Blog Week July 28, 2010
My apologies for being too busy with new ventures to get to my blog. I will be writing a bi-weekly blog from now on.
We are expanding our tech offerings. Working on a streamlined version of our online 4MAT course, complete with all the bells and whistles new software has made available. Dennis is in town with his tech expertise and Fran and I are adding even more useful help for the teachers and administrators who take our course online. The secret is that the 4MAT Model is simple but elegant, theoretical and useful, profound and concrete. Watch for our online course to become even more useful and more tech savvy.
Watched another TED video, this one by math teacher, Dan Myer. He talks about how textbooks hamstring learning. According to Dan, the most kids can do with a textbook is learn how to decode it. The formulas, or answers, are all listed on page so and so. Learning this way lacks initiative and perseverance and replaces both with an eagerness for formulas that answer questions quickly. Rather, in his math class he wants to start problem-solving conversations. He wants the kids involved in the formulations themselves. I couldn’t agree more. He shows you how he does that on this video. Check it out.
If you are not familiar with TED, you should be— half hour to one hour talks by some of the smartest folks out there in all fields. Watch Sir Ken Robinson on TED as well, “Creativity is as important in education as literacy.” He creates a moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity. And he is delightfully funny.
We need to rethink our schools in major ways. How about this quote from Dan Meyer, “I am going to retire into a world my students will run."
Bernice McCarthy
