DZS Chapter 2

I would have never believed how powerful a memorization tool writing could be, until I used it effectively at a teacher's inservice at school. The reason I used the WTL process was because the principal said this was a game and there was a prize involved. I am very competitive by nature, as well as narcissistic and selfish, so this was the activity for me!!

To introduce themselves to one another at the beginning of a school year, all teachers were asked to stand up, state their name, and tell one fact about them no one else in the room knew. I decided to write down everyone's name and their unusual fact (as well as a description of them if I hadn't met them yet).

When everyone had finished with their introductions, we had a quiz. Everyone was asked to write down the unique fact of the teacher whose named was called. (Of course, no notes were allowed) Because I had written everything down and had a chance to see, as well as hear, the information, I remembered everyone's name and unusual fact.

I won the game. My prize was a free personal day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I always use this technique in my classes and explain to students why. I sometimes tell them they might just win a prize someday...

BPR Chapter 11-13

This I believe...that writing can open up your emotions, your passions, and it is a pathway to your soul. By writing, the author can verbalize emotions that my otherwise go unrecognized; can stimulate the brain to open up memories, or even prior knowledge and connections. For a student to be successful in any subject area, the brain has to be awakened from slumber. One sure way to engage the brain is to stimulate it with memories, feelings, opinions, thoughts, and questions. What better way to begin this than by writing? Even in math classes, students can learn better if they are emotionally connected to the lesson. Writing connects us to everything.

DZ Chapter 7 - Reflections

In this chapter, the authors mentioned grouping students in to small groups so they can help one another while they learn. This can be a bit tough at the beginning of school, because students don't always know their classmates well enough to speak up in small groups. However, the authors also mentioned a class game "Pig" which allowed students to play a dice game on probability and then work in a group to find the answer to the question, "How many rolls of the dice is statistically best to accumulate the most points, before you roll the number which takes your points away from you?"

I have personally played this game with my students in class. We called it "Greedy Pig". The students liked the competition and the thrill of a game and let their inhibitions go. The class got to see one another for who they truly were, and this helped facilitate the group getting to know each another quicker.

If group work is to be effective, I have found the best ice breaker for a class is the game "Greedy Pig".

DZ Chapter four

Thank you, Daniels and Zimmelman, for writing this chapter just so you could answer my first blog question.

This is the kind of list of books I like. Broken down by subject, type of reading, level, etc.
I have already highlighted four books I will be reading over the next four weeks, to see if I can implement them into reading in the classroom this year. Even so, I will be taking in all my back issues of Reader's Digest, so students can be reading something in their down time...even if I can't relate it to Core Content for Algebra.

Book Trailers

As I put a few finishing touches on the book trailer John and I have worked on, I realize how much detail needs to go into a 2 minute clip. I have struggled with thoughts all night long that we didn't put in the right pictures, or that the pictures don't give enough detail. But, in my heart, I knew detail would be detrimental to the success of this book trailer.

John and I made the book appear to be entertaining and tried hard to entice readers to want to pick it up in the library. But, truth be told, I didn't like the book. It didn't capture my attention, and each chapter was a repeat of the previous...only a different math concept. That's scary when the plot of a book is about learning shortcuts to difficult math. It was like the book was trying to cram all the math concepts, from addition through calculus, into a novelette, and by the end of the reading, I was a bit turned off to math...AND I'M A MATH TEACHER!!!!!

This is, however, how movie and book trailers hook an audience. They pull out snippets from the story line to entertain and entice, sometimes a bit dishonestly to the genre itself.

My undergraduate degree is in Marketing, so... sure I can market this book. With more time, I can make a book trailer that would make Paris Hilton want to purchase copies of the book to place in each room of her new half-way house for ex-convicts...I can figure a way to make this trailer so "juicy" that Oprah will consider it for her July Book Club...I can manipulate the book's plot on my book trailer so that Donald Trump would call me up and ask for advice on how to turn trash into treasure. My undergraduate training says I can do all that...but, my lifelong training on honesty and ethics says otherwise.

I'll just leave it at that.

BPR Chapter 6 - Reflection

The title, Of Times, Teens, and Books, got my attention. I wanted to see what the author had to say about what teens were interested in, which books meant most to them, and which books would help these teens become more reflective thinkers and "world changers". This chapter did help me get some resources.

However, my mind took a detour to a comment made on the second page. It states, ..."In addition to negotiating a range of multiliteracy demands with ease, adolescents are also entering puberty at a younger age, pushing them to wonder about issues of sex and identity when some of us wish they were still riding bikes and playing tag. This need to find answers sooner also has an effect on their reading interests..."

Are we surprised? We have birthed children who were read to while still in the womb. Headphones were placed on mom's bellies so fetuses could learn to love Mozart. They have watched "Baby Einstein" videos and Dora the Explorer from infancy, so that they will be prepared for school and also be multilingual before we dare brag about them in Pilates' class.

We place them in K-3 classes at our local schools, and insist they know their alphabet before they are promoted to K-4. They are required to read on a 2nd grade level (compared to 25 years ago) before they can "graduate" from Kindergarten. We award $100,000 to a home video where the 3 year old can recognize and name all 30 some odd presidents; we place on ESPN the Spelling Bee finals where a 6th grader spells the most ungodly word I have ever heard of (and fully intend to NEVER use in daily conversation!). We insist they wear clothes from Baby Gap and Abercrombie for Kids, have their ears pierced at 6 weeks of age, and be at the top of their game at tennis, dance, and violin, all before they reach junior high.

They take computer classes in 1st grade and we applaud their intelligence. They surf the internet by age 7, and we insist they teach us, as parents, how to surf as well. They are pushed... and pushed...and pushed...to achieve higher, be smarter.

We wanted our children to skip childhood, apparently. Or else why would we insist they used the correct terms "penis", "vagina", and "masturbate"? What ever happened to the good ol' days of the "wee-wee" and the "hoo-hoo"? I still use those terms myself!!! And don't get me started on the "M" word...

"GROW UP!"

We have given them this message, both verbally and non-verbally, from before they were born. So, it only makes since we need to accommodate their adult-like interests in literature, and save classics like "Old Yeller" for nursery rhymes and sing-a-longs...

BPR Interlude #1 -- Lessons Learned

Although chapter four was interesting, my attention focused on the Interlude on page 39. As a teacher, sometimes I need to shut up and listen. Students experience pain that I could not relate to, and they go through silent torment that no amount of screaming could take away. Writing, for them, is therapy. More knowledge is useless to the brain if the soul is slowly drowning in pain...

Let me be available to listen. I know I won't have answers. They are tired of the teachers giving them answers to questions they never asked. Let me question with my silence and have them answer with stanzas...or paragraphs...or tears.

BPR chapter 10

Right brainers will rule the future!!! That's what Pink says. (Hold on a sec, I just decided to change my font to pink, in honor of Danny Boy...okay, I'm back.) Now, where was I...oh yeah...I knew it all along. I have suffered through many years of getting "off track" in my thoughts, only to find out now "off track" is the Orient Express of tomorrow's literacy! (Toot Toot!) I love the way Pink (not the musician, the author) redefines learning/communication styles to accommodate the technology movement. More students speak in that language and can easily figure out, not only how they learn, but how they can contribute to the group. Everyone's a contributor in his/her own way.

I am really going to implement a classroom blog for my Ramp Up to Algebra students. I never believed they were truly bad at math; they just didn't catch the rules through rote memorization and worksheets. Maybe someone will write a rap song on the blog and forever change the way we add fractions!!!

Does this pink font show up on my blog? I need to post to make sure...I'll be right back.

Oh, it looks goooood.

I also finally caught the meaning of the book ZOOM, although it took time to figure it out. I figured it out in class while Dr. Kajder was moving those slides over the Elmo. Why is it not pronounced Kadgeder. Where's the J? Is this name Spanish because the J is silent? It looks more like an east Indian name...and what about that Elmo?

I have more reading to do.
Carry on.

BPR Chapter 1

Shut Up!!!!!! You are one of the contributors to this book!!! That is so stinkin' awesome!! So the reason we don't read Chapter 14 for class is because we are going to live it instead, huh? Good teaching strategy...bring in the author as a guest lecturer...why didn't I think of that?

Focus, Laura ...

The opening statement, "...In the future, how we educate our children may prove to be more important than how much we educate them." (Friedman), when teamed up with the story of Collin, really hit home with me. I am beginning to realize there are so many more ways to educate and assess students rather than textbooks and multiple choice exams. My proverbial 'hampster' is already beginning to spin the wheel, as I think of ways I can teach/orchestrate my math classes. I would love for my students to create blogs of their own so I can see the ways they think. It's hard to tell about someone's background or passions if the only writing I see from them is in numerical form...

DZ Chapters 1 and 2

To begin with, the story of the fictional science teacher has become me, or shall I say, I have become it. I do have passion for my subject. I want students to catch my fever and love for Algebra. However, I have resorted, through time constraints of my own and of my school, to teaching straight from the text. No pre-read, no KWL, no nuthin'...I've already become Scrooge, and the ghost of "Math Teachers Past" is haunting me.

The comment on page 2 impacted me a bit. "...teenagers should not be 'getting ready' to be life-long learners--but should be acting like them right now." I did neither a good job of preparing them, nor of whetting their appetites to learn this past year...and I feel guilty. (However, I am also a mother, so guilt is the standard M.O. for the M.O.M.)

Page 14 states, "...They read too many textbooks, and not enough "real" books and articles..."
Okay, I'm hooked! Give me lists of books I can have my students read, comprehend, apply, etc. and enjoy in the process...oh, did I mention I am a Math teacher? I love to read. I love the thought of having my students being a part of the "Literacy Parade". But from there, I'm lost. Will this book show me, the math teacher, some examples or some reading lists to choose from. I hope so.

This book is keeping my attention, so far. The authors have a level of conversation with the reader as they share their information with me. Good form!!!