Math Plus and Minus...(with a bit of science)

The Inconsistent Blogger is Back...With Random Thoughts

2011-12-02T20:51:00.001-05:00

My thought was to rename this blog "The Inconsistent Blogger". New ideas always pop into my head but finding the time to post is nearly impossible. Today I will post some random thoughts and hopefully develop some of these ideas soon.

I still need to tell you about inquiry science. The students learn more in a rigorous, thought provoking way than in any other way I have ever seen. Here is a link to the Exploratorium Institute for Inquiry. They can explain it very well.

Inquiry can be done successfully in math, science, reading, social studies, writing, and probable any discipline. It begins with having questions or a desire to learn something new. Just think about how many questions come to mind every day about the world around you.

Right now I am so disappointed with the state of science in Connecticut and in the U.S.
Science is treated as a closest, not a discipline.

You can teach reading, writing, math, social studies, social skills, technology, and engineering through science. Can you do the same through the others?

Bobby Valentine will be a good fit for the Red Sox. Everyday will sure be fun!

I am quite impressed with the professors at Sacred Heart University's Farrington School of Education. They really make you learn in a rigorous, thought provoking, engaging way.

After last year's debacle, I officially passed on raising the trout this year. (See last year)

Giving specific effective feedback really helps to improve student learning.

Atul Gawande deserves the Time Man of the Year Award. Just read his stuff. He is far ahead of his time.

Making students go back to their work really helps to improve student learning.

I have heard more lightbulbs go off then any other year of my teaching career.

Cognitive Coaching training helps people become better teachers.

Get sleep. Eat right. Laugh a lot. This will make everyday better.

You learn something new about people you already know all of the time.

Have fun.

Another Week of Science Inquiry... Want to Know?

2011-08-20T21:43:00.000-04:00

You must be on the edge of your seat waiting to find out all of the fascinating details of the week. You will not be able to move on until you know what this group of teachers from Danbury, New Milford, and Newtown accomplished over the past week.

Their work was so important they were visited by the Danbury News Times.

Their work was so regarded that they were visited by Senator Richard Blumenthal.

Their work was so exciting they landed on the front page of the Danbury News Times on August 16th.

What did this group of teachers do over the past week?

Want to know?

Well to understand you need to go back about a year ago. Back to last August when they first met for a similar week long experience.

But that won't help because you need to go a bit further back to when the seeds of thought for this group began to be formulated.

Are you more confused? Do you have more questions? Do you want answers to those questions?

That is what inquiry is all about.

I will tell you.

Just not right now.

Feel free to ask. I will let you know soon enough. You just may be able to find out for yourself.

It is Sunday

2011-08-09T20:28:00.000-04:00

A long way back Philly broke the summer up into parts, like one long weekend. The part left in June was like a Friday night. A little chunk, a break away from the daily grind. July is Saturday. A whole month to enjoy all that summer brings. August...Sunday, with all of the anticipation that leads to the work week ahead or in an educator's case a school year ahead.

We are now fully into Sunday. The thoughts of the new year begin to creep into our minds with all that a new year brings. A routine is good. The excitement of what will be is good too.

Can we hold onto Sunday just a little bit longer though?

The CMT Results are in and...They did great, again!

2011-07-13T22:35:00.000-04:00

Just a quick blog to report the great scores again for the students at my school. The students and teachers deserve a bit of recognition for their continued improvement every year. All of the teachers from kindergarten through whatever grade have helped the students to learn and make the growth year after year. It is only one test, but it is the only comparative test we have until there is a national curriculum and national test.

Let

Percent of students at or above goal:

Grade 5

Math 94.2

Reading 85.4

Writing 91.5

Grade 6

Math 94.9
Reading 95.6
Writing 88.7

These scores have basically gone up every year and are far above the state averages. I won't bore you with all of the information. It is unfortunate that the press messes it all up and finds only bad things to say for the most part.

We should be proud of our students.

(I apologize for only focusing on two grades.)

Moby-Duck, A Great Summer Read

2011-07-06T21:56:00.000-04:00

Anyone interested in inquiry, science, adventure, toys, teaching, the environment, high seas, mysteries, and basically anything else will need to pick up this book for a great summer read.

I just picked up the book Moby-Duck, by Donovan Hohn from my local library. I was intrigued by the story since Eric Carle's Ten Little Rubber Ducks is based on the same topic.

A container ship south of the Aleutians loses two containers in a vicious storm on January 10, 1992.

One paragraph from the prologue sucked me in and I know I won't be able to put this book down.

"Follow one line of inquiry and it will lead you to another, and another. Spot a yellow duck dropped atop the seaweed at the tide line, ask yourself where it came from, and the next thing you know you're way out at sea, no land in sight, dog-paddling around in mysteries four miles deep. You're wondering when and why yellow ducks became icons of childhood. You want to know what it's like inside the toy factories of Guangdong. You're marveling at the scale of humanity's impact on this terraqueous globe and at the oceanic magnitude of your own ignorance. You're giving the plight of the Laysan albatross many moments of thought."

If this isn't pure real life inquiry, I'm not sure what is. It sure is a great example for teachers of inquiry science.

Happy Reading.

Here is a link to an NPR story on the topic

Oh That State Budget

2011-07-05T21:18:00.000-04:00

860-566-4840

The Connecticut budget situation has now begun to severely affect the lives of many children across the state. Funding for most inter-destrict grants has been eliminated at this point due to the ongoing budget negotiations. This means that many students who have an opportunity to attend a camp that provides the experience of hiking, beach activities, a trip to Mystic or the Bronx Zoo, a visit to Talcott Mountain Science Center, along with many other fun and educational activities will not be able have camp. This adds up to 600 students just for the organization ctscience4kids.org that I work for.

Many of the students that attend these camps are unable to pay for camp. These camps are virtually free for all who attend. Now these kids will not have camp. What a disgrace.

Please call Governor Malloy's office to express your concern that students attending inter-district camps will be unable to have a once in a lifetime experience that many of the children could not otherwise afford. It is not too late for them to hear the message.

The phone number is 860-566-4840.

Thank you.

A Workshop Week and Then Some!

2011-07-03T09:20:00.000-04:00

My fellow DESICA science cohorts and I have spent the last week in professional development, with two more days to go this week and five more days to go in August.

Why in the world do we do this to ourselves?

We drag out of bed in the summer pre-dawn hours to trek across the state to Hartford or Danbury. Is this what we had in mind when we first became teachers? No. Summers off with days on the beach, watching the sunset in the evening by some dock of the bay wasting time was more of what was going through my mind. I think we ask "why" basically everyday. None of us seem to answer the question because we all know and understand without saying.

Most of the presentations and activities are excellent, some are not. That is true for any type of professional development though. Overall we have learned a great deal about teaching and learning and have made incremental and in some cases vast changes in the way we instruct on a daily basis. This goes not just for science, but math, reading, writing, and social studies as well. We have developed connections and resources that make our jobs so much easier. We have support from colleagues and peers from other towns in Connecticut. We are more confident in our daily instruction.

So back to the original question. Why do we do this to ourselves in the summer when we don't have to be attending professional development?

Beneath the chatter of being tired, mileage on our cars, missing our families, or plain old goofing around we all have a deep unspoken understanding that we are there to help improve the science instruction in our schools. If we can begin to improve our instruction in our classroom, then begin to help others in our school, we will systemically be able to improve science instruction and learning for all of the children in our schools. If this can be done in science, it can be done in all the other subjects. Slowly but surely I think we can get there. It is all for the kids!

This is why we go. Even though it would be nice to sleep past 6:00 am some day.

Happy Independence Day.

A Year End Reflection...The Good, The Bad, and The Trout

2011-06-25T22:06:00.003-04:00

Another school year has come to an end. A pattern is beginning to come forth. First a flurry of blog posts in September and October, excited at the beginning of a new year. Then November, with conferences and turkey, a slow down. Here and there posts resume in December and January. Then my brain issues a cease and desist blogging order once CMT season comes upon us. I feel too worn down at that point to spend any excess energy on Saturday night reflecting.

I wish I could keep it up and post at least once each week. Maybe next year. Maybe this summer. Who knows?

There is a need to tie up loose ends though in 11 steps.

1. This year of trying to do inquiry science has been an overwhelming success. Using new techniques to teach science, and math and reading too, has been fantastic. I feel more able to let go and let the inquiry process lead students to new discoveries, learnings, and understandings. They learned more than they ever have in the past.

2. Pets and I have never had the best relationship. The trout are a fine example of my poor pet parenting. The trout eggs caught a fungus that I didn't notice until it was far too late. We saved three trout that did hatch. We got a new delivery of trout from another school that had too many. The tank had issues. Well, it was the tank owner that had issues. I didn't take care of the tank very well. The students reminded me of this each day as the water turned greener and murkier. I just figured that's what happens. We'll let the tank do what it does. This was quite the bad mistake. One morning I came in and the fish were gasping. I have never done emergency CPR on a fish, but decided to just bring the ones who were not floating upside down to Mr. Stentiford's room. He is the Mariano Rivera (the closer or the guy who gets the save) of the trout world. Most made it. Some didn't. I got rid of the water and soon after, the tank. No more pets for me. Well the rocks on the window sill have made it a few years.

3. Graduate science education classes at WCSU were hard, really hard, and really confusing. That's all I have to say about that.

4. We had a great class this year. The students learned a lot and sure taught me a great deal each day. I know I learned more from them than they did from me. I also have the greatest teaching partner in the world. Thanks for everything Gael!

5. It is easy to get caught up in the daily hoopla in a school. I think I have learned to just stay in the moment in the classroom and deal with the important part of school, data collection and RTI forms. No, just kidding...teaching and learning.

6. I definitely have the greatest colleagues at my school and in my DESICA cohort. I learn from all of them all of the time. They are all so creative and share wonderful ideas. They are pretty funny too. Good old sophomoric humor can sure get you through a crazy day or a three hour lecture or both. Thanks Todd and Peter, (and Gary too).

7. It is important to remember when dealing with people (and we deal with hundreds each day) to remember that each person has their own unique qualities and has wonderful things to offer.

8. Teaching, although not the most lucrative business in the world, rewards the soul. All it takes is the one student who evaded you all year to have tears coming down their face on the last day of school.

9. It is easy to think back to the lessons that didn't go well, the learning objectives that flopped, and the bad days you had. But as Lee Iacocca so bluntly said:

"So what do we do? Anything. Something. So long as we just don't sit there. If we screw it up, start over. Try something else. If we wait until we've satisfied all the uncertainties, it may be too late."

10. We'll follow that with Mr. Walt Disney's vision:

"We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things,

because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths."

This is what keeps us going each day!

11. I'm curious to see what next school year will bring. I am more curious to see what wonderful adventures lie ahead this summer.

As the kids in grade six say: "H.A.G.S!" (This means have a great summer for those of you too old to understand Bieber Fever.)

Demitasse: The Most Delicious Coffee and Snacks Just Waiting for You in Sandy Hook Center

2011-03-06T16:05:00.003-05:00

(This is a repost of part of a blog entry from August)

My New Favorite
A small coffee shop with good coffee and atmosphere closed last summer in Sandy Hook, Connecticut (a section of Newtown) called Mocha. This quaint shop overlooks a rambling river called the Pootatuck. A new place Demitasse took its place, so I thought I would give it a try. Holy cow, I downed this cup in minutes. After asking a few questions, I learned they serve Willoughby's roasted coffee out of Branford and New Haven. This is near my home. I happened to have an appointment right across the street from the Branford Willoughby's shop a few days later. Reasonably priced, flavorful, leaving you wanting for more. It is just a bit difficult to get to, not on my ride anywhere. I will go out of my way for this cup though.

I try to go there at least oncer per week. It is always the best cup of the week. The pastries, including blondies, pecan bars, and various cakes and snacks are a must.
Coffee. What else can be said. Other thoughts come to mind, but I will save that for another day. In the mean time, greet good morning, good afternoon, and good evening, with an unforgettable cup of Joe.

Please feel free to add your favorites to this list!

The Trout Story Continued

2011-03-05T17:57:00.000-05:00

I forgot to continue the saga of the Trout. I'm sure you have been on the edge of your seat. The suspense has been built to such an incomprehensible level that the blog page counts are going through the roof. I know you all want to know what has happened with those fickle fish delivered back in November.

Well we stared out with 199 eggs. We now have eight minuscule fish swimming freely in a tank fit for sharks.

What happened?

Fungus happened.

Within a couple of weeks of resting comfortably in the tank, the fish developed a quick spreading fungus. When I say quick, I mean one morning there was nothing, then in the afternoon the eggs were covered in a suffocating fungus that could not be removed. Only three of the eggs were spared.

Those three littles did make it. We received a donation from Mr. Roody of about twelve fish or so.

They were enjoying there time in the free waters of the tank. Then one morning, about seven went missing. We looked all over, checked the filter, the tubes, the chiller, even on the floor. Nothing.

This is still a mystery. Even some of Mr. Stentiford's disappeared. Some were in the filter, some unaccounted for.

Now we are trying our best to keep these eight healthy and ALIVE until they are ready to reach the open waters (tiny pond).

Wish us luck.

Next year we're raising worms instead.

http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/oct10/fish1010.htm

This is what the fungus looked like.

A Tutor's Perspective

2011-02-01T21:14:00.000-05:00

I am lucky to be able to work with students outside of school on a one to one basis. Unfortunately in the classroom you don't have the opportunity as often as you would like to do as much individualized instruction. It is quite interesting to learn about how and what other grade levels and other schools teach. The methods are all different. As a tutor, I need to adapt to those methods to help the student make sense of the information from which they will be assessed.

I can only feel like I am making a difference when my students are feeling confident and successful. Some days they are confident and surely there are days when their level of confidence and understanding makes it quite difficult to help further their understanding.

I think the greatest thing I have learned as a teacher is that each student is an individual and my teaching methods need to be different for each student in order for them to be successful. It has taken a long time for this realization to set in. How I approach each student needs to be slightly different in order to get the best out of them. Working individually with students has allowed me to develop new techniques and tricks to help students. Often I am able to take these "new leanings" and apply them in the classroom. I can see more clearly where students have difficulty on a certain topic.

One week not long ago I had probably my most gratifying week as a Tutor. Over the course of three days one student got an A on a re-test they previously failed. One student whom I have worked with for years passed his private school entrance exam with flying colors, and my little Kindergartner had mastered her sight words for Kindergarten and no longer needed her mom to sit with us while we worked.

Each of these students along with all of the others have taught me so much more than I could ever teach them. I am proud of them. I am proud of all of my students. I guess this is why I would not change my chosen career path. You never stop learning.

Now, lets get back to school!

Less Talking (by me), More Learning (by them)

2010-12-30T21:48:00.002-05:00

http://headrush.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/schoolboy_1.jpg

There are many things I learn each day. One of the many things that have dawned on me since jumping headfirst, no... feet first, no... sideways describes it best, into inquiry based science is that students learn more when I talk less. When they are given the opportunity to work collaboratively on a problem, project, or inquiry it is their discourse and thinking that leads to new learning. My facilitating helps, but not from a pulpit at the front of the room. This is a hard switch to make. In order to feel control and know what is going on in every corner of the room, I have always felt that need to be in the front. As this shift has begun to happen, being anywhere in the room has been fine because when the trust has been put in the students' hands. They have been on task and learning. Probably, no, definitely more than if I was lecturing in the front of the room.

As the students have had opportunities to talk more in smaller groups, they have had more opportunities to think, and thus more opportunities to learn. Two thousand ten was a great year of learning for me. I hope 2011 is a year of less talking (by me), and more learning for my students!

Happy 2011!

Tim

Integrating Science and Reading...It isn't that hard.

2010-12-12T22:09:00.001-05:00

This post is in response to an article written by George Stockwell in the Newtown Patch.

http://newtown.patch.com/articles/we-need-to-make-time-for-srbi

My response is to the fact that teachers are required to teach more reading and science is always the subject that takes a back seat.

You are preaching to the choir here! Integrating science and reading can be done at all grade levels. A bit of creativity, open-mindedness, and persistence can make it happen. When push comes to shove, those three things lose out and it is the same old instruction. It isn't that hard. Science is the easiest subject to integrate. Using an inquiry based approach, you use every single skill and more that you would be using in a reading or literacy lesson. You are using the same and at times much more in depth thinking skills. The writing connection is more genuine and connected because it is based on what the kids are actually doing. Unfortunately when science is missing, the kids are the ones that lose out. I think everyone loses out.

It just makes sense to integrate the two. The book called The Essentials of Science and Literacy focuses on this very idea.

Here is a testimonial:

Essentials of Science and Literacy provides classroom teachers with a wealth of classroom tested and research-based best practices designed to engage students. It addresses one of the major shortcomings in many classrooms, providing students with the time and opportunity to make sense and to communicate their understanding of the science investigation they are engaged in.

—Mike Klentschy

Author of Scaffolding Science Inquiry Through Lesson Design

Thanks again for keeping this at the forefront. I heard this type of discussion at our cohort meetings last year. This year I am hearing a much different tone, students are getting more science from the 30 teachers in our group. They are loving it and learning. They read every day too!

As Bill Nye always says..."Science Rules!"

Here is a link to a NSTA article that explains clearly how standards for these the two disciplines mirror one another.

Today's Lunch

2010-12-04T13:53:00.004-05:00

Can you identify today's lunch?

Blend of 3 Fruit Juices From Concentrate: Apple, Grape, and Cherry Juices From Concentrate , (Water , Apple, Cherry and Grape Juice Concentrates) , With added ingredients & other natural flavor: Apple, Grape, and Cherry Juices From Concentrate , (Water , Apple, Cherry and Grape Juice Concentrates) , Blend of 3 Fruit Juices From Concentrate: Citric Acid , With added ingredients & other natural flavor: Citric Acid , Blend of 3 Fruit Juices From Concentrate: Natural Flavor , With added ingredients & other natural flavor: Natural Flavor , Pizza Crusts: Wheat Flour , (Enriched Bleached Wheat Flour , (Flour , Niacin , Reduced Iron , Thiamine Mononitrate , Riboflavin , Folic Acid) , Whole Wheat Flour) , Water , Soybean Oil , Glycerine , Sugar , Pizza Crusts Contains 2% or Less of: Yeast , Vital Wheat Gluten , Mono and Diglycerides , Salt , Soy Lecithin , Guar Gum , Carboxymethylcellulose , Datem , Calcium Propionate , Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate , Xanthan Gum , Enzyme , Natural and Artificial Flavor , Sorbic Acid , Pizza Sauce: Water , Tomato Paste , Sugar , Pizza Sauce Contains Less Than 2% of: Modified Food Starch , Salt , Garlic Powder , Onion Powder , Spice , Citric Acid , Potassium Sorbate , Xanthan Gum , Natural Flavor , Pasteurized Prepared Mozzarella Cheese Product: Pasteurized Part-Skim Milk , Water , Whey Protein Concentrate , Milk Protein Concentrate , Milkfat , Sodium Citrate , Salt , Sorbic Acid , Enzymes , Cheese Culture , Pepperoni Made With Pork, Chicken and Beef: Pork , BHA, BHT and citric acid added to preserve freshness.: Pork , Pepperoni Made With Pork, Chicken and Beef: Mechanically Separated Chicken , BHA, BHT and citric acid added to preserve freshness.: Mechanically Separated Chicken , Pepperoni Made With Pork, Chicken and Beef: Beef , BHA, BHT and citric acid added to preserve freshness.: Beef , Pepperoni Made With Pork, Chicken and Beef: Salt , BHA, BHT and citric acid added to preserve freshness.: Salt , Pepperoni Made With Pork, Chicken and Beef Contains 2% or less of: Pork Stock , BHA, BHT and citric acid added to preserve freshness.: Pork Stock , Pepperoni Made With Pork, Chicken and Beef Contains 2% or less of: Spices , BHA, BHT and citric acid added to preserve freshness.: Spices , Pepperoni Made With Pork, Chicken and Beef Contains 2% or less of: Dextrose , BHA, BHT and citric acid added to preserve freshness.: Dextrose , Pepperoni Made With Pork, Chicken and Beef Contains 2% or less of: Lactic Acid Starter Culture , BHA, BHT and citric acid added to preserve freshness.: Lactic Acid Starter Culture , Pepperoni Made With Pork, Chicken and Beef Contains 2% or less of: Oleoresin of Paprika , BHA, BHT and citric acid added to preserve freshness.: Oleoresin of Paprika , Pepperoni Made With Pork, Chicken and Beef Contains 2% or less of: Flavoring , BHA, BHT and citric acid added to preserve freshness.: Flavoring , Pepperoni Made With Pork, Chicken and Beef Contains 2% or less of: Sodium Ascorbate , BHA, BHT and citric acid added to preserve freshness.: Sodium Ascorbate , Pepperoni Made With Pork, Chicken and Beef Contains 2% or less of: Sodium Nitrite , BHA, BHT and citric acid added to preserve freshness.: Sodium Nitrite , Pepperoni Made With Pork, Chicken and Beef Contains 2% or less of: BHA , BHA, BHT and citric acid added to preserve freshness.: BHA , Pepperoni Made With Pork, Chicken and Beef Contains 2% or less of: BHT , BHA, BHT and citric acid added to preserve freshness.: BHT , Pepperoni Made With Pork, Chicken and Beef Contains 2% or less of: Citric Acid , BHA, BHT and citric acid added to preserve freshness.: Citric Acid , Artificially Flavored Cherry Candy: Sugar , Corn Syrup , Maltodextrin , Dextrose , Food Starch Modified , Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil , Citric Acid , Water , Artificial Flavor , Red 40

Can you identify this food? It is a food product that people actually eat. Many people eat this every day.
I do not eat it. It sure is scientific!

It is not an apple.

A Mechanical Meat Separator

Mechanically Separated Chicken

http://www.fooducate.com/blog/2009/08/03/guess-whats-in-the-picture-foodlike-substance/

I Will Now Call Every Assignment a Test

2010-12-03T23:06:00.000-05:00

The students just finished a reading test. I have not graded them yet. Based on the handwriting of the students I can see that they took extra time and give their best quality effort. My theory is that the word "test" conjures some type of trigger in a student's mind. It makes them focus extra hard on the task at hand. Normally many of the students do have legible handwriting. Some don't. Though none of the students on a day to day basis produce the quality that I saw on the test today.

This test handwriting is impeccable.

I will now call everything a test. Classwork-Test. Homework-Test. Quiz-Test. Test...um Test?

No, I will not call everything a test.

But the question is: How can I hold students accountable on every assignment to get them to produce such quality work? If you have any suggestions, please share.

In the meantime...I need to grade some tests.

Stepping Into Science Formative Assessment...Where Have You Been All of These Years?

2010-11-30T21:57:00.000-05:00

It is amazing how excited you get when you are given a tremendous number of curriculum resources. Correction...it is amazing how overwhelmed you get when you are given a tremendous amount of curriculum resources. Slowly taking time to go through them to uncover new information takes time and patience. Getting short, simple assignments for the books is helpful too.

This week I was given assignment along with my cohort colleagues to pour through two books. They are titled Uncovering Student Ideas in Science volumes 1 and 2. The subtitle is 25 Formative Assessment Probes.

Where have you been all of these years? In science getting an idea of what students know in a clear coherent way is nearly impossible. Students come into science class more than any other with diverse bits of knowledge that is not standardized or universal. Science curriculums in elementary schools seem to vary and the amount of time spent in science I'm sure varies as well as a result of the tremendous push for reading instruction in the lower grades. Kids love science. They have varying depths of knowledge. This makes it difficult at times to assess what they already know before attempting to build on that prior knowledge.

Welcome Formative Assessment!

These books by Page Keeley, Francis Eberle, and Lynn Farrin, in the preface of the book outline the goal of these types of assessments. They say that formative assessment "when used deliberately and effectively, helps teachers find out what their students think and know at the beginning and throughout the instructional sequence". I love this idea. Normally we would start a new topic, get a cursory feel for what the students know (because we don't have pre-asessments like in math) and then get to it. The great thing is that you can get an idea of student pre-conceptions otherwise known as misconceptions. I love the line "they are assessments for learning, not assessments of learning." This makes so much sense. We want to know what students know. We don't want to over assess. We do want the right information to help drive instruction. These formative assessment probes are the right tool for the job.

Well today I used my first "Formative Assessment Probe". . The goal was to "elicit students' thinking about specific ideas in science". Well, the ideas were properties of matter and conservation of mass. The question was basically will the mass of ice in a bag change when it melts. I had no idea what students would choose. After going through all of the responses most of the students said that it would not change because there is the same amount of material in the bag. Some common misconceptions were that "it takes up more room when melted so it has more mass" and "ice floats on water so water is heavier". Knowing the thoughts of my students will help me to design instruction to help change preconceived ideas. As the authors claim in the book, conceptions, if not addressed may "get in the way" of new learning in the classroom.

The beauty of it all is that these assessments are quick, easy to administer, analyze, and discuss with students. They make teaching and learning more effective in a subject in the elementary school realm has long been ignored. Students can demonstrate their thinking and learning. Teachers can gain a much better handle on student thinking and understanding. Another positive aspect of these probes is that they can be used for demonstration, class discussion, pre-assessment, ongoing assessment, or even as a summative assessment when appropriate.

Science is fun. Formative assessments help to make it even more fun to teach because you really delve deep into the ideas. Through careful instruction, if you can help to turn the preconceptions into new learning and knowledge that students will have for a lifetime, it will lead to better science and scientists in the future.

Look into these tools. I have five of these books. I can't wait to use them. Ask to borrow them. Thanks again Harry for the fantastic resources.

Here is a link to the website: http://uncoveringstudentideas.org/
Here is another link to science and curriculum: http://www.curriculumtopicstudy.org/

Social Media and Inferred Meaning...I Think I Get it.

2010-11-27T23:36:00.000-05:00

http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/04/0407_failed_merger_talks/20.htm

It struck me the other day that I am forced to think a lot when reading my Twitter and Facebook feeds. Character limits cause writers to be concise and readers to infer lots of information. Writers need to carefully think about word choice to get the most for their 140.

I am a Twitter(er) and a Facebooker. I joined both of these social media outlets a bit later in the game than tech savvy colleagues. I am looking at my Twitter feed right now and don't fully understand most of the 200 postings by the people I follow.

Ian O'Connor of ESPN tweeted "greatest pass ever in college football?....greater than flutie's?"

Now I have a million questions. Who threw the pass? What game was it? What were the circumstances of the pass? Does it have BCS bowl implications? Is still don't know after a cursory search.
To answer these questions I now need to do a bit of research because there were no attached links. Links are often helpful because you learn exactly what the author is referencing. This tweet, no link.

In contrast the Newtown Patch usually has clear Tweets: "New skate park draws reave reviews from youngsters." This post had a link as well. Very clear.

Typically, I need a bit of time for each one to sift through the minutia in my head to try to find the right context for the information. The re-tweets by the people I follow are even more confusing because I usually don't have a connection to the original source.

My hypothesis is that as students use more social media in the future, they will be forced to think and infer more informaiton. This could lead to an abundance of misinformation, but also a great deal of thinking and valuable processing and connecting that students of past generations, (Baby Boomers, Gen Xers etc...) have not experienced. I believe the proliferation of text messages and codes that require guidebooks supports this hypothesis. I think.

We sure will see if the students today are better at inferring information in texts. They sure do love to read more than when I was in school. They seem to love to read more than students did even five or six years ago. They also seem to be better at inferring information in the text.

Maybe one day in the future I will tweet the following: "Students brain power greater. Twitter, Texts, FB result. Help with reading skills."

By no means do I ever think this should ever take the place of conventional reading instruction. Just something to think about.

A Step Back For the Months Ahead 2010

2010-11-23T22:06:00.000-05:00

(This is a re-posting of a November 2009 blog. You can exchange the Mayor Bloomberg reference for a Linda McMahon 50 million.)

A Step Back For the Months Ahead

On my way to work together something triggered my thought process. I don't know if it was an NPR news story or a story from one of the local radio stations in Connecticut. Whatever it was, my thoughts immediately turned to my kids and how important it is during these difficult economic times and the holiday season coming up to be thankful for what we have. Whether you have a small chunk of change, a giant portfolio, or the sixteen billion that Mayor Bloomberg (140 million spent on the campaign?!) has, it is important to remember how fortunate we are.

We need to remember to cherish the joy our children and families bring to us and not to get caught up in the holiday cycle that evokes high levels of stress in all of us. I will do my best to treasure each wonderful moment, show them how much I care for them, and not let any economic, financial or occupational stress get in the way of my most important job, father and husband.

As the calendar turns to November and the ads turn from "Fright" to "Silent Night" sit back, relax, and enjoy the season that is upon us.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

(There will be a lot of great math talk around all of the sales bombarding us for the next two months!)

The Trout are Here...Almost

2010-11-23T21:55:00.000-05:00

(Connecticut Council of Trout Unlimited: Click the link above for more information on this great program.)

Setting up a trout tank was sure an experience. Last Monday morning I found a filter and various other tools (still trying to figure out what they are) outside of my door (Thank you Mrs. Mancher). I was so excited to get started. The plan was to get this thing together on Monday and Tuesday, fill the tank with water, get the chiller going, drop the water temperature to 46 degrees fahrenheit and get those fish eggs in our tank by Wednesday.

The first major question was how to fill this tank. The sink is about ten feet from the tank. A five gallon bucket will not fit under the faucet. A garbage can will not fit either. I look to the tank and see extra tubing from the filter. Aha! The excess tubing became a hose and we could fill five to seven gallons at a time. Success! I had some help from a group of students who offered their assistance.

Well, Wednesday morning was sure an experience. I waited to turn the filter and chiller on until I had expert help from Mr. Stentiford. We primed the filter, turned it on and...water started pouring out of the sides. We scrambled to turn the filter off. Looking at the filter, I realized that I put the "o" ring on in the wrong spot, so there was not a secure seal. Okay, we got that straightened out. Now as a famous Connecticut actor once said in his self-proclaimed favorite role of his career, "We're back in business."

The filter was working with no water pouring out until...water begins to pour down on us from above. Being partially underneath the table, I had no idea where it was coming from. My back and head were soaked! The water level in the tank was not high enough so the part of the filter that puts the water back into the tank started to shoot water over the top of the tank. At least this was an easy fix, but we were wet for the rest of the day.

I told this story to the students. All of the action happened before school, but it was important for them to know that this whole production is a brand new learning experience for me. Mistakes and problems will happen. The greater learning occurs when you are able to find a problem, reflect on the problem, and work towards a solution. I had a video to watch to put the filter together. I watched every step and still made a simple mistake. Seeking out help from teachers, friends, colleagues, or experts in the field is so important when learning something new. You cannot rely just on yourself. Linda Darling-Hammond, in her book Powerful Learning, provides an example of a research study that states:

In one comparison by Zhining Qin, David Johnson, and Roger Johnson, of four types of categories for problems presented to individuals and cooperative teams, researchers found that teams outperformed individuals on all types and across all ages. Results varied by how well defined the problems were (a single right answer versus open-ended solutions, such as writing a story) and how much they relied on language. Several experimental studies have shown that groups outperform individuals on learning tasks and that individuals who work in groups do better on later individual assessments.

Students need a variety of learning methods. Learning how to work effectively with peers and how to seek out help from adults will greatly increase their learning and knowledge. I have seen significant student growth in cooperative learning this year.

We all make mistakes. We all learn some kind of lesson when we reflect on those mistakes. We all need to learn strategies to help alleviate or even fix those mistakes. I continue to learn how everyday. Thank you to my fantastic students and colleagues!

Back to the tank.

The tank was full, the filter was filtering, and the chiller was chilling and set to the correct temperature.

What about the eggs?

Stay tuned. Their story is next.

The Importance of 10 %

2010-11-14T19:53:00.000-05:00

historyforkids.org

Once students understand the importance and significance of 10%, so many other mathematical concepts seem to fall into place.

Before we start a unit on decimals and another on fractions, I like to take a good chunk of time to teach students how to find 10% of a number. I also like them to understand how and why you are able to convert from fractions to decimals to percents.

We begin this process by building an understanding of what ten percent is. Ten percent is 1/10th of a number. If you have 20 cookies and you were going to give 10% to your sister, how many cookies are you going to give?

There are a number of ways we can approach this. I start off by teaching them that you can always just move the decimal point to the left and that is 10%. So if you do that with this cookie problem, your sister will get 2 cookies.

This still does not help students "get" what 10% is.

So we begin to explore the "10%" itself. What does the percent sign mean? The students know that it means out of 100 since they have been taking quizzes and tests for a long time. So 10% means 10 out of 100. If we simplify that it means 1 out of 10.

Ah, now we are cooking.

Back to the cookie problem.

If students know that 10 percent is 1 out of 10, they can begin to understand that finding percent can be a division process. Splitting the cookies into 10 equal groups is something students clearly understand whether they like to share or not. (Once this happens, they understand that 1/8 would lead you to divide by 8, 25% would lead you to divide by 4.)

Taking what you have and breaking it into 10 equal groups makes 10%. Fortunately, this is a clear, hands-on approach to finding 10 %. We can take those cookies, split them up equally into 10 groups and find out each person, including your sister will get 2 cookies. Unfortunately, when you need to do this at a restaurant, you can't do this with a tip, you wont be able to take your money on the table, divide it up into 10 equal groups, find 2 of those groups and then give those groups to your server for a tip.

In class we were able to do this with a large bucket of manipulatives. Please see a future blog for the estimation of 10 %.

So now students know they can just move the decimal over one place to the left, divide by 10, or split their actual number into 10 equal groups with manipulatives.

The fourth way to find 10% is just to multiply by .1 or .10. Why does this work? Because when you multiply by one tenth you are essentially finding 1out of every 10. The decimal ends up moving over one place to the left after you multiply by .1.

Once students are able to reason and work with 10 %, they are then able to see and find the pattern that follows.

If you can find 10 % of 20 than you can find 20 %. How? You just double it. How would you find 5%? Cut 10% in half.

Now if you make an organized table, you would have it look something like this:

Percent of 20

10% 2

20% 4

30% 6

40% 8

50% 10

Students are then able to fill in the missing parts. They can fill in 5%, 15%, 25% all the way up to 100%. Ten percent and 5% put together make 15%.

Percent of 20

5% 1

10% 2

15% 3

20% 4

25% 5

30% 6

35% 7

40% 8

45% 9

50% 10

It is a pattern. Just a pattern once you find the first, most important part...10%
Students can then apply this skill to finding out a 15 or 10% tip at a restaurant. Than they can figure out how much you spent with the tip in total. They are able to estimate about 10% of an unknown group.

There is much more to this 10% business. Stay tuned. In the meantime, please help us find another important strategy that we can use and apply in our class. Leave a comment to let us know.

The Trout Are Coming!

2010-11-09T21:42:00.000-05:00

I do not know much about trout. I have never been a fisherman. I have never had a fish tank or a pool to take care of.

I do know that in a few short weeks I will have an entire tank of over 200 trout eggs to care for until the spring thaw, and their subsequent release into the open waters of a serene, slow-moving stream in Bethel, Connecticut.

By a show of hands the more than half of the students in my class have been in charge of taking care of their family fish tank or have lent a hand to their parents while testing the waters of their pool. That's a relief. Their body of knowledge will surely be helpful in this process.

There are a great deal of things to learn. I look forward to learning from my colleagues, students, and anyone else who cares to bestow their knowledge of the "salmo trutta" on us.

Trout Unlimited of Connecticut has provided the supplies for this program. My great colleagues Mrs. Mancher, Mr. Neeb, Mr. Stentiford, and Mr. Roodhuyzen, have offered their supplies, knowledge, and kindness in helping our cluster get up to speed with this wonderful program.

My cluster has participated in the past , but as more of an experiential field trip. Now we will have the opportunity to get our hands dirty (wet) in the real scientific process. We will be caring for this fish right in the classroom. We are excited and a bit nervous. No, the kids are excited. I am nervous.

Trying something new can be a bit scary. Isn't that when the best learning happens?

Bring on the fish!

Wish us luck.

An Afternoon at the Polo Arena...The Best Kept Secret in Town!

2010-11-07T21:16:00.000-05:00

Before today the only things I knew about Polo was that I have a few well worn shirts in my closet with a little polo guy on it. I have seen still photos of Prince Charles waving a polo stick. It is a game I assume for the wealthy by the price originally paid for those well worn shirts.

I spent 5 years at UConn (undergraduate and graduate) and had no idea that a polo team even existed. The women were even national champions three years in a row in the 1990's. They were also national champions from 2005 through 2008. The best kept secret in Connecticut!

My kids love horses. My kids love sports. My kids love trips to the UConn Dairy Bar. What a perfect combination!

We took the hour plus ride to the Horsebarn Hill Arena. Located on a quiet backroad in the picturesque hills of eastern Connecticut surrounded by acres of horse and dairy farm, it is the perfect location for almost anything. I surely did not appreciate this fifteen years ago.

What an event! Not knowing the first rule of polo, we needed to bide our time to see if we could figure it out. The announcers to the fifty or so spectators helped us novices by explaining the details quite clearly.

I still had a few unanswered questions a few minutes in, and was helped out by a longtime follower of the team. A man I'm sure who has never worked a day indoors in his life. He knew all of the players and horses by name. He told me there were four periods and they were called "chukkers".

If I was to summarize what a polo match is like, just take a soccer match and pick up the speed about twenty times, add in the contact, stick handling and strategy of hockey, combined with the sheer excitement of a final possession in college basketball. The only difference is that polo keeps you on the edge of the cold bleacher for the entire thirty minutes (four 7 minute and 30 second chukkers) and not only for the final 2-minute drill of an NFL football game. My kids did not want to leave for a minute. Not even for the world renowned UConn Dairy Bar ice cream! That is a testament to this wonderful sport.

Now how is it that you can learn so much from a simple afternoon in the semi-outdoors with an arena full of horses and people you have never met? Paying close attention, asking questions, doing a bit of research afterward and building connections (aren't these the skills we teach in school?) led my family to learn about a sport we never had acknowledged to exist before today. We took my son's love of horses and my daughter's love of sport and competition combined it with the love of our alma mater and turned it into a day of fun, excitement and new learning. My kids learned about how the score was kept. They monitored the board throughout the match. They cheered for both teams. They showed concern for "George" when he fell off his horse. They asked questions about why the scorekeeper needed to climb the wall and stand in a cage and why the lines were drawn on the ground. They even were able to congratulate the winning Cornell Big Red team afterwards. What a day for a four year old. George was even a bedtime topic of conversation.

We spent the day with great friends and turned the cold November winds into a lasting memory that we will never forget.

The day was topped off with a trip to Willington Pizza. The best pizza in northeastern Connecticut. A must if you are in the UConn vicinity.

UConn vs. Yale Friday, November 12th. Yale armory. Just in case you are interested. We are.

One Math Period, One Problem, No Problem

2010-11-06T21:57:00.000-04:00

How is it possible to spend an entire math period (a shortened one for that matter) on only one math problem? It is quite simple.

A well designed problem requiring a variety of math skills, allowing the students to collaborate with one another with built in differentiation. That is how a period can be spent on one problem.

Many times we start off math class with a math message problem to get the students thinking about the lesson of the day or connect to a topic or concept we have already studied.

For the past week we have had 20 minute math periods for early dismissal days. The problem takes up a good percentage of the period.

The problem posed on Monday was: My haircut at Supercuts typically costs $14.00. Yesterday I had a coupon for $2 off a haircut and then Supercuts gave an extra dollar discount for "Football Sunday". I gave a $5 tip.

The three questions to answer were: How much was my haircut with the discount? How much did I pay with the tip? About what percentage off the regular cost of a haircut did I receive with the coupons?

Now the first two questions were not a problem. With quick subtraction and addition skills the students realized that the haircut was $11 and the total cost with the tip was $16. The real discussion and thinking came with the last question.

The students worked with a partner to discuss about what the discount was. We had already begun discussing last week how to find 10% of a number, a skill not yet mastered, but a very important skill connected with comparing and calculating, fractions, decimals, and percents.

We heard many different responses ranging from 5% to $3.00. We were able to then use this information to systematically ask questions to lead to "about" the right answer.

The first question: Should the answer be in dollars or percent?

The second question: Is the answer close to 100%? Why or why not?

The third question: Is the answer close to 0%? Why or why not?

The fourth question: Is the answer close to 50%? Why or why not?

Each of these questions makes the student think about the discount in comparison to the original price. They knew the discount was $3 in comparison to a $14.00 haircut. Some of the students at this point had a reasonable estimate. Some of them had a reasonable estimate before the questioning. The questioning and ensuing discussion allowed for them to confirm their thinking or change their answer. It also helped to push their mathematical thinking in new ways. Listening to the responses of their peers is always valuable. The important thing I have learned is to make sure I restate and try to show what they say and validate their thinking, or it will be lost on most students accept for the one making the claim.

At this point we are able to then narrow it down to less than 50% and greater than 0%.

What would 50% be? Half of $14.00 is $7.00.

This is when the best part of the discussion happens. We know it is less than 50% but then what?

Here is a list of possibilities:

I know 25% is half of 50% and $3.50 is half of $7.00, so it will be close to 25%.
I know 10% would be $1.40 because you move the decimal point once to the left to find 10% of any number. Double 10% is 20% and double $1.40 is $2.80. $2.80 is close to $3.00, so the answer is close to 20%
Since $2.80 is 20% and $3.50 is 25%, the discount must be between 20 and 25%.

Now we have it really narrowed down, but the questioning does not stop.

Would the percent discount be closer to 20% or 25%?

20% of course.

Why?

Then more answers are given comparing 20 cents to 50 cents and how much further away $3.50 is than $2.80. Then the students are able to realize that right between 20% and 25% is 22.5% and that would be $3.15 because the difference between $2.80 and $3.50 is .70. Half of 70 cents is 35 cents.

Now they realize that it is between 20% and 22.5%. And that is close enough for now.

I could have just taught them to divide $3.00 by $14.00 to find the answer. That is an important skill that will be coming soon along with the many ways to break down a problem like this. Right now the important skill is to learn how to reason and work through a problem through logical steps, discussion, and writing. This lesson required lots of questioning, thinking aloud, and talking with others. Learning how to reason and estimate will help the students so much more when they need to apply algebraic skills to solve a problem like $3.00 is what percentage of $14.00?

There was no need yet to find the exact answer of 21.428571%.

By doing a haircut problem, all of the students could connect in some way. They all have gotten a haircut either at a shop or by a parent. Either way they could understand the financial aspect involved and the social part of getting a haircut. They quickly become interested for the most part because it is a story they understand with a main character they know. So many book problems are quite unrealistic or do not draw the reader in. Isn't that what reading or any subject is all about, to draw the student in, to build that bridge, to connect them (yet another future blog topic), to transform their learning? I was able to tell them how the hairdresser was wearing a Tom Brady jersey, so as a Jets fan I was a bit nervous as my eyes were glued to the Jets-Packers game on the television in the corner. I explained that I paid with a $20 bill and we were able to discuss a bit how much change I received and how much of that went toward the tip. We were able to hear about some haircut stories, and how a girl I know who does cut mens' hair charges almost 5 times my regular haircut. I needed to go to Trader Joes, get home to mow the lawn and get my kids ready for trick or treating. How much time did I have to get everything done?All of these things help to draw students in.

I did get lots of compliments on my about 22.5% discounted haircut!

The rest of the week centered on finding 10% (sure to be a blog topic in the future) and the patterns that follow. As we head toward decimals and percentages, the question to ponder this weekend is Why are gas prices expressed to the thousandths place? Why on the sign do they use both decimals and fractions
(2.99 9/10)?

Now the final question is: How many math skills were used or brought up in a problem like this?

It took longer than twenty minutes to type this. Period over. See you tomorrow.

Powerful Learning in Math and Science

2010-11-02T20:21:00.000-04:00

(This blog today is part of a school assignment)

The book Powerful Learning by Linda Darling Hammond delves into the area of teaching for real understanding. Chapters 2 and 3 focus on this understanding in math and in science. Chapter 3, "Mathematics for Understanding" by Alan H. Schoenfeld explains how math needs to be presented to a learner in order for real understanding to happen. The first, most important thing to happen is for students to begin to make sense of the information. Students need time to play and manipulate and explore using the mathematical phenomena in order to begin to make sense of the topic being presented. Schoenfeld calls this an "interaction with the content" that is very different from the traditional practices of mathematics teaching. Discourse and questioning, along with writing and proving what they know is imperative for children to develop deeper mathematical understandings. Rote learning has its place in mathematics for sure. Knowing basic facts and how to apply them is of great importance. Students though need a deeper understanding of the rest of the mathematical concepts. Not having an understanding of the underlying principles, the how and the why in a math concept is like a house not having a foundation. There is no strong footing to build upon. It may stand for a while on top of the soil, but when the rains come, the house, (and the knowledge) will be sure to wash away. If they do have a firm grasp of the underlying principles, then no matter what type of problem is before them, the student will be able to find a way to make it work.

Schoenfeld cites a TIMSS study that countries who place a "greater focus on the conceptual underpinnings of the mathematics" were higher achieving. An emphasis on one or two problems during a class period leads students to more in depth thinking. I have seen this in my classroom. Student discussion when faced with a multistep, open-ended problem is richer and more focused than when completing a basic word problem. Students rise to the challenge and relish the opportunity to try and prove they can succeed.

A strong conceptual understanding and opportunities to communicate those understandings in a variety of ways will lead to more improved, confident math students. These can be taught in tandem with basic skills. It is our job as teachers to begin to make this not so subtle shift for the benefit of our students. As a result our teaching will greatly improve, because we are forced to think and teach in new creative ways. Having the opportunity to work closely with colleagues to develop and implement these new "topic areas" will lead to better teaching. Having a "continuity of focus" in workshops or Professional Learning Communities on these areas will lead to better practices.

Teaching Science for Understanding apples many of the same principles as teaching math for understanding. An inquiry based approach is the best, most effective way to teach science for understanding.

Students come to school with some facts that may be accurate or inaccurate. The need is to help change those misconceptions. Then making "connections among the facts" is vitally important to help student understandings. Deeper questioning and investigation, along with allowing students the opportunity to explore and find information independently creates opportunities for them to be self-directed, self-motivated learners. Working together with peers in science to develop an inquiry investigation helps to increase their scientific knowledge.

As in math, "understanding any concept requires processing prior knowledge and ideas and incorporating them into a broader knowledge base". Time and deep, rich activities allowing for discourse and student interaction help foster this powerful knowledge.

As a teacher, science has been the one area I have feared the most. Teaching in the traditional fact based manner, followed by quizzes and tests if how the past fourteen years of teaching been conducted. Students have not been learning. They learned for the bit of time they needed the information, but that knowledge often evaporated over time. Attending inquiry training and beginning to teach in a new way has made teaching science fun and exciting.

The four areas that Zimmerman and Stage see as being most important are:

Making Science Accessible

Making Thinking Visible

Helping Students Learn from Each Other

Promote Lifelong Learning Through Reflection

Science teaching needs to change for these important pieces to happen. Unbelievable things will happen as a result. Students will be more confident, better thinkers, collaborators, writers, and students. Teachers will be more confident, better questioners, and more reflective in their practice. Students will then be able to bring this large knowledge base of skills and concepts, not necessarily facts along with them. Hopefully the successive teachers they encounter will begin to change their practices as well.

I am excited and hopeful that these changes will happen. I am beginning to see this transformation in my classroom...and I like it!

Science Inquiry...Want to Know? It Sure is Fun!

2010-09-28T19:58:00.000-04:00

I never knew science could be so much fun.

In the past it seemed like such a chore with all of the concepts and vocabulary and limited number of resources to try to pull together to make the students understand the world around them. I tried to force lab reports upon them that didn't allow for any sense of wonder or provide motivation. I basically spoon fed the information with a pre-determined result in mind. If the "experiment" if you will, came out with flawed results, I made the students try it again to recreate what was "supposed" to happen. No fun.

Now they are thinking, learning, and having fun. They are using their own thoughts and ideas to develop questions, investigations, and procedures. They are working collaboratively to answer their investigable questions. There is fantastic discourse.

This is what they need. This is what I need.

I am working collaboratively with my buddy Todd (who comes up with all of these good ideas) to develop some of these meaningful lessons. We teach down the hall from one another and are able to share every day to make each lesson better. He helps by asking the right questions.

Harry Rosvally our Math Science Partnership program leader along with Holly Harrick from the Connecticut Science Center have spearheaded all of this "good stuff".

Right now the students are in the midst of writing up a plan and gathering materials. Stay tuned for more fun.

Designing Effective Science Instruction..Making a Change

2010-09-20T21:11:00.000-04:00

Oh the things we missed out on in Teacher's College. I actually can't remember much besides student teaching and learning abstract concepts that were irrelevant to us then and well into the first years of teaching. I have to imagine the education those undergrads are receiving now is of much higher quality and well organized. I hope they have the ability to design and teach science lessons that are meaningful to students. They have the time. I am now learning about designing science lessons that inspire students to think, ask questions, and truly wonder about the world and phenomena around them.

Designing effective science instruction is very similar to designing lessons in other curricular areas. The only difference is that I and many teachers like me have feared this one area in the past. We have had the least training and had the least amount of instructional time in this most important subject. I am now learning to let go, let the science happen, and let the "organized chaos" (as some of my DESI colleagues call it) unfold. This is not a "subtle shift". This is a monumental shift that we need to take for the sake of our students. Learning in an inquiry based way can only encourage and motivate students to excel.

I was given the book Designing Effective Science Instruction today at our workshop. This book was written by our presenter Anne Tweed, a leader in the field of science education. I plan to use this resource, among others, to help design and plan science this year with my colleagues. If any science educators would like to read it along with me, please comment and we can have a bit of discourse about the what is happening in our classrooms.

We were also given an awesome "Flip" video camera! What a great tool for instruction. Can't wait to use this for our experiments. Thank you Harry!

Reflecting Back on the First Year of Teaching

2010-08-27T23:30:00.000-04:00

I clearly remember 13 years ago preparing for my first group of third graders. Intermittent sleep with dreams of incompetence and students running amok were nightly occurrences leading up to that dreaded, yet thrilling first day. I had no direction and no clue of what to do. I was clearly unprepared for the job that laid ahead of me. Yes, I did have some kind colleagues who tried to show me the way. They were very well meaning, but they had experience and knowledge that takes years to acquire. At that point my mind was too cluttered and unfocused to listen with clarity. The brain of a 22 year old can only take in so much. The University of Connecticut tried to prepare me with four years of undergraduate work plus a Master's degree in the fifth. Unfortunately a teacher is never prepared for that first year no matter their college experience. The decisions to be made, the relationships that need to be built, the problems that arise, the parent and student issues are all too numerous to accurately calculate. The factors are endless. Thinking back, I did the best I could, but surely my best was not good enough. I sure hope preservice teacher preparation has improved since 1996.

Heading into my 14th year, I feel confident and comfortable beginning the year with a sense of purpose and a greater understanding of what lies ahead. I know there will be an infinite number of decisions to be made, but each requires much less thought and effort compared with those of a decade ago. Many decisions are automatic now with no need to belabor the question or situation. This is what experience brings. I am no longer endlessly bogged down with the tiny details that need to be thought out and worked out; the thousands of little problems that arise. I can primarily focus on what is important, teaching and student learning.

The intermittent sleep and the strange dreams still occur, but I am thankful that I now have the experience and the tools to deal with most of the situations and decisions that need to be made daily in the classroom.

That first group of students will be graduating college this year. The cycle continues.

Hooked on Reading. How Did This Happen? The Hunger Games!

2010-08-25T23:18:00.000-04:00

I am not a fan of fiction, especially fantasy or novels that take place in time periods or places that are quite unfamiliar. I have always experienced a disconnect in my brain that would never fully allow for comprehension. There is a remarkable series of books that has changed my thoughts about this genre.

The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins is so well written I found myself up in the middle of the night finding out what happens next. I have said aloud "Why!"and felt my breathing change in anticipation of the next event. Now that is something I would have never expected. Yes, the characters have strange names and the setting is in a land once known as North America, but the character development and the pace of the books is just right. When I find myself saying it's time to move on, the author moves swiftly in a direction so unpredictable the thoughts in your head begin swirling, trying to rationalize and digest what just happened. By the time you do this, a plot twist will send you for another loop on the proverbial literary roller coaster.

You will find yourself during your daily activities wondering about Katniss Everdeen and the struggles she is facing.

I highly recommend this book to any adult and any student in grade 7 or above. There are three books in the series. The first one is The Hunger Games, the second is Catching Fire, and the third one came out yesterday called Mockingjay. I have just started this one. I am only 10 pages in. I don't want to continue until I can block out a long period of time.

Here is a link about the series from the WSJ:

http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/08/24/mockingjay-please-dont-devour-the-hunger-games/

A Mind Opening Approach to Teaching... A Powerful Week of Change

2010-08-19T21:52:00.000-04:00

Who knew on Monday what would happen when making my first trek up the Merritt Parkway, paired with an arduous stretch on Interstate 91 north, leading to a tucked away magnet school named "Two Rivers". Who knew that I and many others would find that within four days our entire mindset and approach to teaching and learning would be wholly transformed.

This week I along with 28 other fabulous teachers from Danbury, New Milford, and Newtown are entrenched in a new learning and discovery to help understand how to teach science (and all disciplines) in a more practical, logical, and intrinsically motivating way. We are instructed by three classroom teachers who have been where we are and still teach in a classroom every day. They have the knowledge, resources and the "educational toolbox" to help solve our problems and answer our questions.

We are learning the process of teaching using inquiry based methods. I will not outline all of the details, but basically using careful planning, guidance and well executed lessons, you create a framework in your classroom that allows students to dig deeper into subject matter that is highly motivating to them. You create a classroom full of curiosity and wonder, a classroom of discovering, asking more questions, and unearthing new information.

Tuesday and Wednesday we were exposed to stream tables and did a short guided activity with the flow and slope. Out of this came many questions that we had. We were then able to pick a question we wanted explore with like-minded individuals who wanted to explore the same question. There were eight different investigations simultaneously being conducted in a small classroom. My group of four was so focused on our investigation of the formation of deltas (see our deltas in the picture above), we were oblivious to the flurry of activity around us. We were given a basic framework, time, materials, and trust to work together to accomplish our goal of making new discoveries. We did. We collaborated, assigned roles, measured, discussed. We presented our investigation and the data collected. Most of all we had fun...and learned. We learned more than we ever could have in an article about delta formations. Could an article be helpful to our understanding? Absolutely! It does not need to be a front-loading activity for the students. Much more was gleaned from this cooperative endeavor than could ever be from a text.

Making a shift and leaving your teaching comfort zone is quite a challenge. My thinking about instruction is beginning to change. Now I need to jump in, push away the apprehension and doubt swirling about in my mind and get to it.

Click here to read a Danbury News Times article about the program.

(We have learned so much more. I will continue to write about this inquiry approach because we will be working on how to implement this in science all year long. I am going to be thinking about and trying this approach in reading and math as well. Our program is a collaborative effort between Danbury, New Milford, Newtown public schools, Western Connecticut State University, The Connecticut Science Center, and the Sate Department of Education. It is an instructional coaching academy funded through a Math Science Partnership grant. I will attach the link at a later date.)

The Quest for the Perfect (and economical) Cup of Coffee

2010-08-15T23:40:00.000-04:00

The only thing that can bring a smile to my face in the morning besides my wife and children is that heavenly smell of fresh brewed coffee; wafts of steam slowly emanating from the stark white cup. Java, Joe, Brew, whatever you choose to name your morning, afternoon or evening vice, for some late morning and early afternoon vice too, it does not matter. What matters is the taste and smell, and the feeling that fresh brew invokes in you. Whether you have some fancy Krups contraption, a regular old Mr. Coffee 10 cup decanter, or you purchase your lot at the local joint by a barista named Johnny Nice, you know that first sip will dictate most of the rest of your day. Sweet, delicious, aromatic prepared just your way, the day will be splendid. Too much cream, not enough sweetener, watered down, way too strong; your day is headed for sheer disaster.

I do not claim to be a coffee expert in any way. I know little of the fancy terms that litter the caffeine landscape. Coffee is my drink, iced once in a while, frappuccino type blended drinks more seldom. I do know a palatable cup from one I would pour out in the parking lot. At home we make the standard Trader Joe's Classic Blend, the big 32 ounce can for $9.99 in our Wal-Mart purchased Black and Decker standard white 12 cup coffee maker. The results are usually satisfactory. Sometimes quite good. It all depends on dates of the milk or cream in the fridge. Cups on the road have innumerable variables.

Last year I presented my students with a serious mathematical problem. We were studying decimals, so I laid out the cost of coffee in varying sizes from three different establishments. They needed to find out which was the most economical cup. This led us to the belief that this was the best coffee. Thinking back, many flaws lie in this thinking. The first and most considerable is taste, with cost a close second. With taste buds, wallet, and an amateur coffee vocabulary in mind I will try to outline some of the fantastic cups I have enjoyed in my limited traveling area in Connecticut.

The Blue Colony Diner in Newtown was my first foray into the caffeine world as a teen. Late Friday night or heading out after school meant endless refills for one low price. I have not been there in years, but that is where my taste buds came alive. I plan on returning soon to experience once again the roots of my daily vice.

Dunkin Donuts
Dunkin Donuts came on the scene and was the second place my addiction spread. A decent cup, but undependable flavor. You also can not find consistency from one shop to the next. The price on average $2.20 or so for a large is too high for the quality. You can have a fantastic cup, one you can't put down on Monday, then at the same establishment you need to walk back in to have them make you a new cup on Tuesday because it is half cream and sicky sweet. I go there quite often for the convenience, drive through or "thru", and sheer copiousness of this franchise that pervades the Connecticut landscape.

Starbucks
Starbucks is the place I am quite ambivalent about. I always find myself wanting to love the coffee and the ambience of the setting, but for my tastes, neither is just right. I find the brew too strong, even the mild. Inside, the color scheme is much more pleasant than Dunkin Donuts, so the experience sure rates higher. Being able to control the fixings that go into your cup is a big plus. I want to put the cream and sugar in. I know as you do, each customer has a perfect color and sweetness. The logo laden cups and trinkets for sale on every shelf of the store remind me of a vacation gift shop trying to sell you everything as a reminder of the wonderful time you had on your visit. My favorite mug at home is a cylindrical heavy, 20 ounce white cup with a simple brown Starbucks label. They make good products, but the coffee, not so much. The frappuccino is tasty, but for $4.00, a once in a long while treat. A venti at $2.10 is on average less expensive than Dunkin Donuts, and the paper cup gives it the edge. As you can see...ambivalent.

McDonald's
McDonald's has peeked my interest in the past six months or so. They serve Green Mountain coffee, which on its own deserves a great deal of print space for the delicious flavors they deliver to many different types of coffee shops around the state. McDonald's carries Newman's Own organic. Very good flavor, you can fix it yourself if you wish, but... it's McDonald's with their super corporate and step on everyone for a buck philosophy. The positive in that, that is the cost of the coffee, one dollar for any size, even a twenty ouncer ". Now that is economical and it is quite tasty. Good to the last drop. Just don't order any food there. That is their hope. With the java, you order sausage mcsandwiches with bacon and more sausage. If you can avoid that marketing ploy, be sure to give it a try.

Green Mountain and New England Coffee
Back to Green Mountain. You can find this coffee at many gas stations, small sandwich shops, cafeterias, banks, and libraries throughout the state. They have a wide variety of flavors, including my two favorites "wild mountain blueberry" and "maple syrup". I am not a flavored coffee guy but these two are irresistible when available. This is my brand for the Kuerig maker in my classroom as well. For a good cup at any time for a reasonable price where you can control the contents of the cup, you can't beat Green Mountain no matter the establishment. One of my favorites is a gas station off of the Merritt Parkway. Twenty-four ounces fixed the way you like for $1.90. If you can find New England coffee, that is a delicious alternative.

My New Favorite
A small coffee shop with good coffee and atmosphere recently closed in Sandy Hook, Connecticut (a section of Newtown) called Mocha. This quaint shop overlooks a rambling river called the Pootatuck. A new place Demitasse took its place, so I thought I would give it a try. Holy cow, I downed this cup in minutes. After asking a few questions, I learned they serve Willoughby's roasted coffee out of Branford and New Haven. This is near my home. I happened to have an appointment right across the street from the Branford Willoughby's shop a few days later. Reasonably priced, flavorful, leaving you wanting for more. It is just a bit difficult to get to, not on my ride anywhere. I will go out of my way for this cup though.

Coffee. What else can be said. Other thoughts come to mind, but I will save that for another day. In the mean time, greet good morning, good afternoon, and good evening, with an unforgettable cup of Joe.

Please feel free to add your favorites to this list!

Summer Waning...Random Thoughts

2010-08-13T21:46:00.001-04:00

In the weeks leading up to the first day of school my mind begins to fill with work that lays ahead. Two weeks and two days from now I will go to bed with all of the possibilities. The racing thoughts will begin. Is my room ready? What do I do on the first day of school? Is there enough time to meet about the new schedule and the new students? I will toss and turn until the alarm awakens my exhausted body. Once at school, I will chat with buddies, exchange smiles and pleasantries with colleagues, and hear the same old same old same old "How was your summer?" interactions, innumerable times. Meetings will pass by in a blur, information will fail to penetrate my brain because I will have one thought and one thought only. "I need to work in my room!" All will be on edge. The fear of unpreparedness will flow through everyone's brains. The best plan of action: Ignore, ignore, ignore. It's best to have tunnel vision. For now, focus on anything but school. Once you step on the treadmill you can't get off, so it's best not to step...yet. Two weeks, two days. I will not waste my time calculating that math problem. We'll wait...and embrace the sweet last days of summer.

Back to College and My Brain Hurts!

2010-05-26T22:28:00.000-04:00

On May 18, 1996 and 1997 I graduated undergraduate and graduate school at UCONN. Once leaving those institutional doors I thought there was no chance of ever going back. "No more teachers, no more books no more teachers dirty looks." I am a teacher so I see those dirty looks every day. Well, on May 18, 2010 I went back to college. An opportunity came that I couldn't pass up. Free college, with a stipulation that I work with fellow teachers at my school to help be a Math and Science coach. Wish me luck. The second homework assignment, quite impossible. I needed help from two colleagues joining me in the program to answer the 5 end of chapter questions. None of us were sure we were right. It took us all at least 2 hours to complete. Sitting in class, the ADD sets in immediately. The fear of being wrong when answering questions creeps back into my head. Friends do help keep the focus and the fun, thank goodness.

Yes, my brain does hurt. A good hurt.

Hopefully it gets easier!

The Power of Goal Setting!

2009-12-04T22:24:00.000-05:00

I am not a big reader. I do not like reading books very much. My lack of focus sets in making it difficult to persevere through novels, even ones I particularly enjoy. Barnes and Noble purchases can be found unread in every room of my house. Overdue library books are on the coffee table, partially read.

Twitter and Facebook are the greatest inventions of all times. 140 characters, short blurbs with links if you want to read on are my type of reading. Thank goodness for the 21st Century. Uncle John's Bathroom Reader (The Twitter and Facebook of the 20th Century) was my favorite college read; short, to the point, satisfying. Newspapers are pretty good as well. I'm too cheap to subscribe to them anymore though. The iPhone covers most of the sources I need.

As a teacher my job is to help students become exceptional readers who can connect and interpret, analyze and write about a variety of texts.

How can I do this?

I do use the other students in the room. The influence of readers around the room is a great incentive to those few who are unmotivated and unfocused (like me). The students discuss and recommend novels and series daily. Unfortunately, watching and listening to others does not necessarily get some where they need to be.

That's where I come in. Oh boy. This is the hard part. One student came to me on the very first day of school. He told me that he hates reading. Hates reading? This is going to be a long year I thought. My response to him at the time was that hopefully we can change that this year. He looked quite skeptical. I was quite skeptical.

We have an excellent program called Accelerated Reader. (Click on the link to learn more information.) This program helps students become phenomenal readers in a fairly authentic and self-motivating way that I was quite skeptical about from the start. My views have changed significantly since our students have found great success. The students set personal goals that they try to attain each marking period.

This boy did not respond well to this motivation. So we went to the next step. He chose a book. We did some math, he loves math. We divided the number of pages in the book by how many days he wanted to take to complete it. Then a sticky note was placed for each day on the goal page. I checked in with him each day. He finished one day early and said that he felt proud of himself for this big accomplishment. He said that it was not as hard as he thought, and it was "pretty fun". The final thing he said was "I didn't realize I could read a book so quickly".

SUCCESS!

I need to take my own advice.

Trashketball and Monday Morning Quarterbacks!

2009-12-04T21:35:00.000-05:00

Today we played a quick game to help students understand the connections between fractions, decimals, and percents. The students all know how to convert with ease between them. Now we are focusing on real-world examples.

One thing I thought of on the way to school to make it interesting was to take five shots at a trash can and record your ratio (fraction) after each shot. The students stand about five feet away from the can and take shots with recycled paper. They record each students' scores as well.

Here were my scores: 1/1, 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/5
I made my first shot, then missed the next four.

So what were the decimals and percents.
After the first shot, 1.0 or 100%, Then 50%, Then 33.3%, Then 25%, Then 20%.

The students then followed to complete this task. (Most fared better than me.)

At the end of the lesson, one of the students said we should call this "Trashketball".
A quick google search found this to be a game developed by math teachers already for all kinds of math activities. How cool. I will be sure to try some of their suggestions.

On Monday we will branch off into looking at the group as a whole, simplifying the fractions, comparing fractions within and between groups, adding and subtracting fractions.

Thanks to those of you who shared ideas. A former colleague sent along a great football idea. Can't wait to try this Mrs. M.

A Quest for Ideas to Shake this Turkey Funk

2009-12-01T21:54:00.000-05:00

We are working on decimals, fractions, and problem solving in class.

I am feeling quite uninspired with ideas. It must be the Thanksgiving fog I'm still living in.

I need your help.

I need a diverse group of people to respond to tell me how they use fractions, decimals, percents, with problem solving (because it is all problem solving) in their occupations or hobbies.

Don't worry if it doesn't apply to the sixth grade set. That will be my job to make it real. It just may shake me from this "Turkey Funk".

Happy December.

Did you know that if you add consecutive odd numbers starting with one they equal squares?

1+3= 4 (2 squared)
1+3+5 = 9 (3 squared)
follow the pattern.

Pretty neat!

A Busy and Productive Week!

2009-11-13T20:09:00.000-05:00

What a week! It felt like a whirlwind trying to cram every second of math into each day. We were one day short due to conferences, but I think we made up for it.

This week's tasks:

Continue to master converting fractions, decimals, and percents.
Adding and subtracting decimals
Multiplying and dividing decimals
Estimating all problems before solving
A few tricks when estimating
Continue to plan and map out complicated word problems using
the organizational method learned from Arthur Hyde in his excellent book "Comprehending Math".

This method is awesome. He calls it the KWCS

K( know for sure) W( need to find out) C(Special Conditions)

S(Solve)

I call it the KFCS for two reasons. It is easier for kids to remember (The chicken joint). It makes a little more sense to me. The F for find out.

The students take the information from the problem and sort it out. The K and the F are pretty self explanatory. The C is quite interesting. It asks if there are any special conditions, special things that the students need to know in their minds in order to solve the problem. IF the problem involves time, they need to know 60 seconds in a minute, 60 seconds in an hour. If the problem involves customary linear measurement, they need to know there are 12 inches in a foot, 3 feet in a yard. You get the picture.

Having this information organized and sorted makes solving the problem so much easier.
Any tricks can be teased out by carefully reading the information a second time.

We are exploring the different ways to solve each problem. This is our next important step. We will be experimenting with different problem solving strategies, and learning to pick the most efficient method to solve. This whole process is called braiding. I'm only on page 50 or so of this book.

Click here to link to a clear and comprehensive explanation of this process.

Like with writing and reading, the students are stuffing their proverbial backpacks with a load of strategies and tricks to help them attack and conquer anything thrown at them.

Class Average over 90 for all of the tasks listed above!
I hope building these foundations now will make the rest of the year so much easier.

I can't wait to see what happens next!

Isn't it Important? It's All Important.

2009-11-06T23:03:00.000-05:00

I was searching around the State Department of Education's website this week looking for the different possible certifications available in Connecticut to maybe someday in the future further my education. Scrolling through the exhaustive list I found your run of the mill endorsements like Elementary, K-6 (mine) and English 7-12. There were supervisory positions such as Superintendent and Intermediate Supervisor (Not for me). There were even some vague ones like 039 Secondary Subject or 110 Unique Subject Area Endorsement?! I even found one called "107 External Diploma Program/Noncredit Mandated Programs" Bizarre!

There was a comprehensive list for reading and reading instruction, at least six I could count. These included Remedial Reading and Language Arts Consultant. These are quite essential and important to the programs within our schools.

Curiously there was something missing. Hopefully it was just evasive and I couldn't find the precious code. Maybe it was a misprint. That is easy to do. I doubt it though.

There was not one supervisory, consultant, or specialist endorsement in the area of math education. NOT ONE.

I could not find any university education programs that offered this as a program or certification within the state.

How could this be possible. Every school has reading specialists and math specialists. How could there not be an endorsement or certification for math? This sure needs some explaining.

The State Department of Education includes the following lines in its position statement.
7. Appropriately assign highly qualified mathematics teachers who are knowledgeable about content and pedagogy.

8. Recruit and train mathematics teacher leaders to coordinate and support mathematics instruction at all grade levels.

Knowing all of this shouldn't there be an endorsement called "Math Specialist K-8" or "Math Consultant".

All this makes me think that the state thinks that math is not important.

I did find one proposal from November 18, 2008 in the minutes of a meeting. This stated:
"Math Specialist advanced endorsement: certification was generally seen as a positive approach for not interested in pursuing the 092. Elementary people would need the nine credits in math. Language should be modified to say program supervision, as opposed to supervision of staff. Districts can build upon these types of positions. Some of the job responsibilities are not unique to this position, but are qualities for all teachers. There was concern that those presently in these types of positions should be able to use professional development opportunities to fulfill the requirements. Some sort of caveat or “grandfathering” to address current teachers serving in these types of positions. Endorsement builds capacity of teacher leadership."

If this is the state's true intention, then get it started. The kids depend on it!

Note: If you can find anything to contradict this information, please do so, and please let me know about it. My hope is that none of this information is correct.

A Step Back For the Months Ahead

2009-11-03T19:45:00.000-05:00

On my way to work together something triggered my thought process. I don't know if it was an NPR news story or a story from one of the local radio stations in Connecticut. Whatever it was, my thoughts immediately turned to my kids and how important it is during these difficult economic times and the holiday season coming up to be thankful for what we have. Whether you have a small chunk of change, a giant portfolio, or the sixteen billion that Mayor Bloomberg (140 million spent on the campaign?!) has, it is important to remember how fortunate we are.

We need to remember to cherish the joy our children and families bring to us and not to get caught up in the holiday cycle that evokes high levels of stress in all of us. I will do my best to treasure each wonderful moment, show them how much I care for them, and not let any economic, financial or occupational stress get in the way of my most important job, father and husband.

As the calendar turns to November and the ads turn from "Fright" to "Silent Night" sit back, relax, and enjoy the season that is upon us.

(There will be a lot of great math talk around all of the sales bombarding us for the next two months!)

Putting It All Together...

2009-10-30T21:07:00.000-04:00

A couple of us got to talking and thinking last week. This was not at a planned meeting, but one we chose to have in the hallway. (This is how most good meetings happen!) We have a decimal unit. We have a fraction unit. We try to deal with percents here and there. Later in the year ratios and proportions units roll around and we have to re-teach the fraction stuff which we should have been working on all year but didn't have time for. One colleague said, "Why do we refer to these topics as units?" His point was that we use all of these skills all of the time and they are all significantly interrelated.

We end up connecting the decimals to fractions and percents in the decimal unit.
We connect the fractions to decimals and percents.
We connect the ratios and proportions to fractions, decimals and percents.

So I'm sure you can guess the question. Why not teach it all at the same time?

That's what we are going to do.

We started this week. Here's the plan:

Start with teaching them the "how" of it all. They will learn how to convert between fractions, decimals, and percents, to see the relationships. They will become very proficient at this. (They did a great job)

Next, probably the most important step. Teach the "what" and "why". What is it that you are doing and why would you ever do this. They will use the newspaper, advertisements, baseball and football statistics to see how this all applies to most math they will ever do in their lives. We will use percent circles, fraction bars, human beings, whatever it takes to make sense.

Money, money, money! The students know all about it. What better frame of reference! We will even dabble into the stock market, hopefully the stock market game at some point this year.

They will be experts at adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing fractions and decimals. Fractions of a set, fractions of one, fractions of fractions. They will be able to apply these skills to all problems that arise.

We will use current topics. Today we listened to a Marketplace report from American Public Media which airs on NPR. This report about the assembly of the iPhone and the estimate of percent profit that each country involved in the design and manufacture earns. This lesson involved estimation, converting percents to decimals, decimals to fractions, simplifying fractions, adding decimals, adding percents, and adding fractions. This all came from a four minute audio news report. Did I forget to mention a good practice in listening skills. I was really proud of them today! This was followed up by a trusty old favorite "Maths Mansion". This is a british television show that students love. I can access it through Discovery Education. The students learn in a fun and silly way how math works. If you can watch it with your students.

By December 23rd they will be proficient and confident. They will possess the tools to handle any problem thrown their way. We will be sure stop and review but then push on! It should be fun.

We are ready.
We will keep you posted!
Please check back for our progress.

Any suggestions...please, send them our way!

More Science and Math!

2009-10-24T23:26:00.000-04:00

Here is a link to a blog by Education Week about Education Secretary Arne Duncan seeing the need for more science in the curriculum because with No Child Left Behind, science is being "pushed" out of the curriculum. I would use the word squeezed out! This has happened in my school. A link to the article is below.

Duncan said "I worry tremendously about the loss of science and engineering," Duncan said at one point. The main question, he added is: "How do we create the incentives so that students have a well-rounded curriculum?...We're thinking these things though."

What's the Problem? That's the Problem!

2009-10-23T22:54:00.000-04:00

Oh, the age old problem...Word Problems! Kids hate em. They don't get em. When you mention the two words the squirming in the seats begins. The collective "Ugh!" ensues. All of a sudden the teachers words sound like the teacher in Charlie Brown "Wha Wha Wha". (If that didn't happen already.)

My goal this year in sixth grade is to break this vicious cycle of "Word Problem Phobia". I want to get to the bottom of this. I want to know exactly the reasons why each year there is a phobia, dislike, hatred for word problems.

I contend and tell the students that every single problem they will ever have to solve in their lives is a word problem. That math they need to solve is connected to something, whether a trip to the grocery store, a home improvement project, or planning for a birthday party. You never have to do a math problem just for fun, unless you want to. (See last week's blog on Ken Ken's.)

So how will I get to the bottom of this? How will this age old problem be fixed? I'm not quite sure, but I will give it the "Old Intermediate School Try"!

Here's the plan:

~ Give them lots of word problems.
~ Not understanding what is being asked is the big problem. Solving the wrong problem using the wrong numbers is the most common issue. So I will try to teach them specific reading strategies to help understand the problem. We do this in reading, we will apply these same skills to math!
~ Teach them a system of how to organize the information and how to show the work for any problem.
~ The students will work together and help each other. Isn't that how problems in real life are solved?
~ We will solve authentic problems that affect their daily lives.
~ We will use resources such as the wonderful book Comprehending Math by Arthur Hyde.
~ We will try to make it fun and exciting, not Charlie Brownish.
~ I will seek help from others. Will you help me? If you have any thoughts, ideas, suggestions, complaints, please let me know. I am looking for input.

My next problem is to figure out how to get my kids to sleep. That's a serious word problem. (Ugh!)

Stay tuned. I will keep you posted.

Percents, Ken Ken's, and Graphing Away: Math Potpourri!

2009-10-16T20:42:00.000-04:00

Another week down. The theme of this week was powering through. There is never enough time so we just did the full court press.

Problem Solving. Check
Graphing. Check
Ten Percent of any number. Check.
Customary units of measure in ounces and gallons. Check.
Couple of quizzes. Check.
Metric linear measurement. Check

Looking back on it we did a whole bunch of stuff. The most fascinating thing this week though was watching the students during independent working times. They are talking about math. They are asking for math. They want problems to solve. Some students are teaching algebra. Some are very high level math students. To watch them teach basic algebra to other students is amazing. They want to learn!

One crew is on a quest to complete every Ken Ken puzzle around. They started quite simple, but now they are doing the longer, much more difficult puzzles. One character is even trying to make his own. If you don't know, Ken Ken's are number puzzles in the form of Sudoku where you need to find the numbers in the boxes but by doing an algorithm such as adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing. Click the links for more information.

Today's morning message problem came from my ride to work. We were out of orange juice at our house. I bought a 12 ounce container at Dunkin Donuts. This container cost $1.70. My regular half gallon orange juice container from Trader Joe's was empty. The Trader Joe's juice costs $2.99.

How many Dunkin Donuts 12 ounce containers would I need to buy to equal one half gallon?
How much would that much orange juice cost?
How much less does it cost to buy a half gallon at Trader Joe's?
What is the price per ounce?

They started to work on the problem before our quiz today. We are going to finish on Monday. I showed them both containers and one commented how math is part of every day. One said "How cool!" I told them that this is the stuff you can be thinking about while reading the cereal box at breakfast. Each tiny piece of knowledge you gain will connect to another piece of information.

The thing I am most proud of this week was that every student can tell you how to find ten percent of any number. Than to find twenty percent you just double the ten percent. To find five percent you cut the ten percent in half. To find fifteen percent, you add the ten and five together. To find one percent you just move the decimal twice to the left. A pattern will form. It will always be a pattern. They will get to the point where they can find any percent of any number mentally.

No need for a tip calculator for these kids.

Next Week: Unit test, Quick and easy decimal strategies, The facts reprised!

Just The Facts!

2009-10-09T21:55:00.000-04:00

The students must know the facts. Yes.
The students must have addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division mastered. Yes.
The students must be held accountable for the facts every year or they will not retain them. Yes.

The great facts debate was on this week. The beginning of the year fact assessment revealed that students in general need to practice their facts. Some teachers felt that they should already know them and basic facts are something we should not be teaching. Some thought they should just know them because they learned them in second and third grade.

We all know the purpose and the need for students to master their basic arithmetic facts. We all know why they need to have computational fluency. This is the foundation for being quick and accurate when calculating math problems. Just as readers need to be fluent in their reading so they are able to comprehend the text, math students need to fluent to solve the higher order problems they encounter.

I posed this question to the class: "When was the last time you practiced addition and subtraction facts?"
The answers were overwhelmingly second and third grade. As they were completing their facts tests I heard students mumbling, "I need to practice these."

I was glad to hear that.

I told the students that it is okay to not have the speed and accuracy yet. I told them it is not their fault. I told them that they will master these facts. I told them that they will be held accountable for these facts all year long. They will need to be quick. They will need to practice. They will be fine.

We can't expect students to know and retain information if we don't continually hold them accountable. We need to have high expectations, but fair high expectations. We need to bridge the gap from grade to grade and expect the facts to be a part of the curriculum every year.

There is a wonderful article from Scholastic on math fluency. This article details why memorizing the facts is so important for higher-order math skills. Here is an excerpt from the article detailing brain activity during math:

"Recent research in cognitive science, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), has revealed the actual shift in brain activation patterns as untrained math facts are learned (Delazer et al., 2003). As predicted by Dehaene (1997, 1999, 2003), instruction and practice cause math fact processing to move from a quantitative area of the brain to one related to automatic retrieval. Delazer and her colleagues suggest that this shift aids the solving of complex computations that require “the selection of an appropriate resolution algorithm, retrieval of intermediate results, storage and updating in working memory” by substituting some of the intermediate steps with automatic retrieval (Delazer et al., 2004)."

I am looking forward to seeing their progress. Let's get the brain shift moving. I can't wait for the students to feel the pride of being quick and accurate based on independently practicing the facts and being held accountable.

Math, The Way It Could Be?

2009-10-06T21:30:00.000-04:00

Finally I have read an article with data (proof) that there is a need to have math teachers just teach math in elementary school starting in fourth grade at the latest. This month's "American Educator" magazine has the article titled "What's Sophisticated about Elementary Mathematics?

The point of the article is that elementary schools need math teachers. They need teachers who focus specifically on one subject to be able to get to the heart of the matter. Students need to know the basics. They need to know how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide. They also need to know why and how everything works. They need to be able to apply the math to their own life. They need to understand algebraically at a young age how numbers and place value work. They need all of this continually repeated.

When I taught in the lower elementary grades I always felt that math got less attention. I taught it in the afternoon when the little ones were exhausted and sometimes falling asleep on the carpet.

Now there is a push in some places to have math specific teachers. The teachers can focus on one discipline and dig real deep to build those crucial understandings and connections. Lets get that push moving! The students and the country depend on it!

Can we have a little bit of science too?

The Blitz!

2009-09-25T21:22:00.000-04:00

This past weekend the New York Jets did not let up on Mr. Wonderful, Tom Brady! The kept up the blitz. They kept coming with the pressure all the way until the clock hit zero. Mr. Brady was rattled, bruised, and bewildered. He was shaking his head. His coach Mr. Bill Belichick couldn't bare to watch.
They were once so confident. Now they looked so confused!

Chances are they will look at the game film, figure out the problems, and come back stronger and more knowledgeable for the next contest. They will work it out on the practice field in their New England facility. They will not make the same mistakes. They will double check each formation. They will adapt their blocking schemes to protect their prince. Success will follow. That is certain.

The new Jet philosophy brought by Rex Ryan got me thinking.

I needed to borrow his approach and apply it to Math! I needed to put the blitz on these students. I needed to not let up until each and every one had analyzed the problems they were having with standard multi-digit multiplication and long division. I needed to keep the pressure on until they changed their thinking and let go of past math issues. I needed to force them to practice, practice, practice. This is the only way we can move on and have a successful year.

These kids had the same confused look of Brady and Belichick.

It worked! They did the work. They practiced. They changed their mindsets. They became confident.

Thank you Mr. Ryan.

Multiplication and Division Quiz: Class Average 94!

Maybe this week Brady and Belichick can learn from the sixth graders.

A Key to Unlocking Math Confusion...All of Those Words

2009-09-16T21:54:00.000-04:00

After teaching for 13 years I think I have finally found one of the main confusing culprits for students in mathematics...all of that vocabulary. Factors, products, addends, sums, minuends, subtrahends, quotient, dividend, divisor, greater than, less than, greatest common factor, least common multiple, acute, obtuse, supplementary, etc etc etc...

Teaching sixth grade it has finally hit me. They need to know these words . They need to hear them, use them, become comfortable with them. They need to be part of every lesson. Every day they need to hear the old ones, the new ones, and even some crazy ones. They need to be challenged to find out what perfect, deficient, and abundant numbers are. Prime numbers, composite, even and odd need to be ingrained in their brains.

The thing is, I needed to learn all of these terms. The school of education didn't cover them. New teacher training skipped this section. Even if I was told, I'm sure there were more pressing matters. It took some independent reading and classroom discovery to realize this fact. I didn't know. In reading we have learned to front load vocabulary. Teaching math I always felt I needed to jump in and teach. Vocabulary was an afterthought. I knew students were getting confused with Least Common Multiples and Greatest Common Factors, but I needed to push on!

Now we stop and take the time. We stop and study these words. They are part of our daily routine.

I need to go study now. Tomorrow: Factors in multiplication and how they are visually represented along with composing and decomposing higher value units.

BIG NUMBERS small numbers: A trip to Yale University's Peabody Museum of Natural History

2009-09-12T21:02:00.000-04:00

Today I went to the Peabody Museum of Natural History in New Haven with my family. What an impressive place to visit. They have a giant apatosaurs, good old T-Rex, a large assortment of mammals, and a new collection of rocks and minerals. The children's discovery room was fun for the kids...and me too!

A man in the elevator said that he had not been there in fifty years (1959). My wife said she had not been there in 30 years (1979). My kids hadn't been there in one year (2008). I had never been there before today.

That man who visited 50 years earlier said that not much had changed there in 50 years. Some exhibits still had handwritten explanations in pen. The expeditions headed by O.C. Marsh in the 1870's were still the main focus of the entire museum. The building itself almost takes you back in time. The old glass doors, brick facade, and dark entry way bring you back to a time before blogs, the internet, and television for that matter.

One thing I was struck by were the numbers throughout the museum. Numbers that told how long ago these animals lived. Numbers that stated the years in which they were found, the weights in tons of the massive mastodons, and the ounces that tiny birds and mammals measured. There were lengths, speeds at which they moved, years spent tediously uncovering their remains. I can't accurately remember any of them. ( We left 5 hours ago.)

I had a very difficult time comprehending the numbers that I was exposed to. The large numbers were almost incomprehensible. One dinosaur was from 66 million years ago. Another mammal was from 11,000 years ago. Another was from a period I couldn't pronounce 12 million years ago. The leaf cutter ants were from today, found in a place around the world I can't remember.

What is my point? As a teacher of math, my job is to help students understand these vast and miniscule numbers they will come across in the world. They need to be able to compare them to help gain a perspective of the past and the world today. This is quite difficult. I left perplexed trying to put these things into perspective. I have serious work cut out for me. Serious reading to do. I need help from other teachers of mathematics as well.

I will accept any ideas! Please help me!

If you haven't been to The Peabody Museum of Natural History, go. It is a wonderful day in New Haven. A walk to Archie Moore's for lunch tops it off too!

http://www.peabody.yale.edu/

Next time I go back I am bringing a timeline, ruler, and maybe an old school abacus to help figure all this out.

What's in a Name?

2009-09-09T22:01:00.000-04:00

I was pleasantly surprised in today's lesson when we were doing a little number discovery. The students needed to count the letters in their last name. They then needed to write all of the things they knew about that number. So for example if your name is Jones, your last name has 5 letters. What do you know about 5? Well I got the usual "It's odd." "It's the number on a five dollar bill." "It's double is 10." But then something unusual happened, I continued to call on students and they said things like: "It is a prime number." "Its factors are 1 and 5 only." "The multiples of 5 all end in 0 or 5" With even number last names students were telling me about composite numbers. The were discussing squares and square roots. What a handle they seem to have on basic number concepts. This will make for a great start to the year. I can't wait to delve into place value, big and very small numbers. This should be fun!

The one thing missing from this discussion...Baseball. I always relate the numbers to baseball player numbers. Five is David Wright!

Summer Rust!

2009-09-04T20:20:00.000-04:00

I heard it today. The first sign that the kids are back in the swing of school and starting to think about the year ahead of them.

I gave them a test. No, not one for the grade book. Just a test to see what they know and remember. This was your basic multi-digit multiplication and long division, a bit of decimals, fractions, and percents. Then some basic word problems.

As I was picking up the papers I heard those words..."I'm a bit rusty on this stuff."

The boy in the back was clearly serious and the nervous chuckles resonated throughout the room. I then posed this question to the class: "Who else felt a bit rusty on this stuff?" Three-fourths (seventy-five percent or .75) of the students raised their hand.

Of course I told them this was okay. It is the beginning of the year. This undoubtedly reassured those with the nervous chuckles.

Why is it alright to be rusty? Shouldn't the students come in as strong as they left. Their Connecticut Mastery Test scores show they are bright, able, and they showed mastery in March.

Those students who did do some work over the summer clearly stand out. They are the ones who felt quite confident and competent this week. A little bit each week for eight weeks seems to be all it takes.

The students I tutored over the summer felt this confidence and were able to master this task. They had one hour per week of instruction with maybe one extra hour of homework.

My thinking is we should make a little bit of math work mandatory over the summer. Students are expected to come into school having read from a summer reading list. How about a summer math packet. Not one just geared for the CMT's filled with multiple choice questions, but one that builds on skills that they use in the real world such as estimation strategies, tricks to multiply and divide large numbers mentally, and adding large groups of numbers quickly and efficiently.

This is an area in education we probably need to look closely at for the benefit of our students. We need to turn that rust into shine.

President Obama's Speech to Children...What's All the Fuss?

2009-09-03T20:40:00.000-04:00

A quick stroll around the web will get you angry and angrier. President Obama is planning on giving a speech on Tuesday, September 8, 2009 at 1:00 pm to the students of America.

What a wonderful idea.

His goal is to: "challenge students to work hard, set educational goals and take responsibility for their learning", and calls for a "shared responsibility" among students, parents and educators to maximize learning potential.

So why will a quick stroll around the web make you angry and angrier. Well, there are legions of people calling their local superintendents throughout the country to not have their children see this; not have their child hear a motivational speech about the wonderful opportunities that a good education can bring you.

This New York Times article from September 3, 2009 summarizes some of the thinking that I am referring to.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/04/us/04school.html

It wouldn't matter to me who the President of the United States was. If the President makes a speech to the country about the virtues of a good education, hard work, and setting goals, the students must listen. What better person to hear this from, the one who holds the highest office in the land. The one who himself, and hopefully one day herself holds degrees and advanced degrees. One who has spent a good portion of their lives trying to help others in some way.

If this was George W. Bush...we would listen.

If this was FDR...we would listen by the fire.

Since this is Barack Obama...we must listen and watch live...streaming on the internet and televisions of our classrooms.

Our students best interests will only be served if they hear this message of being the best they can be. Maybe we all can take a little something from this. Sometimes a new voice is all it takes.

Here is a link to the speech information.

http://www.ed.gov/index.jhtml

About Face, About Sleep!

2009-09-02T20:27:00.000-04:00

A colleague of mine and I were talking yesterday about the topic of naptime in school. He read an article about the benefits of having students, yes students in sixth grade taking power naps in school.

I thought this was a crazy, wacky, preposterous idea. Even first graders never got naps. If a student fell asleep when I taught first grade it certainly wouldn't last for long. We had curriculum to cover. We had knowledge to gain. You get the point.

My colleague approached one of our bosses on the topic. They said if it can be backed up by data it is fine.

HE HAS THE DATA!

NAPPING! THIS IS THE GREATEST THING EVER!

I take back all that I said in the last post. Let's have a designated time to nap. Let's rejuvenate our brains and bodies for the afternoon. Let's try it out! What is the most we can lose?

I am now furiously on the hunt for MORE studies and data so if someone walks in and asks what in the world we are doing, I can wake from my slumber in the comfy computer chair and hand them the study hanging on the wall. If you find any studies please pass them along.

Good Night.

The National Sleep Foundation has this article along with many others.

http://www.sleepfoundation.org/article/sleep-topics/napping

Here is one study in Connecticut.

http://www.education-world.com/a_admin/admin/admin315.shtml

Here is another by The Institute of Mental Health.

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/science-news/2002/power-nap-prevents-burnout-morning-sleep-perfects-a-skill.shtml

Where Do We Begin?

2009-08-31T21:33:00.001-04:00

I came to may mailbox today and found CMT scores. Lots of scores.

I went to my e-mail and it said the students need to master their facts. Lots of facts.

I attended meetings. Lots of meetings, lots of talking, lots of wishing I was sleeping.

Lunch was good though!

It is a new year though and I am excited to get down to the real business of teaching math, reading, and science.

Stay tuned as we embark on a new journey. These kids are going to feel the wrath of math. I hope they are ready. I hope they have mastered their facts. I hope they get their sleep...

just not in class.

The Head Down Generation...or Decade?

2009-08-30T22:02:00.000-04:00

You are standing in line somewhere at some store or anywhere for that matter and you notice something. You start thinking about what you observed. What is happening? Then you look around and it is happening everywhere. What are they doing? Where have you been? What have you been missing? Why is everybody doing this?

You go to another place and you see the very same thing.

At first it was from the young...teens, pre-teens, college students. Then the more you look, adults...GenXers, Baby Boomers, 20 somethings whatever they are, even a few octogenarians.

What is this phenomenon?

People walking with their head buried in the cell phone, smart phone, iphone, whatever.

They are text messaging, e-mailing, facebooking, tweeting like maniacs. Some are not looking where they are going. Some are obviously doing this while driving.

Texting has exploded! It is everywhere. The kid at the checkout at Stop and Shop. The Barista at the coffee shop. The parents whose kids are running wild at the store. Do we hear less phones ringing in public?

I am now on the lookout for some funny and outrageous places where you see this texting going on. Ever see two people collide while texting? Share your stories let me know about funny or ridiculous texting situations.

I'm sure the chiropractors and massage therapists are excited about this.

In the meantime...

Keep YOUR head up!

Bye the way if you are interested, follow the link below to the Kansas Sate Fair Text Messaging Contest.

http://www.kansasstatefair.com/pagedescription.php?id=1069&pages=sf

Common Numbers Everyone Must Know!

2009-08-27T19:19:00.001-04:00

As I have been teaching and tutoring throughout the school year and summer for students in varying types of school settings, I have been finding out some interesting information. Many students do not know some of the common numbers from our daily lives that we were drilled with and tested on every year throughout our schooling. At some point these numbers are missed. Maybe these common facts are taken for granted. In lieu of learning these numbers maybe the curriculums tell us to push on and do more complicated tasks. I feel that "pressure" to get through what we need to get through. What numbers am I talking about? Here is a list. See if you know the answers. If not, find out the answers. How? If you are not sure how, e-mail me and I will help you.

1. How any days are in a week, year?

2. How many weeks are in a year?

3. How many hours in a day? In a week?

4. How many inches in a foot, yard?

5. How many feet in a mile?

6. How many cups in a gallon?

7. How many ounces in a cup?

8. How many ounces in a pound?

9. How many pounds in a ton?

10. How many days are in each month?

This is all for now. There are plenty more that need to be committed to your memory. I will be back again in less than 168 hours.

A New Year: A New Mathematical Journey!

2009-08-26T17:37:00.000-04:00

Here we go. The start to a new year. I sure hope everyone has been practicing their facts. Not just multiplication, which is the main focus from third to fifth grade, but division, addition and especially subtraction. Each year subtraction is the slowest and least mastered of all the basic facts. It is so important for students to have these mastered before we can do anything else. But how can this be done? The old fashioned way: PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE! Work on these each day. Write them out, memorize them in order, write them out some more. Say them aloud over and over. Ask a friend, relative, parent to read facts to you and answer them. Try the opposite way. Have them give you an answer to a fact and you give all of the possible facts that could go with it. Mastering the facts will help you become successful and will make your math life so much more positive. That's a fact!

The Beginning

2009-08-26T00:04:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my math blog. This blog will consist of short math observations and ideas. It may also include other miscellaneous topics.

Thank you!