I haven’t taught the second semester of Algebra 1 in three years, which means, right now, I wish my browser could search both Nick Hershman and Dan Greene’s sites at once
Month: January 2009
Total 14 Posts
If Facebook were a country, it would be the eighth most populated in the world, just ahead of Japan, Russia and Nigeria.
Right, except its demographics would be a bit skewed.
There would be no children and no elderly.
Half of the population would be dead, flopped over in their houses, with nobody noticing or caring. But they’re still counted in the census!
A quarter of the population would be marketing consultants yelling advertisements at everyone. They’re counted, too.
And nobody, including the government, would be making any money or producing much of lasting value.
By the way, I don’t think you don’t have to *teach* conceptual curiosity as the human brain is naturally curious if we let it make connections between ideas to build concepts (constructivism) naturally. We only *think* we have to teach curiosity because student brains have been so dulled by procedures that they merely memorize without stimulating existing neural pathways.
Incidentally, I am in the middle of a post which may never see the light of blog, one which attempts to answer the question, “How should we capture and present digital media for classroom use?” and sets a personal record for most uses of the phrase “for lack of a better word.” The post has tangled around so many media, including but not limited to The Shield, The Wire, No Country For Old Men, Off-Road Algebra, Discovery Education streaming, Caché, David Mamet’s On Directing Film, What Can You Do With This?, Problem Pictures, Graphing Stories, and Dogme 95’s Vow of Chastity. This is fun and maddening, all at once.
Hard as I try to forget about my day job during the days I’m off the clock, it’s simply too interesting to ignore. Two lessons for my teaching, then, drawn from experiences which had nothing whatsoever to do with teaching.
Lousy Drivers
The worst kind of driver isn’t the left-lane slow-mover, the driver who doesn’t really get that, by convention, we drive in the right-most lane that can comfortably accommodate our speed, allowing hurried drivers to pass safely on the left. The worst kind of driver is the one that lags along in whatever lane she chooses, a steady stream of cars to her right preventing anyone from passing her. Once that stream dams up, though, rather changing lanes or allowing trailing drivers the opportunity to pass, she speeds up before slowing down again once she reaches another protective buffer of cars.
I’m trying to remain unconscious of the fact that my class is required for high school graduation, that I won’t suffer low enrollment and a possible layoff if word gets out that my class is a miserable slog – driving diligently, essentially, even though it isn’t required.
Guitar Hero
I landed Social Distortion’s “Story of My Life” with 100% accuracy on medium difficulty, which, whatever, it took me long enough, etc. My friend told me I couldn’t sandbag it any longer and I had to move to hard. I did. I landed 30% fewer notes on average. I had a lot more fun.
I don’t think the happiest students in my class, the happiest teachers at my school, are the most successful. I suppose it goes without saying that failure and satisfaction go hand-in-hand, to a certain extent.