pow!

This week in professional development one of our technology gurus, Jen Baselice, led a lunch and learn session on using Powtoons.  This program allows you to create videos pretty quickly and effectively.  It may be a little tricky to learn at first, but in no time at all, you are up and running.  I am posting my first Powtoon here and invite you to try it.  This one took me about 40 minutes, and it's far from perfect, but it sure is a fun alternative for content delivery. I'll bet students can make some great Powtoons too!  There's a lot more cool features that I didn't use here and I can't wait to get started.  I know the next one will be better and faster!  Did I mention the best part?  It's free! 

Feel free to post questions in the comments below, and I'll do my best to answer them. 

does money matter? (student edition)

So yesterday I posted an article suggesting that simply paying teachers more might improve schools and student performance.  Today I'd like to talk about student earnings, post graduation.

A new website, beyondeducation.org, looks at the salaries of recent grads with various degrees at colleges and universities in Florida.  The idea is to help students think about the job market and how their choice of major might impact their future.  The site is a little confusing, but I suggest you click the explore data tab at the top of the home page.

An article in the Orlando Sentinel last weekend suggested some additional impacts to knowing this data.  For example, "Earlier this month, the Board of Governors of Florida's university system said it will start considering the wages of bachelor's degree holders when it decides which schools get performance funding." and "President Barack Obama has directed the U.S. Department of Education to develop a system of rating colleges based on factors such as graduates' earnings and their loan-default rates." You can read the full text of the article here. 

There's a lot for students to think about in this data.  Pragmatically, if you are a student or the parent of a student today, would knowing the average salaries for graduates of various schools and degrees help you choose a college or a major? 

I'd also like to consider the cultural impact of this data on traditionally low-paying careers and majors.  Will sculptors switch to engineering, just for the money?  Will writers abandon their novels for a degree in computer programming?  What impact will this have on the arts, on literature, on all the non STEM fields?  These are important questions, not just for individuals, but for our society as a whole. 

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does money matter? (teacher's edition)

Today's post is part one of a two part discussion on the impact of money on teachers and students in education. 

 

What if we simply paid teachers more?  What if we offered teachers incentives for improving their skills and learning more?  What if we offered incentives to teachers if their students did better?  What if we let teachers decide how to make improvements happen?

It's an interesting proposition, one that was implemented in the 1990s in North Carolina and is again being suggested by former NC Governor, Jim Hunt.  You can read about what North Carolina did, their results, a Jim Hunt's current proposal here.

I think we need to ask important questions here, because the answers matter.  Why did this seem to work in North Carolina?  Why did North Carolina stop?  Will it work again?  Is it worth it to try? 

What do you think? 

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seeing the forest for the trees

Today in calculus we were discussing differential equations, an important topic in the AP curriculum.  I have posted a sample of a question here.  There is a similar question on the test almost every year, and you can see all kinds of questions here.

What makes this question so important is that students are asked to apply the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus.  As it's name implies, it is the fundamental centerpiece of my AB Calculus curriculum and describes the relationship between two seemingly disparate processes, differentiation and integration. 

In the last minute of class, I asked my students why we were solving problems of this type.  I am sad to report that most of them did not know.  They had not yet made the connection between today's work and a theorem we learned last semester.  In the context of education, I think helping students make such connections is one of the most important things teachers do.  In every curriculum, there are big, hairy ideas and tiny details.  Differentiating between them is vital to a comprehensive understanding of mathematics at every level. 

When kids are learning, every single day is a tree.  As a result there are seemingly 100+ identical trees.  But that's not really true.  There are mighty oaks, sweeping willows, and scrawny weeds.  The best students are terrific gardeners.  I'm suggesting you ask your students why what you are studying this week is important and report back on the results.  I'm betting many of them don't really know.  If they don't, maybe you can take them up in the helicopter so they can see the entire forest once in a while. 

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two roads diverged in a yellow wood

Our society seems to think that there is a best way for a school, a teacher, or a community to educate children.  There is apparently only one way, a standardized test, to measure the progress that children make.  I disagree at every step of this discussion.  This link is the story of how one school and community has chosen to educate their children.  It's working well, but it is not the only road to success.  We all need to remember there are many roads to where we are going. I would love to hear about innovative programs in your school that help students work to their potential.  Please share! 



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putting the "pro" in procrastination

Procrastination:  To put off or defer until a later time

In calculus class our weeks are structured so that the beginning of the week is the presentation of new concepts, the middle of the week is the practicing of these new concepts, and the end of the week is the assessment.  The class is structured in this way for several reasons, but the result is that because we test or quiz on most Fridays, we rarely have weekend homework.

Calculus-free weekends have been a constant this year in the class, something I thought was really valuable for students.  This week was shortened, but we learned a lot of new material, and as a result, we are not quite ready for a Friday quiz or test.  I offered to make the online homework assignment due on Monday morning instead of Friday afternoon, as I had heard several students had a heavy load of work. I figured that most of them would decline, valuing their weekend.

I found the opposite was true.  As soon as I offered to extend their deadline today, many students simply stopped working.  Conversations with neighbors were suddenly about everything but math.  I really can't wait to ask them how they felt about their procrastination on Monday.  The teacher in me senses a really nice "teaching moment." 

I have to wonder how procrastination develops, as most everyone I know does it, adults and teenagers alike.  Is it part of our genetic code, built into our programming, or is it as much learned as calculus, learned like most of what we do in school? 

Other questions:  Does our "just in time" society contribute to the idea of procrastination?  Is it really just a matter of having too much to do?  Are there long-term negative consequences from procrastination?  Does it change our brain chemistry?

If you know anything about procrastination, you know you'd rather comment on this blog post than go back to whatever you "should" be doing, so go ahead and comment.

Do you procrastinate? 

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what makes a teacher great?

Over the past few months I have been engaged in activities at our school that have made me ask the question, what makes a teacher great?  If you have a moment, please think about the best teacher you ever had in school.  (Your favorite teacher might not have been your best teacher.  I am looking for the qualities of a great teacher, not a popular one.)  In the comments, list the qualities that made that teacher great, the things you remember that helped you learn effectively or love a particular discipline.  Thank you so much for your help. 

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