Jun

14

Great Interactive Websites for math and science

Filed Under Uncategorized, math | 3 Comments

SlideShare | View | Upload your own

I’d like to thank Karen Brooks for creating this Slideshare with all these wonderful resources. I know that I will be using some of them come next September with my grade nine class and I’ll be sharing this treasure with my colleagues.

Jun

8

Math education in America is failing to prepare students for the 21st century

Filed Under math | 5 Comments

Math education in America is failing to prepare students for the 21st century. That’s the message that comes across loud and clear in the video The State of Education- A look at the state of education in America. Although I’m Canadian and teach in a Canadian secondary school, I believe the points the video makes applies to both Canadian and American education systems.

Bob Compton executive producer of the video 2 000 000 minutes and Molly Brand President of the American Counsel of Education offer some explanations. Bob Compton, notes that in China and India students focus on academics and set very high goals and then strive to achieve these goals while in America students divide their focus on sports, academics, extra curricular activity and jobs. In America, the goal for students is to be well rounded. In China and India high academic achievement is valued and rewarded- different cultures, different values, different outcomes.

Students in China and India take four years of chemistry, four years of physics, four years of biology and four years of math while in American students take one year of chemistry, one year of physics, and one year of biology. Almost all Chinese students take calculus yet only 13% of American students take it. Clearly, American students aren’t well prepared for the high wage , high technology, high growth industries for the 21st century.

Molly Brand argues that the education system in particular is failing kids when it comes to math education. Forty percent of high school seniors can’t understand grade 8 math. Brand says that if she could change one thing it would be for teachers at the middle school level to be qualified, certified math teachers to give students a better grounding in math. Not having a good grounding in math has huge repercussions

Students know that they need to be able to do algebra in order to graduate. Since many students can’t do algebra, they drop out in grade 10. Surprisingly, at least to me, students who graduate from high school earn the same money as kids who drop out in grade 10. It takes post secondary education to earn big money. Yet, half of highschool students don’t graduate.

Brand ends on an optimistic note by saying that American graduates are more competitive, more creative and more entrepreneurial than their counterparts in Indian and China. That’s the advantage American’s have over Indian and Chinese graduates, and that ’s what American schools need to nurture because that is their strength.

Now, I have a couple of questions? First, if it is the case that we can only compete in the more creative and entrepreneurial areas , what are school doing to nurture students’ right brains. Schools seem to value the creative arts less and less. Programs in the arts are getting cut all the time in favour of “the basics”.The art program at our school will take a hit nextyear and classes were canceled. Second, why do we have to specialize in either left brain activities or right brain activities. Why can’t we be excellent at both?

 
icon for podpress  Math education in America is failing to prepare students for the 21st century [3:23m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (318)

Sep

23

Listening to Music Helps Students Be More Productive in The Classroom

Filed Under "At-risk" students, Behaviour Management, Special Education, music in the classroom | 47 Comments

I was looking through Friday’s Globe And Mail (C2) when this headline caught my attention; “If music be the food of work, play on.” I read the article with interest.

Workers are more turned on by tuning in to music, a survey finds.

Nearly one-third -32 per cent- of 1,613 U.S. employees said they listen to music while working through the use of an iPod, MP3 player or similar device.

And 79 per cent of them said all that humming along improves their job satisfaction or productivity, the survey conducted by Harris Interactive for staffing company Spheron Corp. found.

The effect of music was the highest among younger workers, with 90 per cent of those 18 to 24 and 89 per cent of those 30 to 39 saying it boosted job satisfaction.

That finding didn’t surprise me one bit. As a teacher, I’ve known that for years. Listening to music helps improve productivity. Why? One reason is because music acts like white noise in the background preventing students from noticing every other little noise that usually distracts them. Some kids can’t tune out things like a pencil dropping or someone asking a question. Their brain takes everything in; consequently, they are often distracted and off task in the classroom.

Of course there have to be some guidelines for this to work effectively. I’ve learned the hard way.(Have you noticed, I seem to say that often?) After discussing using music as a tool to assist with concentration and focus, I give student these guidelines (well, they’re actually rules, but “guidelines” sound so much better. Some of my at risk students have trouble with rules. It’s all how you say it. I’ve learned that the hard way, too) These are the guidelines:

1. Listen to music that you know and love. Listening to new, unfamiliar music is distracting (your brain focuses on the new) and that defeats the purpose.

2. Listen to your own music on your own iPod, Mp3 player etc. Absolutely no sharing. Sharing wastes time and causes commotion that is distracting to other students and that defeats the purpose.

3. Listen to your music after I have taught the lesson. Listening to music while I am teaching distracts you from what I am saying and that defeats the purpose.

My students are cool about the whole music thing in class. They understand the need for guidelines and usually don’t push too often. It’s amazing to see the kids hooked up to their music and working away, doing far more while listening to their music than they would without listening to their music.
When I create an Individual Education Plan for my Learning Disabled or Behaviour students, if I believe that listening to music while working will help that student be more successful, I will include that accommodation in the I.E.P. and share that with the student’s teachers.

UPDATE
Click here for research about benefits of music in the classroom



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