Smart Exchange.

  I am a proud owner of a Smart Board attached to my wall.  I use it for so many things from showing videos in class, to creating units with notes to playing jeopardy.   I don't think I go a day without using it.

For those of you who don't know, the Smart Board people offer a place where you can post materials or download materials.  Its called the Smart Board Exchange and is filled with materials for almost every subject.  A few presentations cost money but for the most part, they are free.

You can type in a topic or you can use an advanced search which allows you to narrow your search to topic and grade.  I typed in trigonometric graphs because we'll be doing that in the advanced math class next week.  I came up with several possibilities such as a 12 slide presentation on graphs to a 55 page one that shows the relationship between the unit circle and the graph of the trig ratios.

The site is set up so you can preview the material before you download it.  Sometimes the material I want is spread out over two or three presentations, so I integrate the slides I want into one presentation. 

Many of these presentations are interactive, have movement, vocabulary, questions, both guided and independent practice so its not just you show and they watch.  Students often get up and get to interact with the board.  I've actually written clarifying information on slides when my students had trouble understanding the material. 

Since I work with ELL students, I sometimes download a grade 5 presentation because it provides the material at the right level for their understanding.  Other times, I might download the lower grade because it is filled with animation that is perfect for getting student attention.

If you have a smart board, check the site out and find all sorts of great material.  It might save time as you prepare for your weekly lessons. 

Can We Teach Students Not To Multitask?

  We are all aware of the myth swirling around society.  The one stating we can all multitask but those of us who stay abreast of research know it is a myth.  Although you may being trying to do a variety of things at once such as surfing the internet, texting on your phone, listening to music, or reading a book, we know you can only focus on one thing at a time.

Recent neuroscience research shows that our brain is not capable of multitasking in the ways we thought possible.  Even attempting to do two things at once is still not possible.  What we think of as multitasking is not.  What actually happens is that every time we change our focus, our brains go through a start and stop process that in the long run wastes time.  We actually become less efficient. In addition, we make more mistakes and it can sap our energy.

So how do we convince our students not to multitask.  My school does not allow the use of mobile devices in school during the day except for lunch because students want to spend time checking for texts or listening to music.  In one study it was discovered students could not go more than two minutes before checking their facebook account or reading texts and by the end of 15 minutes only 65% of their time had been applied to studying. 

This same article indicates that results from various studies indicate student learning is not as deep or good as if they apply their full attention to studying.  In addition, they understand and remember less and are unable to transfer knowledge as well as they should. 

My students are always telling me they need their device so they can listen to music while they study.  I allow it in the evenings during study hall and I've noticed they spend more time actually switching between songs than they do studying.  When I point it out, they tell me it is not interfering with their studying.

So I struggle with convincing my students they are wrong.  I found a lovely activity at Psychology Today to show them multitasking is a myth.  It is easy to do and you might change it a bit to let them text while doing it.  I don't know if I'll convince them of it but I'll keep trying.

Common Core Testing Dropouts

  According to Education Week, the number of states participating in the standardized PARCC and Smarter Balance Tests are dropping.  I know our state had signed up for Smarter Balance and then changed to a different test that had its own issues and we never implemented the test.  Last I heard, the state of Alaska is working on something else.

So why are state dropping out of Common Core after so much time was spent implementing it?  Some of it has to do with dropping scores.  Since the new testing focused on different standards and on different aspects, students were not as prepared for these tests so the scores showed a decline.  Unfortunately dropping scores are often seen as the failure of a district to teach students, not as a possiblee adjustment  to a new type of test. 

People forget that anytime a new curriculum or a new testing system is implemented, test results decline.  It can take 5 to 7 years for any new program to start showing real results because everyone has had a chance to use the program properly.  We cannot change tests and expect the same results as before. 

I checked out some practice questions from the Smarter Balance test and I knew my students would not do well because the questions were expressed in ways they were not used to.  Furthermore, there were questions using methods I'd never seen before and it took a while to understand what was being asked.  If teachers are having difficulty with the way questions are posed, just think about the students.

Since there is a push to perform well on any standardized test, some states have changed the rubric for  interpreting the scores so results are more favorable looking to the public.  Although this defeats the purpose of a company created rubric, one can understand a states desire not to appear to be a failure in educating students.

Furthermore, most of these tests are switching from pencil and paper based to computer based which is great if you have an internet system that is guaranteed to have the necessary band width, enough computers, and the provider does not run into issues.  Last year, the computer based tests were cancelled at the last minute because the provider ended up having a line cut and we couldn't access them.

So where do we go from now?  We need to choose a course of action and stick to it rather than try this or that. What is your opinion on this topic?

Labor Day Warm-up

House Flies

Cocoa Beans

Concrete Examples in Math

  Using concrete examples is the last of the six learning strategies but it is a topic that sounds easy at first but isn't that easy to define a concrete example in mathematics.

Often times the concrete examples are explained using the application or effect it has in a situation.  The Learning Scientists in their blog use the example of scarcity to demonstrate  its meaning using airlines as their concrete example.

So in Mathematics, concrete examples often manifest themselves as real world examples such as the use of the parabolic flight path in Angry Birds.  You have to choose the correct path so you wipe out the enemy.  This is really easy to find concrete examples.  When studying ellipses, you only have to look at planetary orbits but finding a concrete example for hyperbolas are a bit more difficult.  However, circles are fairly easy by talking about certain types of buildings.

Ratio and proportions are all over the place from reading scale models and finding how far a place is based on a map. Percentages, mark-ups, discounts, are found all over the place in the newspapers, on the television, and so many other places.  In addition, finding applications for area and volume are just as easy but what about some of the other topics like multiplying binomials.

One concrete idea I have is based on the idea of planning a square room and determining the change in the area by changing the measurements say adding three feet to one side and subtracting 2 feet from the other so you have a rectangular shaped room.  Perhaps you are planning to build a house on a narrow lot and you need the house to be so many feet from the sides and back.  I think you could use binomials to help figure out the area of the house.  This is a much harder topic to find concrete examples for.

On the other hand, trig is seen in surveying, flight, and so many other real world applications that you really don't have to search.  When I look for concrete examples, I try for ones that make sense to my students and seem real rather than made up.  I always hated those train problems.  You know the ones where one train leaves at a certain time and a second train leaves two hours later from the opposite direction.  They never made any sense to me.  If someone had explained I needed to know that so they could have the switch ready so the trains didn't crash, I would have been happy but the problem itself made no sense to me without the context of why.

Think about it.  Most railway lines are only made for trains to go one at a time, so if you have two trains using the same track, you have to figure out where to have them pass safely.  Linear equations are nice because business provides us with activities.  Unfortunately some of our older examples such as rental cars are falling into the past.  It used to be they would charge a daily rate plus an unlimited mileage rate but now its usually a flat rate with unlimited miles.

That is the only thing with concrete examples.  My concrete examples often change due to companies changing the way they do things.  It makes life interesting.

I am still deciding if manipulatives provide concrete examples or if they provide concrete visualization for students.  I'm off for the day, have a great weekend.