Thinking about
the typical classroom and its procedures, so many things come to mind--forming
lines to walk down the hall, silence in the classroom while the teacher is
talking, guided practice, independent practice, and homework assignments from a
textbook. However, these routine classroom procedures according to the Situated Cognition article, override the
true authentic activities that give students a chance to become “encultured” and
approach content as if they were an expert of the material. In the article
there was one point that really stood out to me as a math teacher. The author was describing the way textbooks
are written and how word problems are frequently posed in ways that do not align
with real world math or the way true mathematicians approach concepts. I think about that and I know how I stress
and emphasize solving word problems to students—“slash the trash” (get rid of
unnecessary information), highlight key words, etc. etc., but that kind of
teaching is teaching students how to conquer textbook word problems (and
test-taking strategies), not how to think critically and apply math concepts to
real life issues. Providing students
with more real life issues and allowing them to collaborate through the
problems with each other would lead to a much higher understanding of the
content and perhaps alleviate some of the math phobia that exists because the
students would see the purpose.
In regards to class last week I was really buying into the idea that there truly was
someone named Don in Africa texting about ailments affecting someone nearby him,
but as time went on, I started thinking there’s no way we would spend 15+
minutes on an activity if there wasn’t a deeper meaning behind it. Don’s Texts activity gave us a chance to
approach a problem as if we were “experts” in the field— providing us with
tools such as the iPad, and the app we used, we were able to diagnose the
people Don was coming into contact with.
I loved that this activity was a real “authentic” problem, we were using
available tools, using whatever content knowledge that we had (and Google to
help us decipher the words we didn’t know), and most importantly, the power of
the collaboration going on. I have been considering
an activity similar to Don’s Texts for my math class—here’s what I’m thinking,
we’re working on our Fractions/Decimals/Percents unit, so I’m going to a pose a
situation to my students where I get a text from one of my friends who missed
her flight and she’s stuck at Dulles having to either pay a 30% late fee, or she
can use a promotion on her credit card, however that would result in a
cancellation charge and interest. I’m
then going to have the students help me decide what the best plan of action for
her would be. I’ll have to do a little
bit of explanation of what interest is to the students (that ties in with the B
in the ABCs), but I can see that being a meaningful learning experience for
them, and it gives them a chance to feel like they’re helping the teacher
(further building the classroom community).
Going back
to the ABCs I feel an area I don’t always make adequate time for is the sharing
of our activities. I do believe there is great power with students comparing their
knowledge bases and finished products with each other, and while I often hang
student work up around the room and/or have students present, we need to spend
more time reflecting on and discussing each other’s work. Not just a student presentation
where the rest of the class sits half paying attention. I can see Gallery Walks
with some sort of scaffolding guide as a great way to share activities.
Jared my math colleague, I agree with all of your sentiments. Here is the question I posed in our class on Thursday. We live in the math culture/community of math teachers but do we do math for a living? What is the best way to design our lessons with authentic activities that fits the needs of people (culture/community) who do math for a living? Hopefully we can figure this out in the next two years :)
ReplyDeleteNo, I don't think we do the math that we teach for a living at all. I can't tell you the last time I've had to solve a quadratic equation in real life :D. Yes, we practice the basics in everyday world, calculating tips, calculating tax, etc. etc. But even when you tell the kiddos that, they're like, WELL WE HAVE CALCULATORS TO DO IT FOR US. Math is a tough concept to bring in so many authentic activities, especially when the concepts get so abstract.
DeleteDifferentiating between textbook and real world problems is certainly a key step toward the design of authentic activities. In my language arts class, I often found myself assigning students short stories and having them answer the questions that followed in the textbook. While many support somewhat relevant skills, such as making inferences, this assignment lacked an authentic problem. Thus, the students did not see the real world importance (if there was any), and I was teaching with a test-centered mind. I am interested to hear about how your Dulles late fee activity worked with the students. I think it is a great idea!
ReplyDeleteThe Dulles late fee activity led to some interesting conversations. It's amazing how many of them did not know concepts such as interest. Which is another standard we have to teach, so I got a few knocked out in one activity!
DeleteI was going to suggest gallery walks, but you said it! If you are able to have your friend (fake)text you, I think a "fake" Skype phone call or pre-recorded video of her thanking the class for the solution would be a great follow-up. Maybe she could even ask for more advice on something else, then! I hope you're able to do this and share how it goes with us. I wish I had math teachers like you when I was younger. If I had, I might not be the typical math-phobic person!
ReplyDeleteThat's a good idea with the follow up! The activity led to some great conversations with some of the classes. It's amazing how many of them did not realize that credit cards can be such a dangerous thing! :D
DeleteThe duality that you present is quite real. We teachers often find ourselves trapped between doing what feels right for our students and the requirements of the ‘school culture’. My ultimate goal as a teacher is for my students to use Spanish outside of the classroom, in its natural environment. On the other hand, I sometimes feel like, as long as my students are within the ‘school culture’, it’s difficult, if not impossible, to get rid of all the ‘non-authentic’ tools needed to thrive in it. Small changes over time will have a cumulative effect, I hope.
ReplyDeleteI do love your idea of using a friend’s text to introduce an authentic problem. I’m pretty sure they will see the usefulness of it and it’s hard to imagine they will not be invested in the activity. This year I have also made a point with myself to using peer-review on a regular basis. I agree with the idea that reflecting on and discussing each other’s work can be a valuable tool for self-reflection. I look forward to hearing how your authentic activity goes!
Agreed completely about taking the content out of the classroom. I know times have changed drastically over the past decade or so, but I remember in Spanish class our teacher took us to a restaurant and we had to order in Spanish, and that was how he assessed us. It was a good experience for us and made me think outside of the typical "Ven Conmigo" textbook we had.
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