Thank you to all of you who came out today to visit Chestnut St.  It was wonderful to have the opportunity to meet so many of you and welcome you to what will be a fantastic journey together.  I also want to thank the PTA representatives who took time out of their busy schedules to “meet and greet” both new and returning parents and their children.

I have to admit I did not know what to expect today.  But from the minute I met some of the beautiful, smiling, and sometime shy faces, I knew it was going to be a terrific day.  The teachers educators of Chestnut have done a great job of preparing the building for the upcoming school year.  It seems as if every member of the Chestnut team has contributed to the successful day we had today.

I can’t wait for the first day of school, with all the wonderful noises you hear in a school.  The smiling and laughing, the questions and the learning, and the laughter and the joy we will experience.

In case you were not able to attend, we have included some tips of things that you can talk about with your child.  As well, you will find a rough map of the school, so you can better understand the layout of the building.

Open House letter

Enjoy the remaining days of summer and we look forward to seeing you on the 9th!

http://www.webweaver.nu/clipart/education.shtml

¡Gracias a todos ustedes que vinieron hoy a visitar Chestnut St. Fue maravilloso tener la oportunidad de conocer a muchos de ustedes y le damos la bienvenida a lo que será un fantástico viaje juntos. También quiero agradecer a los representantes de la PTA que se tomó el tiempo de sus apretadas agendas para “conocer y saludar”, tanto nuevos y que regresan a los padres y sus hijos.

Tengo que admitir que no sabía qué esperar hoy en día. Pero desde el momento en que se reunió con algunos de lo bello, sonriente, y en algún tímido caras, yo sabía que iba a ser un día terrible. El edcuators profesores Chestnut o han hecho un gran trabajo de preparación del edificio para el próximo año escolar. Parece como si cada miembro del equipo de Castaño ha contribuido a la exitosa jornada que tuvimos hoy.

No puedo esperar para el primer día de escuela, con todos los ruidos maravilloso se escucha en una escuela. Las sonrisas y risas, las preguntas y el aprendizaje, y la risa y la alegría que va a experimentar.

En caso de que no pudieron asistir, hemos incluido algunas sugerencias de cosas que usted puede hablar con su hijo. Además, usted encontrará un mapa aproximado de la escuela, de modo que puedan entender mejor el diseño del edificio.

Spanish Ver Open House

Disfrute de los últimos días de verano, y esperamos verlos el día 9!

So as I lay in bed reading and thinking, I can’t help but wonder what it is that the education system is trying to accomplish.  We are constantly hammered with quotes touting the need for students who will become “21st century learners,” “problem-solvers,” and “collaborators” yet we inundate our students with one standardized test after another.  It is a scary dichotomy-on the one hand we want thinkers and on the other hand we will standardize learning to multiple-choice tests (which leads to teaching to the test, which means test prep books, less time for the arts and phys. ed., etc.).  If you want to have great collaboration, I do not think you can have a group of people who all think alike. In reading slow food nation by Carlo Petrini (in conversation with Gigi Padovani) and in one section they were discussion how Ray Kroc brought standardization to food prep.  There is a line that states;

“Taking its impetus from industry rather than the centuries-old tradition of food preparation, standardization also ushered in another tendency in food consumption-that of the “global palate,”…For the first time, taste is becoming standardized on a global level.”

Let’s change the quote to say; “Taking its impetus from industry rather than the centuries-old tradition of inquiry based learning, standardization also ushered in another tendency in education-that of the “global student,”…For the first time, students are becoming standardized on a global level.”  Isn’t that what we have now? Students who have been standardized, all basically learning the same concepts at the same time, whether it is appropriate for them or not.  They already have taken play out of kindergarten and turned it into math and science lab (and not in a good way).  If we want children who will become life-long learners then we need to teach them in a manner that reflects such a philosophy.

In Good Stuff: An Open Letter to Arne Duncan, Herbert Kohl says;

“It is hard for me to understand how educators can claim that they are creating high standards when the substance and content of learning is reduced to the mechanical task of getting a correct answer on a manufactured test. In the panic over teaching students to perform well on reading tests, educators seem to have lost sight of the fact that reading is a tool, an instrument that is used for pleasure and for the acquisition of knowledge and information about the way the world works. The mastery of complex reading skills develops as students grapple with ideas, learn to understand plot and character, and develop and articulate opinions on literature. They also develop through learning history, science, and technology.”

How can we ask kids to “do” summer reading?  They should they already be involved in book clubs, reading for pleasure, reading to learn something new, and not reading as if it is a chore.  If society wants more mathematicians and scientists, I am sure the path is not through a multiple choice test.  I am pretty sure they need to inquiry, test hypothesis, collaborate, read, debate, and the like to reach their potential.

In the end, do we want to see “Yellow Arches” in the middle of the piazza di spagna?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/xiquinho/3506432226/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/consumerist/392123657/  http://www.flickr.com/photos/xiquinho/3506420304/

I enjoy reading many blogs.  I began a blog last year that spoke about my passion at the time, math.  The teaching and the attempt to understand student learning is still a passion but I have a different role this year in school and it has taken me in various directions.  I stopped blogging because I didn’t know where to go next.  I have spent too much time thinking and not enough time writing.  I have read some magnificent books lately and I am more involved in my “learning” as an educator this year then ever before but i has bothered me that I haven’t been blogging/writing.

In Writing to Learn, by William Zinsser, he says that “(w)riting organizes and clarifies our thoughts.  Writing is how we think our way into a subject and make it our own.  Writing enables u s to find out what we know-and what we don’t know-about whatever we’re trying to learn.” (pg.16)  For me this blog was/may still be about math, but I think I need to move towards what education is and what it can be to me.  The students I “learn” with fuel my fire to help change the landscape of education, so that it works in their favor, not anyone elses.   I have certain beliefs and ideas that are brewing inside of me that need clarification, discussion, and debate.  I will never be able to become a fully functional member of any educational team without spending time clarifying what I think and believe.  The way to do this, is to write.

So I will.

Everyone needs a mentor. This is part of what we do as educators.  Or what we should be doing.  A movie that I forgot about but just recently watched again in the midst of the current Nor’easter is Finding Forrester.  The plot (as referenced in wikipedia) is as follows:  Finding Forrester is the story of Jamal Wallace’s life in the rough world of the inner city. Although Jamal is intellectually gifted, he puts little effort into his schoolwork to avoid criticism from his friends. On a dare, he sneaks into a recluse’s apartment and, to his surprise, befriends the inhabitant. The man helps Jamal with his writing, in exchange for Jamal keeping a secret: the man is William Forrester, the secluded author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Avalon Landing, his only published book.

They befriend each other and mentor each other: one to reach his potential and the other to reclaim time lost.  In it the William tells Jamal to “punch the keys” on the typewriter.  I interpreted that to mean to write with passion and write from the heart.  I internalized that idea as speaking to the  thought that to be good great at anything, you need to have a passion/love for what you do.  If you want to reach into the minds of students, they need to know that you care about what you do and about them as well.  The passion and learning are going to be a natural part of what you do.  It will not be forced or fake.  It will never seem contrived.  It may be difficult at times and there may be more questions then answers but the love of learning will shine through.

So here is to writing more, to mentors who guide us and to the passion that makes it all go around.

_

In a recent op-ed in Education Week, the author spoke about it’s not what we teach, it is what the students learn.  This is the crux of the matter for many educators and in the book, Results Now! by Mike Schmoker.  Now one can sit and complain about testing, leadership (or the lack thereof), instruction (or the lack thereof) but it is of no use.  So what are the ideas from this book that we can incorporate into our schools to improve student learning?

Mr. Schmoker makes the case that the number one factor in improving learning is instruction.  I assume that the professionals in question have taken into account student interest.  If we teach based on student interest, learning should occur.  The better the lesson is designed, the greater the chance of learning.  The better the lesson plan is executed, the greater chance for learning.  The better the local, home-grown assessment, the more information the educator can derive from the student learning to improve instruction.  The cycle can then begin again.  Sounds easy enough, why doesn’t it happen?

Mr. Schmoker says it’s the teaching stupid.   “Teaching needn’t be exceptional to have a profound effect; continuous commonsense efforts to even roughly conform to effective practice and essential standards will make a life-changing difference for students across all socio-economic levels.” (pg. 9)  I would say get out of your dimple (the classroom) of the egg-carton (the building) and learn from and with others.  No one knows it all.  No one can ever know it all.  But if you think of the collective intelligence of you and your colleagues and the experiences they have had…there is no reason why we can reach all learners.  We need to come out of our individual dimples and wobble around like eggs.  This means the learning is going to be messy. There are going to be cracks and breaks but through collective effort and kaizen (continuous improvement) we can help students learn.

Read Clay Shirky’s Here Comes Everybody or James Surowiecki’s Wisdom of the Crowds and you will understand that a collection of minds will consistently create better ideas then any intelligent person or two who work alone.  Or read, Wikinomics,  by Don Tapscott and his ideas about how mass collaboration changes everything.

In David Warlicks post, Method vs. Approach he states that we “as educators, need to beg(i)n to picture ourselves as master learners, and to project that image of ourselves to the community.  If we become enthusiastic learners, then we are modeling the concept and process of life-long learning.  If we walk into our classrooms as master learners, then we might come to better understand that working with information is as much about approach as it is about method.” 

Educators need to be willing to work together, not alone, for the common good.  PLC’s and PLN’s can be the answer.  Professional Learning Communities and Personal Learning Networks.  PLC’s I look at as being inside the learning community.  PLN’s are built on the outside but can be used to meet the goals of the community you learn in. 

A professional learning community, as defined by Wikipedia, is an extended learning opportunity to foster collaborative learning among colleagues within a particular work environment or field. It is often used in schools as a way to organize teachers into working groups (a PLC in action).
According to Mr. Scmoker, PLC’s have several key characteristics:

• they require educators to establish a common set of curricular standards and teach to them on a roughly common schedule.
• educators should meet regularly.  At least twice a month for 45 minutes discussing specifics about instruction and the results achieved with the lessons and units used.
• educators must make frequent use of common assessments.

By structuring the community in this manner, it appears as if the professionals would be able to work together to learn from each other, to focus on “best practice,” and to develop units and lessons based on informatin gathered from the students.  Considering the way public school is currently structured, this may help students achieve state standards.  If you think that meeting state standards and meeting a certain level of performance on a state exam are what students should know then I guess this is a step in that direction.  I do not know if this will lead students to become “life-long learners,” more intrinsically motivated to learn, or inspired to find their passion and what they are great at to fully reach their potential but that is a story for another time.

A piece of PLC’s that I think is important is professional development.  Our current model, which is hamstrung by the phrase; “two hours contiguous to the end of the school day” is not maximizing the potential of professional development.  There are the occasional one-shot workshops that are beneficial but in reality the great majority of it does not suit the needs of the learners.  In a recent Educational Leadership (February 2009, Vol. 66, No. 5), I read an article entitled, “Research Review / Teacher Learning: What Matters?”  Linda Darling-Hammond and Nikole Richardson that summarized the research on professional development.  The results are as follows:

Research Supports Professional Development That

• Deepens teachers’ knowledge of content and how to teach it to students.
• Helps teachers understand how students learn specific content.
• Provides opportunities for active, hands-on learning.
• Enables teachers to acquire new knowledge, apply it to practice, and reflect on the results with colleagues.
• Is part of a school reform effort that links curriculum, assessment, and standards to professional learning.
• Is collaborative and collegial.
• Is intensive and sustained over time.

Research Does Not Support Professional Development That

• Relies on the one-shot workshop model.
• Focuses only on training teachers in new techniques and behaviors.
• Is not related to teachers’ specific contexts and curriculums.
• Is episodic and fragmented.
• Expects teachers to make changes in isolation and without support.
• Does not provide sustained teacher learning opportunities over multiple days and weeks.

Professional development needs to be led by all the professionals in the community.  From the building principal to the teachers, to the aides, everyone needs to take on a leadership role in providing quality professional development. There needs to be a sustained focus, with a resistance to the latest fad or catch phrase.  There needs to be a sense of urgency or dedication to high-quality teaching that focuses on the process of how students learn.  

Professional Learning Networks or PLN’s is another way for professionals to learn from one another.  The difference being that you can learn not only from the professionals in the building you learn in, but from professionals around the world.  In the past week or so, my colleagues and I have learned from the following sites/people:

• SMART Board Revolution (Trevor Meister, Obe Hostetter, Matt Granger, Jennifer Gibson, Darren Kuropatwa
• SMARTBoard Lessons Podcast (Joan Badger and Ben Hazzard)
• Education Gadfly (Amber Winkler, Christina Hentges, Rick Hess, Mike Petrilli and Stafford Palmieri)
• SirKenRobinson.com (Ken Robinson-reading his book, The Element)

I have never met any of these people in person, yet they have all had an effect on the place in which I learn.  They have all helped me understand something that I needed or wanted to know.  I in turn, passed that knowledge along to members of the our PLC.  If you want to learn more about bloggers and wikis that can be useful to you and your PLC read the article, Learning with Blogs and Wikis by Bill Ferriter (Educational Leadership, Feb. 2009, Vol. 66, No. 5). 

I have more questions, then answers.  But I do believe it is all about the students and building a passion and excitement in them that burns so brightly that they take off and never look back.  It is about guiding and not being the center of attention.  It is about being humble, driven, and always improving.

This image is attributed to http://www.wordle.net/. Images of Wordles are licensed .

My fellow citizens,

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents. So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land — a nagging fear that America’s decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America — they will be met.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted — for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things — some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.

Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions — that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act — not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. All this we will do.

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions — who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them— that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works — whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public’s dollars will be held to account — to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day — because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control — and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on the ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart — not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience’s sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and we are ready to lead once more.

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort — even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus — and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society’s ills on the West — know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world’s resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment — a moment that will define a generation — it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job, which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter’s courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent’s willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends — honesty and hard work, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism — these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

This is the source of our confidence— the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.

This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed — why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America’s birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

“Let it be told to the future world…that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive … that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it].”

America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children’s children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God’s grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

Thank you. God bless you. And God bless the United States of America.

So we had our monthly math meeting for our district and one of the items on the agenda was the “final report.”

The focus was; “How do the programs we are piloting fit in with the recommendations of the N.A.M.P. report?” There was talk about the U.S. mathematic textbooks being too long and how that is in response to the state standards. We had some nice discussion about how countries in Asia are doing less but more (depth vs. breadth) but how they are turning to the U.S. for how they solve problems. Although there was a general consensus that we aren’t necessarily great problem solvers (I do not think that a problem masquerading as an algorithm constitutes problem solving. For example-There are 32 rows of corn in a field. Each row has 22 stalks. How many stalks are there in all?).

As I have read through this report several times, I realized that this report is a front for pushing an agenda. It seems as if the panel members are in line to receive federal funding ($260million) to create a research based program. Roger Schank has a great article about the problems arising from the report and the people involved. As well, they basically slam “real-world” problem solving, saying that it only measures how students solve real-world problems. And what is wrong with that? Are students going to work in the real world and solve problems that occur over two days (short answer day 1 and long answer day 2)?

Another point that I can to think about was, why is Algebra the end all be all. The blog dy/dan has an interesting post about the need for Algebra for the masses. The comments are great food for thought as well. Maybe some thought should be given to having students pursue rigorous math courses that are of interest to them.

I have copied the final report into Google Docs in two parts. If anyone has interest in adding to the discussion, they can be found here and here.

Let me start off this post by saying that I do not think that this is necessary for all students but it may be necessary for some. After seeing a couple of students who still cannot not carry out the traditional division algorithm (including writing down the acronym D.M.S.B.-divide, multiply, subtract, bring down), I feel it is necessary to present to these students a different way of looking at it. Now I believe that these students are beyond the repeated subtraction phase of division but have yet to grasp the underpinnings of the traditional algorithm (which is suppose to be faster).

So let us take a look at the traditional algorithm, using the problem 3672 divided by 8.

As you can see the first thing we would do is to see how many times 8 goes into 3 (which is really 3,000) and it doesn’t so you move to the next digit and figure out how many time 8 goes into 36. We determine 4 times, which is 32. You then subtract 32 from 36 and are left with 4. We are then taught to bring down the next digit (the B in “D. M. S. B.”) which is a 7. We then begin the process again-determine how many times 8 goes into 47, which is 5, 8 times 5 is 40, and 47-40 is 7. We bring down the last digit, 2, and repeat the process one more time, which leaves us with no remainder. This is fine as long as the student understands what is going on.

For example, I would want them to realize that when we are talking about 36 divided by 8 we are really talking about 3,600 and the choice of 4 is 400. When we bring down the next digit, that is what it is not a number. According to Merriam-Webster OnLine a digit is; “a: any of the Arabic numerals 1 to 9 and usually the symbol 0 b: one of the elements that combine to form numbers in a system other than the decimal system” and a number is; “ a sum of units : total c (1): a unit belonging to an abstract mathematical system and subject to specified laws of succession, addition, and multiplication.” For more information on digits and numerals you can go to Wikipedia.

Let’s take a look at the friendly number method. As you can see this method helps build on the strengths students already posses (rounding, multiplying by powers of 10, basic facts). It also looks similar to the traditional algorithm which would make the transition from the friendly number method to the traditional algorithm easier.

As point of emphasis, when working with struggling students, or using this for the first time, I would begin with 10 instead of 100. Students are usually strong with the 10-facts and they could then see how cumbersome and time-consuming it would be to use 10 over and over again. You could move them from 10 to 100, using their knowledge of powers of 10, then to any basic fact like in the second step (300 x 8 because they know 300 is 3 x 100 and therefore they can multiply 3 x 8 and 100 x 8).

As they become more comfortable and use this method they will begin to see the connection between the rounding and the numbers they choose to solve. At first they will use the rounding to see if their answer is “in the ballpark.” You can get them to see that they can use the estimate to help them right away. By that I mean that instead of starting with 100, they could choose 400 because they already know that 500 x 8 is 4,000 (inverse relationship between multiplication and division). They would therefore be as efficient as they can be and only need three steps to solve the problem as opposed to the 4 (above) or more.

Once they have became efficient and effective with this method you could transition them the friendly number to the traditional, if needed. The students can also compare and contrast the two methods to discuss the similarities and differences.

As you can see when dividing 36 by 8 you are really dividing 8 into 3,600. The same applies to the other two steps. The students can see how the 0’s have been eliminated in the traditional algorithm to further the comparison.

I think that for students who do not understand the traditional algorithm, this strategy can be beneficial.

* Division pictures written on ArtRage 2.5 Starter Edition

]]> http://ovcblog.wordpress.com/2008/04/16/traditional-vs-friendly-number-algorithm-a-false-dichotomy/feed/ 3 ovcblog http://ovcblog.wordpress.com/2008/04/15/blogging-and-wireless-on-long-island/ http://ovcblog.wordpress.com/2008/04/15/blogging-and-wireless-on-long-island/#comments Tue, 15 Apr 2008 17:23:44 +0000 ovcblog http://ovcblog.wordpress.com/?p=98 ]]>

A couple of articles have come out over the past two days in Newsday that relate to vacation blogging and Long Island’s plan for wireless access for all.

In “Blogging your vacation keeps loved ones in touch” by Beth Whitehouse, the author describes her use of logs to keep others in the loop of their vacations. In the article, Beth quotes Dane Atkinson chief executive of Squarespace.com who said; “If you do blog, you can craft a story about your trip.” What a great idea. Instead of just posting pictures and video you can focus on certain aspects of the trip. Maybe it was a hilarious experince, a great dinner, or a map of what you had done (and maybe calculating the amount of miles walked in a day at a theme park. I could see kids using skitch to show the map and point at starting points, ending points, the “trail” they took around the park with a key to determine calculations).

Another piece of the article that I found interesting was some of the suggestions the author made. One suggestions was to “respect your child’s voice.” Allow your child to create their story about their vacation without the parent telling what and how to write. We as educators should capitalize on this, with our upcoming spring vacation, four days away. This accomplishes not only the obvious, getting kids to write authentically, but introduces blogs to parents, creates another home-school connection and augments the goal of creating 21st century learners.

Long Island’s wireless internet project appears to have hit a snag. The project, which is endorsed by Suffolk and Nassau County Executives, Steve Levy and Tom Suozzi and is suppose to be built by E-Path Communications (based in Florida), has past its initial target date. The project is suppose to be built without tax-payer money. The N.Y. Times recently ran an article about the failures nationwide regarding the implementation of wi-fi. There are projects out there that I believe are having some success (Minneapolis, St. Cloud and Providence) but have used a lot of public financing and pledges from local governments to purchase access.

A company called Meraki sells low-cost equipment that can be placed in your home to broadcast a signal. Another piece of hardware, called a repeater, can be purchased and placed on roofs, walls, etc. to capture the original signal. In San Francisco there are approximately 70,000 users.

There seems like there are models out there that can be copied. One can only hope that people deliver on their promises.

Pro baseball had theirs, we had ours. Here is today’s opening day line-up for the 2008 first grade Red Sox: