Middle and High School … from a Montessori Point of View
Half the Chemistry class was gone yesterday, so they had to make up their experiment today. Well, one student of the students who did her work yesterday entreated me to lead her peers through the experiment. It was pretty awesome, because she had been struggling with the topic for the last week and had finally … Continue reading “Peer Teaching”
Mrs. D. recommended this nice little article on “flipped teaching”, where students get lessons from videos (usually at home) and spend their time in class working on problems and getting help from peers and their teacher. Sounds a lot like Montessori. In middle school, for example, where you get a short lesson at the beginning … Continue reading “Flipped Teaching”
All that arguing with your teenager is, basically, teaching them how to argue. You yell, they learn to yell. You listen, and make your rational arguments respectfully, and they learn to do the same — both with you and with others; so much so that it inoculates against peer-pressure. Patti Neighmond has a nice story … Continue reading “Teaching Your Kids how to Argue”
When a student is struggling with a problem, and they just need that little boost to get them to the next level, they’re in Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development, and it’s appropriate for the teacher to give them that crucial bit of help. The idea implies that students really have been trying to solve the … Continue reading “Scaffolding and Peer-learning: Thinking about Vygotsky’s “Zone of Proximal Development””
There was a neat little conference today, organized by LEGO’s Education division. I’ve been trying to figure out a way to include robotics in my math and science classes, but since I haven’t had the time to delve into it, I was wondering if the LEGO Robotics sets would be an easy way to get … Continue reading “Considering LEGO Robotics”
A colleague recommended the Cool Math website as something she uses as a supplement for her students. There are some games for the younger kids, and lessons in pre-algebra through algebra for secondary students. I’ve glanced through a few of the pre-algebra lessons, and like them. They’re short, fairly clearly written, and have good diagrams. … Continue reading “The CoolMath Website”
Microsoft Excel, like most graphical calculators and spreadsheet programs, has the built in ability to do linear regression of measured data using certain types of functions — lines, polynomials, logarithms, and exponents for example. However, you can get it to do any type of function — sinusoidal, natural log, whatever — if you work through … Continue reading “Modeling Data with Straight Lines using Excel”
Emily Hanford has an excellent article on NPR about college professors who are transitioning away from lectures as a teaching method. They’re now focusing more on peer-teaching.