I was very interested to hear the President speak of Science, Math, and Education last night.
Having students pursue more Math and Science areas is very important to our country---at the present time, we are soliciting thousands of individuals from other countries come to the USA to fill vacancies in career areas of Science and Math---because we don't have the talent to fill these vacancies in Engineering, Statistics, and Biomedical research.
Yes, I was very interested and my ears perked up like a little terrier untillll....That is...until I heard the next words....we will hire teachers who are the best and brightest, etc, etc....
that's great....but much of the problem that we have is not the teacher, but the way that we TEACH Science and Math....
I am not the only one thinking about this....click on this link and you will see that it has even been written about in the LA Times today!
http://www.latimes.com/news/education/la-me-dropout30jan30,0,3211437.story?page=1
When I was working in public education, the high school exit exam had the most failures.....consistently in Science and Math.
Now first of all, I think that like everything in education---the teacher should be a SALESPERSON for their subject...every single day should be an attempt to justify to the student WHY it is important to learn this, how they will be using this, what careers will require the skill. The teacher of each and every subject should be a CHEERLEADER for their discipline. If they are teaching that subject --they should be WILD for that subject. I have seen many teachers in the Math and Science area that are about as exciting as a dried bone of a wildebeast!! I know from my own experience that sitting in Science classes in junior high...we entertained ourselves by throwing chalk pieces into the beakers at the front of class. But now as an adult, I am very interested in biochemistry and how toxins, food, and medicine affect our moods and behaviors--wow what if someone had told me about these things when I sitting in science class....maybe it would have created a different career path for me even then.....
My point is this.....in all classes....Science, Math, etc---create an interest for the student---show why the discipline is important to them. RELEVANCE....we have to establish a relevance of each and every subject.
which brings me to another point....after we have established RELEVANCE...it is necessary to USE what has been learned---students have to APPLY what they have learned....that is essential. Basically what we do in classrooms is have students learn theory--let's get them out of the school building.....they should be out in the world at least ONCE A WEEK, using what they have learned.....some people call this APPLIED LEARNING...and for some ridiculous reason, this has come to have a "dumbed-down" connotation.....that is ridiculous....how many times have you learned something and then later when you had to use it out in the world you had an "AH-HA" moment and said "yeah, that's what they meant, when they said......." then that cognitive concept is solidified for you....and it never goes away!!!
Let's begin in the third grade--work with the Dollar store down the street from the school, let's give the students "play money" and a shopping list and have them buy what they need for the week. Let's have Chemistry students in high school go to the USDA office and work with a researcher for the day and see the Chemistry principles that they have learned, let English students visit with copyrighters to see what really clear writing needs to be. Let's build a model roller coaster in Physics.... Let's apply the concepts we learn in Psychology to study the behavior of infamous individuals in history and how their behavior may have influenced history!!!
I get excited MYSELF just thinking about all the possibilities of how we could be having so much fun in classrooms and at the same time teaching, really teaching young people how wonderfully COOL life is, and how neat it is to learn things and expand our own worlds!!!
just remember these quotes from some very quotable individuals:
"Without involvement, there is no commitment. Mark it down, asterisk it, circle it, underline it. No involvement, no commitment." -- Stephen Covey
"Tell me, and I'll forget. Show me, and I'll remember. Involve me, and I'll learn." -- Marla Jones
tomorrow, I want to talk about creativity and what the President says about our preserving and cultivating creative talent. and one reason why we are having problems cultivating creativity with Echo Boomers
Until tomorrow......
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