Paper and Pencil Curriculum

"Paper and Pencil Curriculum: How much Do you Rely on It?" is a great article.  Schools rely on paper so much its ridiculous.  I, myself, am constantly printing and copying worksheets for my students.  It's just a way of life, or is it?  the article brings up some great points.  "What would schools do if all of the sudden there wasn't any more paper? Can a teacher teach without handing out a single piece of paper? Can students learn without scribbling on paper? How would they learn?"  If I had to teach without paper, I would find a different job.  Honestly, teacher's do not get paid enough as it is, and now I'm having to figure out how to teach a curriculum without paper.  I couldn't do it.  Unless I was given time to create a new curriculum, that was paid, I wouldn't change my paper filled routine.  Not a chance. 

I actually would use the computers more often if I could be assured that all the computers were working properly.  The problem I have at school, is that when I take my students to the lab, it is a waste of time.  Half of the computers do not work, or is missing something.  Programs aren't installed properly on the computers so some of the sites students need to access aren't working.  Uhhh, it's just a pain so I prefer paper. 

Farmville in Math??

An interesting headline caught my attention, "Using Farmville to Teach Standards," from the Edutopia RSS feed.  I'm not very familiar with Farmville, other than I know it is an app on Facebook.  I haven't played it so I may be in the wrong position but I'm going to blog about it anyway.  The article states, "The mathematical features of the game provide a virtually unlimited resource for the creation of standards-based lessons for learners who must be over the age of 13 to comply with the game’s terms of service."  I have a hard time believing that Farmville can teach the state standards in math.  It kind of reminds me of Oregon Trail that I use to play in school.  I didn't learn anything from it.  I enjoyed playing it more than being in class but I really didn't get anything else out of the game.  Now, I understand that it may work with elementary standards, but I don't think it would even touch high school requirements.  With that said, I think that a project could be developed that involves Farmville, but I think it would take more work on my behalf, than it would be worth. 

Exercise Increases Math Scores...

An article in Edcuation Weekly states, "Regular exercise in an after-school program helped sedentary, overweight children perform better on goal-oriented tasks, according to a study from the Georgia Prevention Institute at Georgia Health Sciences University.  The exercise also seemed to improve math skills, an area of great concern for U.S. educators."  People do not understand the importance of exercise in all areas of life.  Students sit all day long and are expected to learn.  Teaching math, most of my students fall asleep and I'm sure that is the case in most classes.  Interestingly enough, they are full of energy after lunch, where they have been running around for a half hour, socializing.  That is something educator's should think about when they focus so much on assessment. 

Podcasting

I started having some trouble finding a way to use a podcast in my Algebra class.  After much thought regarding how students would be able to hear lessons rather than see lessons, I decided to read through the examples in the book and explain them.  I figured that this way if students were absent or needed more help with a lesson, this might be a way to get them more resources.  I would still prefer to use digital story telling so that they could see what I was doing along with the explanation, but this worked.