gauge,
- increasing and decreasing the number of stitches as needed for different parts of foot
- ratio and proportion – creating the pattern using different colours of yarn
- fractions and circumference- the heel flap is 1/2 the circumference of the leg
- multiplication- the number of stitches per inch x circumference of your foot and leg
- addition and subtraction of stitches to create the fit
- data management- keeping track of where you are in the project and where you have to go
I think there’s a math lesson in this somewhere for those times when kids ask when are we ever going to use whatever it is I’m teaching at the moment. Even if they don’t knit socks themselves, they can appreciate the fact that math makes it happen.
I guess I should tell you, I cheated a bit here. The Opal yarn people have the colour and pattern all calculated in the yarn so that all I have to do is knit and the pattern appears. Talk about instant gratification and I don’t have to do a lot of number crunching- the kids would like that. Cool- eh!
Apr
24
My class blog needs an audio link to honour auditory learners
Filed Under Blogging in and out of the Classroom, The way I see it | Leave a Comment
It just came to me all of a sudden as I was on my way to brush my teeth before going to bed tonight. I should be adding an audio link to my classroom blog for those students who like to have assignment or instructions read to them. Now most of my students just log on to the class blog, read the assignments on their own and know what to do. No problem. However, some students log on and then turn to me with a puzzled look on their face and ask “What do we have to do?”. I immediately think “What’s your problem?” Just read the instructions, and you’ll know. After all, I’ve spent literally hours making sure the instructions adhere to the KISS principle, so I’m surprised when the student doesn’t get it. I should and do know better! Some students need to hear the instructions for the assignment in order to understand the instructions.
Why did I forget this instructional strategy when I post assignments on the class blog. Why? Now I know this sounds kind of stupid, well actually it is quite stupid, but I think that unconsciously I expected the classroom blog to have some kind of magical power so that when my students logged on, they would instantly want to read what I wrote and write paragraphs of at least eight sentences, complete sentences that had subjects, verbs and even end punctuation in response to what I wrote. What can I say?
What can I say? I can tell you what I can say now that it dawned on me that my classroom blog is not a magic wand. It’s just another tool, albeit a really cool tool, that I can use to deliver my lessons, but I still have to remember to honour my student’s preferred learning styles, their multiple intelligences , their learning disabilities etc. I have to remember to honour all of these things just like I do when my lessons and class activities do not involve the class blog.
So that’s it. Before I post Part 2 of the 6 part assignment on “The Teenage Brain’ this weekend, I’ll reach for my headphones, click on the Audacity short cut and record the instructions that I wrote for part 2 of the assignment. I’ll just post a little note telling students they can listen to the instructions if they wish by clicking on the accompanying audio link.
I’ll let you know how that goes.
Apr
22
What to do to stop teachers bullying other teachers [5:27m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1244)
I’ve had lots of feedback about the numerous articles I wrote about bullying. If you are interested in reading what I wrote earlier just go to the right hand side bar in my blog where the tags are located and click on any of the tags dealing with bullying. That will take you to the articles. There’s lots of information there about all forms of bullying- cyber-bullying, student-teacher bullying, teacher-student bullying, getting help for a bully, getting help for a victim etc. There’s really a lot of information there and much of it is based on research I did as well as my experience as a special education specialist in behaviour at the high school level.
Usually the feedback I get from the articles comes in the form of a question about what to do when your best efforts don’t work. This is really an important issue. So, today I’m going to focus on what to do to stop a teacher from bullying another teacher. First realize that no one deserves to be bullied. Period. Case closed. Now that I’ve said that here are some things you can do to stop a teacher from bullying another teacher. Even though it may seem hopeless at times, there’s lots you can do to help stop the bullying.
1. Tell the bully to stop the bullying behaviour. Sometimes people don’t realize their behaviour is bullying behaviour. For them, it’s just the way they do things. They need to know that their behaviour is not acceptable. I know that sometimes that’s easier said then done. So if you don’t feel comfortable doing that yourself on your own get support from other people. Getting support when you need it is the thing to do. Everyone needs support at some time or other for any number of things. There’s nothing wrong with getting support. Some times you give support; sometimes you need support. That’s just the way it is. Get a friend to be with you when you tell the person to stop the behaviour. The bully will give you lots of chances to do this.
2. Document the bullying behaviour. If the bullying doesn’t stop after you’ve told the person to stop, start documenting all the bullying behaviour. Include details like date, time, location, circumstances, interactions, what was said or done etc. The more information you have the better. Even if someone does things like leave anonymous phone calls, emails, or notes in your mail box, record everything. keep a copy of the emails, notes , phone calls or text messages There are ways to find out where emails and phone calls came from. This information will be invaluable at a later date.
3. Go to the administration at your school and advise them of the situation and ask for help. Take someone with you for support. The administration has an obligation, even if it’s just a moral one to stop the bullying behaviour.
4. Keep documenting the bullying behaviour. I can’t say that enough. Also document steps that were taken to try to stop the bullying behaviour. The more details the better.
5. Go to your federation or union and tell them about the bullying. Get the federation’s support. That’s what they’re there for. Talk to the representative at your school or call the local office and talk to someone there if you don’t feel comfortable talking to someone at your school. Remember, the federation is there to support you and to stop the bullying even though the bully may also be a member of the federation or union. I know that sometime it seems that the federation protects it’s members from everything, but that is simply not the case. The federation has people specifically trained to help you deal with bullying behaviour and support you emotionally during this exceedingly difficult time.
6. Talk to your federation representative if the administration at your school does not deal effectively with the bullying behaviour, and someone from the federation will meet with administration and together they can work to problem solve. Both the school boards and the federations have people who are trained to deal with the bullying issue because bullying in the work place is a common thing. The work place has to deal with it. Don’t forget the bully needs help too, not just the victim of bullying.
7. Access any employee assistance plan your school board or district might have to help get support from counselors who deal with the issue of bullying all the time. Unfortunately, bullying in the work place is more common than we like to think. Often people won’t speak up because thhey think that it’s just them. Well, it isn’t just them.
Now I want to make it clear that I am not a counselor trained in dealing with bullying issues, but my recommendations will put you in touch with people who are. They will be able to give you in depth help for dealing with all the issues that arise out of being bullied. Unfortunately, bullying is a problem at the workplace and it needs to be dealt with. I hope that my suggestions are helpful.
Here are some other articles I wrote about bullying. I hope you find them useful
Some Students Bully Teachers Too
Cyber-Bullying:Relational Aggression-Part 1
How effective are anti-bullying programs?
Fear Not- a new role playing game to help stop bullying
Bullying is a cry for help. We’d better listen.
Cyber-Bullying- Educating Kids is Better than Incarcerating them
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