Contact: Dan Dempsey at dempsey_dan@yahoo.com .......
The Math Underground is part of a national coalition, originated by NYC HOLD. .. a coalition of groups of citizens NOT vested in continually reinventing the wheel in order to justify our own existence, jobs or expertise. ........ Check the Blog list for Seattle Math Group.
This is nothing new - the focus of Apple grants on technology in the 90's looked at how technology changed classrooms. All of the communities surveyed were overwhelmingly against disrupting classrooms. This is debated without end. For instance, students using their portable technology and piggybacking on the school's network to play video games. Companies have tried for years to get something to work. My own thesis had to do with integrating technology with direct instruction - I used stations and rotated groups of students. And I had ambassadors and peer teachers. I liked it and the kids liked it - we did away with traditional grading - I used peer grading to evaluate the kids. You could not have done this anywhere other than a title I school in a dumping track with a young teacher - it was brilliant and some of those kids thanked me years later when they got into college - a very tight group of self-starting one of a kind kids.
I don't think you can have a classroom like that with traditional values like letter grades and class rules like - stay in your seat at all times; one person speaks at a time; everyone quiet when the teacher talks;
you tend to use hand signals and train students to watch you with eye contact. You keep teacher talk to a minimum and use very simple directions. I have never seen a classroom ever operate this way and I don't think it can be reproduced - its too foreign to our way of thinking.
Lets pretend for a minute what school would be like if all adults were out of the picture. How would groups of kids organize themselves so they could learn. That's the underlying process behind building a classroom that successfully integrates technology. Math is probably not the best subject to try such a model.
Here's a typical Lollard response to a Freddie/Fannie bailout - have the taxpayers take on a trillion dollars worth of bad debt - cost of $30,000 per person in the US.
when bonds sell off like they have been, expect the worst its going to be a cold winter in the US and no one is going to be willing to talk about education. This is going to be some unraveling and we can thank the bush league. Putting a wall of plaster over Fannie isn't going to help the wall of debt being handed to American consumers.
Watch the dollar hit 50 and then we'll see what prices look like. My rant has to do with how idiots manage big issues. If they can't make a textbook that teaches kids, then how do you expect them to manage an economy or run a war like the one that's been waged for the last five, going on six years.
Idiot is too generous, even for civil minded people. If only there was justice in this country...
Check out the pickensplan.com we are currently watching the largest transfer of wealth in world history as energy $$$ leave the USA since 70% of our oil is currently imported. [if you thought the Iraq war was expensive check the numbers on an annual export of $$$ via oil purchase at current prices.]
Money for education will be really hard to find. We have become a large banana republic. Whether Math, or logic we are a nation in serious decline.
Energy, Education, Immigration or ??? we are a nation with clueless leaders that seem unable to recognize results outside of their own personel or tribal gains.
The concept of the common good appears to be extinct.
This is nothing new - the focus of Apple grants on technology in the 90's looked at how technology changed classrooms. All of the communities surveyed were overwhelmingly against disrupting classrooms. This is debated without end. For instance, students using their portable technology and piggybacking on the school's network to play video games. Companies have tried for years to get something to work. My own thesis had to do with integrating technology with direct instruction - I used stations and rotated groups of students. And I had ambassadors and peer teachers. I liked it and the kids liked it - we did away with traditional grading - I used peer grading to evaluate the kids. You could not have done this anywhere other than a title I school in a dumping track with a young teacher - it was brilliant and some of those kids thanked me years later when they got into college - a very tight group of self-starting one of a kind kids.
ReplyDeleteI don't think you can have a classroom like that with traditional values like letter grades and class rules like - stay in your seat at all times; one person speaks at a time; everyone quiet when the teacher talks;
you tend to use hand signals and train students to watch you with eye contact. You keep teacher talk to a minimum and use very simple directions. I have never seen a classroom ever operate this way and I don't think it can be reproduced - its too foreign to our way of thinking.
Lets pretend for a minute what school would be like if all adults were out of the picture. How would groups of kids organize themselves so they could learn. That's the underlying process behind building a classroom that successfully integrates technology. Math is probably not the best subject to try such a model.
If you don't know what a Dynaturtle or Greenglobs is, then I wouldn't suggest just using powerpoint in a math class. Your wasting everyone's time.
ReplyDeleteHere's a typical Lollard response to a Freddie/Fannie bailout - have the taxpayers take on a trillion dollars worth of bad debt - cost of $30,000 per person in the US.
ReplyDeletewhen bonds sell off like they have been, expect the worst its going to be a cold winter in the US and no one is going to be willing to talk about education. This is going to be some unraveling and we can thank the bush league. Putting a wall of plaster over Fannie isn't going to help the wall of debt being handed to American consumers.
Watch the dollar hit 50 and then we'll see what prices look like.
My rant has to do with how idiots manage big issues. If they can't make a textbook that teaches kids, then how do you expect them to manage an economy or run a war like the one that's been waged for the last five, going on six years.
Idiot is too generous, even for civil minded people. If only there was justice in this country...
Check out the pickensplan.com
ReplyDeletewe are currently watching the largest transfer of wealth in world history as energy $$$ leave the USA since 70% of our oil is currently imported. [if you thought the Iraq war was expensive check the numbers on an annual export of $$$ via oil purchase at current prices.]
Money for education will be really hard to find. We have become a large banana republic. Whether Math, or logic we are a nation in serious decline.
Energy, Education, Immigration or ??? we are a nation with clueless leaders that seem unable to recognize results outside of their own personel or tribal gains.
The concept of the common good appears to be extinct.