Wk 4 Publishing_Leadership Project

The following is a link to my paper describing the Action Research project that I have been conducting for the last year: The Student-Centered Algebra Classroom.  Mathematics education requires change. Instructors should allow their students more opportunities to engage in experiential learning. Technology can help guide the way by empowering students by providing direct access to information, thus shifting the focus of the classroom from the teacher to the student.

Link to my paper

I will be submitting the paper to the National Council of  Teachers of Mathematics' publication, The Mathematics Teacher. Please read the following blog posts regarding my decision to publish and where.

Publishing_Leadership Project Part 1 of 2

Publishing_Leadership project part 2 of 2

Week 4 BP#4 Free Post-The Spiral Up

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As I read the Art of Possibility this month I felt torn. The last year was undoubtedly one of the toughest years of my life. I faced a difficult teaching assignment and an intense master's program, shuffled my personal commitments and tried to appease my children, all the time telling myself that it was almost over.   Shear exhaustion had put me in survival mode and I was riding the downward spiral.  The Art of Possibility helped me to start looking up again. I have never been the type of person to accept defeat. I loved reading the chapter, It's All Invented. It allowed me the opportunity to redefine my accomplishments and rise above the downward spiral. I had allowed myself to sit in my seat and play my part, instead of leading. I have too much to contribute to sit quietly in my chair.

It is easy to talk about what is wrong with education, but that is the downward spiral. We must start talking about the possibilities and the framework for change. Everyone deserves the opportunity to play their part with so much passion that they become a one-buttock player. We must start the conversation that allows individuality and personal freedom to prevail in the educational system.

Zanders made an important point about the calculating and the central self. I believe we have a limited window in education to influence a child's mind, before the calculating self within that child fights back to gain control. If we haven't helped them find their passion by the middle grades, we need to start looking harder, because force feeding the same education to them beyond that point will be met with pure resistance.  Traditional education may work perfectly for some, but it does not work for everyone. We need to encourage young people to find the plan that works for them, without painting them as failures. Choosing a different route is just that; a different route.

Particularly, in light of our country's economic woes we need to find alternatives to forcing a child to take courses over and over again that they don't want to take and make no effort to pass. Even if the child eventually passes the class; what have we taught that child? Unless that child assigns some value to being in the seat, we are wasting everyone's time.  Virtual school, blended education, magnet schools, career academies, technical and trade schools are all viable options that would allow the child the opportunity to discover the central self and nurture their passion. A child that has discovered his passion can inspire others and contribute to society. A child that is not allow to discover his passion can destroy society.

Week 4 BP#3 Response to Tricia Atkinson

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Tricia Atkinson wrote:

Wow, these last chapters were a lot to take in! Just when I thought my personal reaction could not possibly be more profound, the Zander’s prevailed with more stories and more implications of living a life of possibility. Most notably were chapters 10 and 11 when adversity was discussed in more detail, including the analogy of self as a game board (versus the typical interpretation as a participating piece). I will admit, when the idea of mutual responsibility in every situation was introduced, I felt some indignation. I mean, who doesn’t want to ostracize the drunk driver or the blatantly rude reaction or the frequent absentee. But how fascinating to think about their perspective and how it will not improve attitude and happiness by being upset and throwing blame.

As easy as it is to get into a downward negative spiral towards my students, blaming them for their negative, rude, and apathetic actions. But what about what I have done to contribute? What about my negative sarcasm or mediocre effort? Not to mention what they have eaten lately or when the last time is that they got a hug or “good job” from a parent? Trying to remember myself in each other person’s shoes will help me to react with a more enlightened attitude, just as Ben did when his students partied in South America. What would it have helped to “go off” like so many of us teachers are expected to do. Instead, the kids understood, felt enabled, apologetic, regretful, and still valued. Amazing. This Art of Possibility stuff is definitely not second nature in the world of modern education, but I feel like a breath of fresh air, a reminder of options and how to go with the flow, giving students and others in my life the benefit of the doubt, has been given to me…I am inspired and grateful.

Link to Tricia's Post

Tricia, 

You are so right and so perceptive. I too felt indignation at the thought of blaming myself for what was done to me, but Zanders is right, the blame game doesn’t make the world a better place. We live in a litigious society that is always looking for someone to blame. Ask any student who is failing and he will tell you, he is failing because the teacher didn’t teach him. Ask any teacher why the student is failing and they will say the student failed to learn. Not that we, as teachers, need any more responsibility, but they didn’t learn because we failed to enroll them into the possibility of learning. Granted, some of this is beyond our control, to which we need to cut ourselves a little slack…how fascinating. 

I was thinking, “How do we inspire them? How do we ignite the fire, even when it’s raining?” What came to me as an answer was remarkable simple: Why are we trying to light a fire, when we have electricity? We need to continue to integrate the current technology into the classroom and teach new things in new ways. Continuing to rub two stick together to try to make fire doesn’t make sense in the modern world in which we live. The new things that we teach need to include choices that will allow students to discover their passion for learning. 

Students don’t like change anymore than teachers, but learning to adapt to change is going to be important for the unforeseeable future. Creating the framework for the universe of possibilities and constantly assessing whether we are staying on track becomes our guiding force. From my perspective, I’d rather be the board, than get hit upside the head by the board :-)

Week 4 BP#2 Response to Matt Leskey

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Matt Leskey Wrote:

Revisiting paradigm changes.

Wow. I went back and reread the free post I made last week about the difficulty of changing education and I can’t believe how dark it is. Though it lightens up, the first half is like a relentless hammer of doom on how screwed up the current system and the difficulty of changing things. I must not have had enough coffee. While I think that the points about the difficulty of top down change are valid, I’m not sure that the situation is as desperate as I had implied. When I look around and speak with people who teach in public schools, I am noticing a shift in how things are working. Just a few years ago, the “we have to get technology in the schools!” mantra was being chanted, but oftentimes there was no planning and whatever was bought sat idle since no one knew how to use it. More recently, younger teachers who have grown up with computers, the Internet, and newer technologies have been replacing the old guard that was resisting change. In the old guard’s defense, change can be scary and a lack of training and support will make anyone a cynic about incorporating the latest craze. Younger teachers don’t require as much technology training and may be able to implement tech in the classroom a little easier. That’s not to say that all experienced teachers are afraid of change and technology, but there were quite a few at one point. The main thing is that there are more teachers that are willing to try new ways of reaching their students and that understand how to effectively use technology in the classroom. As this spreads, I hope that we see a bottom up change to the educational system. When one of the new guard creates something great for their class and their students start buzzing about it, it will spread to other classes through their school and district. Hopefully, good ideas and practices will take advantage of new media and social connections and spread in a viral manner. Something that I’ve noticed that could help with this spread is that most teachers are happy, and even eager, to share how they succeeded with a project. This creates a huge pool of resources that everyone can share in. The changes will also have to come from the bottom and work upward, since things are changing too fast for a government entity to keep up with. There will be missteps and setbacks and it’s still not going to be easy in any way. But, in a way, I think that the changes have to happen, not because we want them to, but because the world has changed and the education systems will need to match it. Still, I’m not so sure about letting students in a live classroom answer a question via Twitter.

Link to Matt's Blog

Matt,

First of all, I read your post from the previous week and didn't find it dark at all. You offered some practical possibilities for change. You wrote, "The only way to make the changes happen in a reasonable amount of time is if they are started by the teachers and work their way up." That seems hopefully, but I think the point of the reading this month in the Art of Possibilities, points to a broader possibility.  I think that change starts with the students and works its way up. Education will change when educators stop being the gate-keepers of knowledge and allow the students to take an active role in the creation of new ideas. Technology has facilitated enlightenment throughout the world by connecting people on a global scale to communicate  and collaboratively generate new ideas. There is really no way to hold back a viral explosion of information. The new ideas will do more than just spread from the bottom and work their way upward; the ideas will envelop us. Sure there will be mistakes; how fascinating. There will be times where we will lose the track and descend into the downward spiral. All the more reason for framing the possibilities and continuing to examine what is on track and what is not. The change is already in motion with the momentum increasing beyond anyone's ability to contain. As educators, I believe it is our responsibility to become the guardians of the track, framing it and guiding it forward to its destination in the universe of possibilities.

 

Week 4 BP#1 Final Reading, The Art of Possibility

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As teachers we are expected to be a lot of things to a lot of people. We're expected to do great things, with limited resources. Expected to smile everyday and inspire the masses, even when the masses take us for granted and sometimes worse. It can be a tough job and sometimes we allow the institution to beat us down, but it is in those times that we must rediscover the track back to the world of possibilities. When so much of what we do as teachers is beyond our control, it is important to adopt the concept of "being the board."

Assigning blame is rarely productive in situations where nothing can be changed and there is no consequence due. It is much more productive to find a "we" attitude that works within the board to find solutions that allow everyone an opportunity for success. Vision and passion require more than being adequate. Living life to the fullest demands an investment into the lives of others, born out of an investment in the self.

Practicing enrollment means taking responsibility for not only what you do, but also what is done to you. In many respects it asserts that you will not be a victim of circumstances. Valuable time can be wasted waiting for someone to come to the rescue when the power to change your circumstances lies within the framework you invent for yourself.   

Wk3 BP4 Publishing/Leadership project part 2 of 2

That Was Easy

 

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After a great deal of thought, hours of searching through websites for publications and upcoming conferences, I have finally made a decision. In the end, the decision was easy, because I found the perfect place. The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics is currently seeking articles for a 2013 Focus issue of the Mathematics Teacher on teaching the key concepts of beginning Algebra. My project investigated the creation of a student-centered classroom in Algebra One. My research hits on many of the key topics they are looking at for the issue. Now for the hard work of finishing my article when I am feeling so tired. The race is always harder at the end, but finding the perfect place has renewed my strength and given me added enthusiasm for polishing my article.

 

Week 3 BP#3 Comments to Marty Denson

Marty Denson wrote:

While reading chapters 5 through 8 of The Art of Possibility, I was most intrigued by chapter 8, which speaks of giving way to passion. My first thought was that I felt I must share this idea with my students as way to suggest to each of them how important it is to be completely committed to the activities they choose to take on. I often remind them that participating in any activity or organization for the sake of tile, position, and/or stature is neither beneficial to them nor the activity or organization they are involved in. Reading the suggested two steps in giving way to passion are notable concepts that I will include when discussing this overall theme of passion to my students.

How gratifying it was for me when chapter 8 later used Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata as an analogy to long lines discussed in that chapter. That particular sonata, which is one of my most favorite pieces to perform, is ironically the piece that I often use to demonstrate several concepts when working with select students. I think because of the familiarity of the piece, students become more engaged, which allows me to really articulate the expressive movements within the music. The Moonlight Sonata, when misinterpreted musically, bares a strong resemblance to life itself. Just as in the Moonlight Sonata, life can produce a “dull and numbing performance” when emphasis is placed in the wrong areas.

The heart of the matter, in my opinion, and as suggested in the reading, is that knowing your passion and allowing yourself to be consciously open to discovering that energy and life force, enables you to demonstrate a positive uniqueness. That uniqueness in expression is what brings meaning that extends beyond the “meaning viewed from the ground.”

Read Marty's Post and My Comments

Marty,

Life is very much like music. Sometimes we're rock-n-roll, sometimes jazz, sometimes the blues and sometimes we're just downright elevator music. We have all had times in our lives were we seem to be stuck on the 8th floor, trapped between passion and responsibility. Life is wonderful when passion and responsibility combine their lyrics, but they won't always play in perfect harmony. There will always be times in life where we will be forced to things that we really don't want to do and that is not always wrong. Sometimes passion must sit second chair to responsibility. The important thing is that you lead from the chair you are in with the same passion as if you were in the chair you would have chosen to be in and eventually you will find yourself where you really want to be.