Teaching in an App Wonderland
There is clearly a big need for improvement in the current status of mathematics learning in all grades below high school. A major issue is dealing with students’ attention and excitement for working on math problems. Silence and a lack of enthusiasm have become the result, thus narrowing the opportunities for many occupations and careers in science and technology.
Many programs aim to increase the number of students staying in advance Math classes, like STEM (curriculum designed to build strengths for Science, technology, engineering and mathematics), within the App market and other technologies are playing the same game.
Lost in the great multitude of options are many options. Between free apps, paid apps, iphone only, android only, some cover one aspect of the curriculum and others the rest. The challenge of all this only becomes greater when the teacher must use their own free time to pick the right fit for their classroom.
Once the educator has chosen an app they will notice most programs address mechanical processes, ignoring the learner in experiencing conceptual understanding.
The pressure for teachers to give a 21st century education is real. The trend is only growing. In my research I question if an app is teaching fractions, how can they explain that shooting at something as fast as you can has any connection to math?
Has anything changed in Math education? Do we believe more in behavioristic learning than to constructivist learning? Are students more motivated? Why do they come to school?
Most likely students come to school because they want to be together. Learning is a social activity and the role of the schools is to provide challenging and innovative learning experiences for them. Of course today’s student wants to use modern technologies, which are an excellent help for practicing routine tasks.
Paths to Math is a web-based learning environment that can be used any time anywhere and with any device. It is based on modern learning theory using modern technology. It is designed to support teacher-student and student-to- student interactions by providing material and suggestion to implement pair share, group work, projects, modeling, hands-on learning, research and independent work. These are complemented by videos and interactive tasks placed where they are needed to support the learner when needed. Teachers have more time to mentor and support individual students, showing them real life situations that math can be meaningful for the students and help them to perceive the complex world.
Make math the favorite subject in school!
Why is math one of the most unliked and even feared school subject among teenagers?
Today, students hold the impression that math facts are the essence of mathematics. Many think the essence of math is to get the correct answers, and fast. This has given birth to the idea a fast recall of math facts means to be strong math! When being tested, they become stressed, causing them to not use their full capacity of think. Lacking flexible thinking, they get stuck, stop and underachieve. When students stress, their working memory is blocked and cannot access the math facts they know. Teens are feeling a disconnection between math and the real world. Classrooms are focused on mastering calculation skills and raw memorization of math facts. The sad truth is, often learning is happening by chance. These are some of the reasons that are demotivating students in Math education.
Let’s wake up students interest and love for Math
As fellow educators we know first hand our mandate is to give students the tools to succeed, in math and in life. We have invested countless hours new knowledge and research about learning, it is time to apply this knowledge into your schools. From a teacher centered method of instruction we broaden the scope by changing to a student-centered way of learning. We have built a balance between various teaching and learning methods, and bring the real world to the classroom. Students are given endless possibilities to work with rich mathematical problems in a safe, modern and supportive learning environment. Math can give students an experience, which strengthens their confidence to tackle problems and develop their own critical thinking. Working together they can talk, test and interpret solutions. We can give them a learning environment while they working on a problems they enjoy.
Paths to Math 1.0
Paths to Math 1.0 launched today at Slush 2013.
Can students like routine Math task?
Often students experience calculations of routine tasks as unpleasant and unnecessary. As teachers we know that they need to exercise to get a satisfactory or preferably a good level in numeracy skills. Learning games is one way to make mechanical practice interesting and securing basic skills.
In the teaching experiments it has been noticed that proper games can be used to develop e.g. problem-solving skills and reasoning ability. When using learning games, the implementation of the objectives of the core curriculum can be promoted. Using suitable games the reasoning and evaluation skills of the pupils can be strengthened.
We use the word Learning Games for board games on paper and Interactive Tasks on tablets and computers.
Board games
In Paths to Math we have one or more board game almost in every module. Before the lesson the board has to be printed and usually players need some marks. There can also be a game where you need chessboard and two knights. The theme of the game is the same as in the learning area. E.g. Playing Piggy is a game to reinforce the operations with rational numbers. In this game, like in many others, the number of players can be from two up to teams. Every game has rules for playing, duration, winning and possible alterations. When students can play and plan the games and their rules, it will promote the development of the creativity. The playing offers challenges to both good and low-attainers.
Interactive games
Student of today wants to use modern technologies, which are also an excellent help for practicing routine tasks.
In Paths to Math we have one or more interactive game almost in every module. Games are ready to use every time and every place.
If the teacher doesn’t have a tablet or a computer for every student, the games can also be played in pairs or it’s easy to arrange playtime in a different part of the lesson. There are 20 questions involving the learning area. The game is offering a new question, if student doesn’t get it right the first time. Student can continue also after answering wrong, but doesn’t get as many rewards as possible. The game is rewarding with different amount of stars and for the best results also different kind of pictures. Student can collect different kind of pictures.
Students come to school because they want to be together. Learning is a social activity and the role of the schools is to provide challenging and innovative learning experiences for them. Learning games give students a good opportunity to play together and learn at the same time – sometimes they don’t even notice that they learn and enjoy!
Towards a safe learning community: Activities to start the school year.
By Cecilia Villabona
May 28, 2013
Usually at this time of year teachers and administrators start reflecting on how the year has gone and revising plans for the next year to improve or change as needed. One of the things that I considered very important was the classroom community, since it affects our daily activities in so many important ways.
At the start of the school year it feels like being in an airplane flight for a transatlantic trip: a small enclosed space with a bunch of strangers. For the flight, it does not matter much whether or not you relate to someone or have a conversation with anyone. For the classroom, however, it needs to build into a safe environment to wonder, ask questions, make mistakes and be helped to gain new understandings, celebrate learning together, and more.
How do teachers do that? If you are a new teacher you may get a lot of advise, even if you are a veteran or more experienced teacher you may look for new ways each year, and sometimes out of necessity, because children are changing so much in today’s world.
I will share with you some of my first week of school activities, which worked well for me most of the time. They are offered as food for thought, or guidelines to develop your own, or for you to try as offered if you so desire.
Let me first share with you what I consider important objectives for spending about one week doing these activities, which are not yet covering the curriculum or the Standards:
- Learning student’s names, especially those in need of attention, the potential difficulties in the class.
- Asserting my place in the class as the leader in charge.
- Getting to know my student’s as learners and individuals (without giving them a test)
- Modeling for my students how to ask productive question from me when they have problems. I am not able to help the student who tells me “ I don’t understand”, but if a student says: “I don’t understand how those two fraction are equal” then I know where the problem is.
- Coaching them to do effective think-pair-share and group work.
- Modeling class discussion taking turns and showing respect.
- Giving students opportunities for divergent thinking, out of the box, not guided by mathematical algorithm or rules, yet important and needed in true problem solving.
- Showing them that they are all able to participate in their learning, regardless of how much math they remember from last year.
Does this list seem like it contains some important objectives to create an emotional and intellectual foundation for learning?
Thanks for visiting. Day 1 coming soon.
What students need the mostly
Are you frustrated sometimes by the fact that your students seem disengaged and not interested in the lesson? Do you often wonder about what else you can do to get them involved and to participate?
As a responsible teacher, you know the material, read the standards, prepare lessons, keep your eyes on the high stakes test, correct homework, keep accurate records, try to deliver your lessons in a fun and dynamic way and make a constant effort to get to know your students. It sure seems like a lot, and indeed it is, given that you most likely teach five lessons and see a large number of students each day.
For how many of your students doing what it is asked of them in school is easy and comes naturally? Robert Redford was quoted in an interview with AARP magazine talking about school days: “It was hard to sit and listen to somebody talk. I wanted to be out, educated by experience and adventure, and I didn’t know how to express that”. You might not want to share this with your students in an effort to get them more involved with school and learning; I am sharing this with you as a way to get us to think together about our student’s needs.
Most likely your students have become accustomed to using several technologies on a daily basis like cell phones and computers, and they are comfortable with managing several things at the time, for example: texting a friend and talking to another while listening to their I-pod music. This state of affairs in their daily life might make it more difficult for them to “just sit and listen to somebody talk” to use Redford’s words about his world, a few years back.
But where does this leave us? Can we run schools having students get all their lessons from a computer or a cell phone? Should we? Or is it still valuable to create a learning community in our classroom and have students learn to discuss, share, criticize and draw conclusions, while they interact with each other? I believe it is.
Learning is social, and while students construct their own learning starting from what they know, they have also the ability to learn from one another, and to learn social skills under the guidance and direction of a caring teacher. So I will say that in my opinion one of the things that students need mostly from us is that we care. That is the first C of community. Maybe this goes without saying it, because if you are teacher you care about students. However, it is important to think about it and to acknowledge that it is of value for our students, as well as to find appropriate ways to express it. I will explore this topic at another time.
In a true community, people feel a connection to each other. Think of your family, or your church, perhaps the two most basic community experiences. If we want to create a learning community in our classroom, we must foster connection between our pupils, we are learning together, from one another because when I have a question for the class and a student answers it, the others listen and might then have other questions, which when asked, can be answered by anyone in the class, not only the teacher. Students need to feel welcome to participate in this dialogue, with a common understanding that we are all seeking answers, making conjectures, and analyzing results. We as teachers are also learning during this process, maybe not the answers to the actual questions, but how our students think, what interests them, and much more. Connected thus gives us the second C in Community.
Now let me ask you, why are you a teacher? Why do people go to work as doctors and secretaries and bus drivers, besides the fact that we all have bills to pay? I believe it is because we need to contribute. Students need to feel that by their efforts, they contribute to the collective process of constructing knowledge. They need to be celebrated for their accomplishments, congratulated for their success, told they are doing a good job, encouraged to move on to more contributions. Contributing is the third C of community.
You do not have to agree with my ideas, you are welcome to comment and contribute your own. This is meant as food for thought, a starting point for discussion, to create our own community, share our own thoughts and learn from each other.
In my next blog I will share some of the ways I have used to build community in the classroom, maybe some of these will also work for you. Do you have some to share? I would like to hear from you.
Thanks for being here and welcome to paths to math pilot program!