Education Short List

Ahh, math word problems – the nemesis of every K-12 student.

The three things I get the most tutoring calls for is handwriting, study skills, and math, specifically math word problems.

I totally get it – word problems are difficult. It’s only been in the past three years that I have felt comfortable with them. Yet there are still times when I get completely stumped.

But, starting out in elementary school it doesn’t need to be so hard. First, teachers should stop telling their students that word problems are really difficult to learn. By doing this repeatedly throughout a child’s education, you are basically setting them up to fail. Instead, just teach word problems like it’s any other lesson. Thereby teaching students that word problems do have their difficulty but can be learned and mastered. I would also suggest using pictures, or even better – math manipulatives – to give a visual representation to the problems that students are doing.

Another strategy is to examine word problems from real life. Any good saleswoman will tell you that if you can make a connection with a prospective buyer, then you have already won. The same concept is very true for math word problems. If you can get your students to make a personal connection to the work, it becomes that much easier for them to understand and comprehend them. I like to use examples about buying games or eating lunch. “If you are given $9.80 from your family on Monday to buy lunch for the whole week; how much do you have to spend each day? Say you want to buy pizza on Monday, and that is $1.75; sandwich and a salad is $3.00 on Tuesday; what is the rest that is left?” Get the students involved, talk about percentages and fractions too. “The game you want is listed as $29.50; but it says that you can take 25% off, what is the new price?” Have students work in pairs or small groups. By bringing their own world to the lessons they are learning, it gives them ownership and makes them feel important; while at the same time allowing them to learn.

As for when it comes to taking a test that is filled with word problems, I have a four step process that gives the test taker a better chance at being successful.
1. remember that word problems are meant to be confusing and contain more information than is needed to complete the actual question
2. Read the actual question FIRST
3. Read the whole problem and the question. Put a box around any information that directly relates to what the question is asking you.
4. Complete the problem.

By breaking down word problems and demystifying why they are so difficult, you allow your students to be more successful and help them to understand and use a concept that will be very helpful later on in life.

Really, what about the Olympics can’t be made into a lesson? There’s history, athletics, mathematics, geography, measurements, distance, arts, public speaking, coloring/drawing, graphs, reports, research, languages, foreign cultures, etc.

For me, as an educator, the biggest frustration I had with graduate school was that my professors wanted me to bring more to my lessons and give my students more; but never gave me the direction on how to do that. By taking this long-term option of integrating the Olympics – a teacher has a great opportunity to do more with the lessons they are already teaching.

For elementary school:
– find a map of the world and locate the countries that are participating in the Olympics on it

- coloring: the flags of the different countries could provide fine motor skills functions lessons for pre-k -3rd grade

- biography reports

- reading stories from other countries or stories about the Olympics

http://www.lessonplanspage.com/MathOlympicsMedalsGraphIdea35.htm

http://www.lessonplanspage.com/PEMDOlympicOpeningCeremoniesAndGameDaysK6.htm

For middle school:
- Book Reports about athletics, athletes, biographies, history of the Olympics, countries, using the country and creating a personal family history timeline

- listen to music and national anthems from various countries

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/lessons/17/gk2/olympic.html

For high school:
- Reports about athletics, athletes, biographies, history of the Olympics, countries, using the country and creating a personal family history timeline. The same idea as the middle school lessons, but more indepth and have them include resources

- Pick a country and discover their journey to the Olympics

http://www.vancouver2010.com/

http://eduforum.vancouver2010.com/

These are just a few ideas I can think of off the top of my head. Here are some additional links that should support your work academically. I’d like to know if you have any other ideas or lessons that have worked for you in the past.

And families — don’t be afraid to get in this action yourself!

Over the past six years, I’ve been in a lot of classroom and met a lot of students. As in life, there were those that stuck out in my mind; who are still in my thoughts today.

I met J when she was in the 3rd grade. She was a tall bean pole with dark brown hair, caramel skin, and big brown eyes. She was very bright and eager to succeed academically. But, I didn’t get to really know her until she was my student in 4th grade.

Academically, J was the best in her grade. But, instead of being pushy or snotty about it, she completely understood that school came easier to her rather than others. Once I suggested to J that she use her smarts to help others. Right away she sought out a peer who was struggling in class, and helped him. Quite often, during silent reading, I would find that she had taken different students outside to either read to them, or have them read to her. This peer-to-peer interaction was so great, for J and the others. She was a teacher’s dream in that way. She also liked to help around the classroom; during her free time and recess I knew that I could count on J to be of assistance.

There was one time, when we had to do a writing assessment, that J did not perform the way in which I thought she would. talk about the writing assessment. I was no longer J’s teacher, but her writing teacher was worried about how she was going to do on the exam. So she sent J to me. J was crying and sobbing. She was soo worried about this exam; she wanted to be perfect. She stayed with me the whole morning. Part of the time she sat under the desk, just sort of shaking.

As with all students, an educator wants to see their pupils succeed; to have them go on and follow their dreams and passions. I remember J told me once of wanting to be the first Mexican American president, female president. But that she couldn’t, because her father told her that a woman wasn’t going to be president, as well as that a Mexican-American girl couldn’t be President. I reaffirmed for her, that since she was born in the U.S. that there was no stopping her dream. I wonder what she thought that now the U.S. has an African American as the president. Or if she felt a kinship to Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor; since both are of Latino decent.

Often I think of J becoming an adult and being the first Mexican-American female President. If I ever had a student who could, it was J.

Even now that she is in 7th grade, I think of her fondly. She was part of the inspiration for the line of educational games that I have been creating. I know that she is going to go far.

As if we needed more reason to encourage our kids to get healthy.

Parade Magazine
http://www.parade.com/news/intelligence-report/archive/100110-should-students-be-forced-to-get-fit.html

I think that our kids should be forced to be fit. When I was in school, not too many eons ago, we had to do jumping jacks, sit ups, run a mile, and get dirty too. Now, those things are elective. Parents don’t want their kids to get dirty or exert themselves too much. Coupled with the lack of certified physical education instructors – our kids are fat, out of shape, and aren’t aware that it is going to get worse. We are the adults, it’s our responsibility – and privilege – to show our children and our students the right way to get healthy.

Oregon prescription for fitness

http://www.oregonlive.com/health/index.ssf/2010/01/doctors_prescribe_play_to_get.html

Another article (how many more is it going to take to convince people to eat better?), this one from The Oregonian; that discusses how doctors are getting more involved with childhood obesity. Here, the article directly relates to others I have posted about the need for play. Playing, being physically active, not only is the best way to stay in shape – but it exercises the mind as well. Does anyone see the link between the increase of obesity and A.D.D diagnoses and the increase of television watching tied in with the decrease of physical activity?

Not all adults know the name of Jeff Kinney; but if you were to ask middle school and elementary aged boys – they would tell you who Mr. Kinney is. The author of The Diary of a Wimpy Kid books has recently released the fourth installment of the series.

As an educator, I am glad for these series of books that are geared towards boys, and younger aged boys too. To me, it seems that boys, more than girls, have a hard time getting into reading or finding books of some depth that really relate to them. Yes, I will always be grateful to Captain Underpants; but I like to give my students something more — something in between Captain Underpants and Harry Potter. I feel that Diary of a Wimpy Kid fits there. There are two additional reasons I encourage my students to read the series.

One, I like the comic strips added into it. It tricks some students into thinking that a comic strip isn’t real reading. When in reality, any reading, is well — reading. And two, I like how it is set up for journaling. When I taught in the classroom I had my students journal every day for at least fifteen minutes. Journaling is a great activity for anyone, but especially students who are in the beginning stages of writing and creating longer written works. Once this series came to my attention, I made references to it. I would also show my students how writing in a journal is different for everyone, and that NO it didn’t have to be called a diary.

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If you haven’t gotten to know this series, I recommend that you do. Maybe give book one to a child you know during their December break from school.

www.theweek.com/article/index/101895/Author_of_the_week_Jeff_Kinney

www.wimpykid.com/

www.funbrain.com/journal/Journal.html?ThisJournalDay=1&ThisPage=1

When I was a classroom teacher, I really enjoyed being able to bring current events into our classroom and integrate them into lesson plans.

Here is one that relates to the Gold Rush in California during the 1800s. A lost shipping vessel was recently found. There are so many great ways to use this story and build upon it in the classroom.

http://www.theweek.com/article/index/103471/Germany_restores_1936_highjump_record_to_Jewish_athlete_and_more

Divers find shipwreck from the Klondike Gold Rush
Archaeologists have located the only known untouched shipwreck from the Klondike Gold Rush, 108 years after the vessel sank. The sternwheeler A.J. Goddard vanished in Lake Laberge in the Yukon on Oct. 22, 1901, killing three of its five crewmen. But a diving team, funded in part by the National Geographic Society, announced this week that it had found the Goddard resting upright in 40 feet of water, relatively intact. “It’s a rare window into the past,” said nautical archaeologist James Delgado, who helped find the wreck. About 30 Gold Rush–era shipwrecks exist in the Yukon region, but most of them have either been salvaged or are in poor condition.

Earlier this year I wrote several articles about schools and how they are dealing with the economic recession. The majority of the articles spoke about how class sizes are becoming bigger and students are going without extracurricular activities.

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In The Week Magazine two weeks ago, there was an article about how Hawaii is creating shorter school years for the next two years. The reason for this is due to budgetary issues.

http://www.theweek.com/article/index/101995/The_world_at_a_glance____United_States

Honolulu
 School year cut: In an effort to cut $468 million from the state education budget over the next two years, Hawaii’s teachers have agreed to take Fridays off for the rest of the school year. The plan, which goes into effect next week, will give Hawaii’s 171,000 public-school students the nation’s shortest school year, at 163 days. Although teachers say they will try to compress five days of schoolwork into four days each week, parents are objecting. “It’s just not enough time to learn,” said state PTA president Valerie Sonoda. Hawaii already trails most states in national education achievement.

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A school district in Portland, OR head an auction recently. There they sold basketball bards, toilet paper, and copier paper (among other items). What was the reason for the auction? To aide the district in generating much needed funds. The reason for selling these particular items? Because the schools and teachers had deemed them unnecessary. How does someone find that toilet paper is unnecessary?

http://wweek.com/editorial/3551/13258/

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In California, local universities, teachers, and workers are taking furlong days for the year. Again, the reasoning being it is finances.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lausd14-2009nov14,0,359774.story

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These three stories aren’t the only ones out there. Schools and districts across the country are facing fiscal hardships. Although these little ways help the districts to save money; the long-term affects on the educators and their students doesn’t seem to be a concern.

It is confounding to me how someone can think that teachers can cram five days worth of lessons into four. There’s barely enough time as it is. And with more and more schools having to worry about meeting national standards, teachers are taking out any creative lesson planning and filling it with test preparations. How are students supposed to take their tests if they don’t have paper to write on? You laugh, but I had two students who, at the end of last school year, were doing work on colored copier paper; or taking exams from overhead copies because the teachers didn’t have enough paper to print out the test for all of the students.

Situations such as these, in my humble educational opinion, are a tragedy along the lines of a Shakespearean play. In the long run, the only ones who are going to be suffering from these shortcuts are our children. The depth and breadth of their education will diminish; which will put them at an even great disadvantage later on, then they already are facing today.

Earlier this year I wrote an article about how teachers are ‘thinking outside the box’ when it comes to keeping their students engaged. Schools across the country are having their students sit on Pilates exercise balls to retain their focus. http://educationshortlist.com/2009/04/fidgeting-untapped-energy-source/

Another article, from the LA Times discusses the value of focusing students’ attention.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-bouncy-balls16-2009nov16,0,4338209.story

Unfortunately, I believe that more and more of these types of articles will be popping up in the next few years. As class sizes increase, educators are going to have to find creative ways to gain their attention. So, it would be wise for teachers to take note of these types of articles.

The winter holidays are quickly approaching, teachers are excited about being able to integrate some fun, alternative, creative lessons. But, while still enjoying the celebration it is just as important to acknowledge and learn about something other than just Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Teaching Tolerance created a great resource of lessons for just this purpose. The part that I think is the best is that these lessons aren’t just geared toward elementary-aged students (as it common during this time of year); so educators are able to give their high school students something different as well.

http://www.tolerance.org/activity/school-holiday-calendar?ttnewsletter=ttnewsgen-111509

The frustration expressed by students when they don’t comprehend a concept can be difficult and overwhelming for the students. The frustration combined with the younger person’s rationale that you, the adult, have everything figured out and learned is all so easily, is the hardship that the instructors have to bear. Repeatedly I’ve hard students say the following:

“I don’t read as well as you do.”

“ My handwriting isn’t as nice or neat as yours.”

“You can multiply faster than me.”

“You know lots about Shakespeare.”

Each time a students says a disparaging remark about themselves, I just want to hug them. Instead, what I do is to tell them this, “It takes time, practice, and effort to become an expert at something. And it’s true. It took me two degrees, multiple certifications, countless tests, and five years of teaching for me to be able to help my students. Besides, wouldn’t it be sad if I DIDN’T know how to do ‘ xyz’ better than you? Especially when I am the one who is supposed to be teaching you?”

Although I have a few strategies to help squelch students’ frustrations, it doesn’t make it any less difficult when I hear their sigh of aggravation. I suppose, really, it doesn’t make a difference to them knowing that I didn’t learn multiplication in a day; but, perhaps it makes it a little less frustrating.