As a young student I didn’t sit still very well. I got distracted sometimes. I loved what I liked and grudgingly did other work. Sometimes I sunk energy into subjects others thought I would be good for me… that never went well. I started to blossom when I allowed myself to pursue and enjoy what I loved.
This realization helped ignite my interest in education, and more broadly, working with youth to help them find their way and excel. I started reading, writing and learning.
Below are some recent resources I’ve enjoyed and that help me shape my next steps:
• Some of my toughest and most rewarding days are working with children who test our limits as teachers. I cannot believe these children are behaving as they do for fun. Their (often traumatic) circumstances shapes their spikey behaviours. Rob Miller describes “hugging the porcupine.”
Image Driven Math
• I spent a day last week learning about math strategies including our education ministry’s renewed math strategy.
I was happy to hear some of the strategies that included “image driven math,” math sites like Which One Doesn’t Belong and Fermi’s open ended questions.
These sites get students’ brains and classes working differently. One of the presenters urged us to take math class outside. I smiled at that suggestion. I probably would have done better at university level calculus if we could play with practical applications outside the classroom…
• I don’t sit still very well. Active learning – ie being active while learning math / language, etc. helps me learn and smile. I am seeing more bike desks in classes to help students that need to move. Being outside and being active engage and retain students and their learning. Bill Murphy Jr. writes about the need for many to be active when learning.
Keep reading and learning. Please share your favourite links, below.
