Tag Archives: Teaching

Perplextion

Perplexity is the goal of engagement. We can go ten rounds debating eggs, broccoli, or candy bars. What matters most is the question, “Is the student perplexed?” Our goal is to induce in the student a perplexed, curious state, a question in her head that math can help answer. via dy/dan » Blog Archive » TenContinue reading “Perplextion”

This Week in the Classroom: Diddley Bows

Make: Projects has great instructions on how to build your own diddley bow. Make it safe & keep the rubber side down.

Art Car 2012 is coming…

…soon.  For those you in the Houston area, join us at the Art Car Parade on May 12th.  More info at http://www.orangeshow.org. Make it safe & keep the rubber side down this weekend.

If I Had a Boat (Sailing Curriculum Unit)

In my middle school/junior high class, we’ve been exploring the relationship between sails, force, momentum, foam boats and area.  I’ve used the unit to assess the graphing labs we conducted last quarter and introduce non-linear graphs. I began the unit by asking students to research old sailing boats and draw conclusions from the material theyContinue reading “If I Had a Boat (Sailing Curriculum Unit)”

On Kindles, iPads, SmartBoards, Prometheans and Apps in the Classroom

The textbook is now digital but students still encounter it as they always have: wisdom to be received, perhaps highlighted, annotated, and memorized, but not created, constructed, or made sense of. Teachers still interact with students as they always have. The platform doesn’t offer them any new insights into the ways their students think aboutContinue reading “On Kindles, iPads, SmartBoards, Prometheans and Apps in the Classroom”

Work Ethic

Teacher Tom: The Work Ethic Indeed “play” and “hard work” are not opposites: in fact, they can be seen as synonyms. Anyone who has ever played hard also knows how to work hard. There may be aspects of our play that we dislike, that are not “fun,” but we do them because they are steps inContinue reading “Work Ethic”

What a School Could Be…

…if we only let it.  I’m lucky.  Most of the time, my school walks this walk and talks this talk.  I hope your’s does too. Connecticut superintendents propose a radically different approach to education | Dangerously Irrelevant How do you transform factory era school systems so that they better serve the needs of an informationContinue reading “What a School Could Be…”

Teacher Tip: Use Two Bench Hooks

Dadoes are much easier to cut when you use two bench hooks…. You can even chisel out the waste right there.  My students are having such success using bench hooks, knee height workbenches and the tool chest I’m reconsidering my thoughts on bigger workbenches.  I’d like a better assembly table, but it ain’t nothing ifContinue reading “Teacher Tip: Use Two Bench Hooks”