Math Class Needs a Makeover (11:36)
The Art of Beating Long Lines Stop at 2:11
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After watching the two videos I think the most prevalent thing we can learn from Dan Meyers is that you have to make material relevant. Whether you are a Math teacher, an English teacher, or an Elementary teacher; the best way to engage your students is to make whatever you are teaching come to life. In the second video The Art of Beating Long Lines he uses the example of long lines at a grocery store. No body likes to wait in line so why not try to figure out waiting longer. Well that's math. That is math that can be used in every day life. That is what interests kids.
Another important point Mr. Meyers made was that we need to help students increase their critical thinking skills by not giving them all the answers. One of the things he says at the end of Math Class Needs a Makeover was to "be less helpful." We are hindering our students by laying out everything for them. They also become uninterested. Mr. Meyers says that he finds most of his students and others "Lack initiative, lack perseverance, lack retention, have an aversion to word problems, and are eager to find the formula." All of this is because we are not challenging our students. "The math serves the conversation" not the other way around. Even Einstein said "the formulation of the problem is often more essential than its solution." As teachers we need to stop babying our students. The more interesting the problem is the more interested they will become. If all they are doing is computing a bunch of numbers, well then they won't be very interested.
Hi Mackenzie,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading this blog post. I agree that our children are bored with class these days. Everything is laid out for the students and not interesting for them. School in this age is not fit for the students in this age. It is our job as future educators to change this.