Math

In the featured session, Rethinking How We Teach Mathematics to Struggling Learners with Technology, Ted Hasselbring discussed how we can use technology to address the recommendations of the National Mathematics Advisory Panel for all students, including those with special needs and at-risk for school failure. The following are notes from his presentation:

During this session Ms. Weary shared engaging ways to support the development of number sense in students. This included ideas for teaching important number sense concepts and skills, including the five- and 10-structures and subitizing: using virtual manipulatives as part of math instruction and evaluating virtual manipulatives for classroom use. Notes I wrote during this session are provided below:

•DreamBox virtual manipulatives includes free trial use of virtual manipulatives. http://www.dreambox.com
•Launched Jan. 2009 and has been well received (as you can see on their website).

During this session Bradley Smrstick and Jeremy Jackson encouraged educators to have students, in secondary math classes, create animations for geometry, graphing, word problems, trigonometry, and more! He explained that through this type of assignment students learn how to work an equation, the teacher can see how the student came to a solution, and (if shared with other learners) students can learn from each other. Both Mr. Smrstick and Mr. Jackson are former educators that now work at Tech for Learning. The software that they shared for creating animations was developed by this company.

One of my personal favorite topics is arts in education. Or, more specifically, arts AS education. My first encounter with someone utilizing the arts as a way to promote the "core subjects" was when I met a graduate student at NYU. She was writing her thesis on black holes and how their construction was inherently linked to waves which we hear as sound waves. Specifically, she was studying physics and music. Together.

The decision was the remaining 6 items on the Full Board's discussion agenda can be taken up tomorrow
(Friday) during the regular meeting of the Board. The docket includes
issues such as the ongoing Reading/Literature adoption, the upcoming
Spelling/Language Arts adoption, the upcoming Science Adoption, how to
handle the 15% budget cut, and more......and the Finance Committee, which already left the main meeting to hold their committee meeting.

This evening I participated in an online discussion about math and Web 2.0 technologies. Ihor Charischak, founder of the Council for Technology in Mathematics Education (CLIME), an affiliate of National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), and Maria Droujkova, founder and director of Natural Math, facilitated the interactive session with approximately 18 people in attendance. The following activities were shared:

Average Traveler
http://web.mac.com/ihor12/CMDB75/TRIP/

Currently, there are 35,000+ apps designed for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Applications range from business to game and entertainment to educational. Approximately 2,920 are categorized as educational. However, with 20 different categories there are certain to be apps that cross multiple areas. Some are free and others can be purchased. Many offer a “lite” version that is free and an expanded version that can be purchased. The number of sites that include app reviews are too numerous to count.

Today's meeting of the Board of Education whipped along pretty smoothly and quietly, but don't let the calm deceive you: at least four significant issues came up that will impact everyone (publishers, etc.) bringing content before the Board...

If you've got 2 and a half hours to spare, and you want to hear for yourself (rather than the summaries provided in my previous posts) you can download the RealPlayer file.
McElroy's part begins at about 1:20:00, and the skewering by Senators Shapleigh and Watson beings in earnest at about 1:56:15. It goes on for a couple of hours more after that...

After the lengthy questioning, it was time to take testimony from those who'd registered to speak. In some ways, what followed was a microcosm of past Board meetings: six witnesses, including perennial testifiers Texas Freedom Network's Kathy Miller and SMU's Ronald Wetherington decrying the Board's refusal to heed scientific experts and Chairman Don's role in particular; and Board Member Ken Mercer and Free Market Foundation's Jonathan Saenz speaking long and hard to defend the Chairman.