Karl Fisch-"A Formula for Success?"

Karl Fisch's Best of the FischBowl February 2007 post, titled "A Formula for Success?", expresses his concern for the way mathematics is taught in schools today. Being a secondary education/math major, I found this post expresses my feelings about teaching mathematics. Math is often taught by giving a formula and then plugging in values. Oftentimes, there is no instruction on why the formula is what it is instead, students are told that it is what it is just because. They are given no explanation as to why and how the formula came to be. This method is not acceptable.

To truly understand math you need to understand the why and how of mathematical applications. You also need to understand and realize how those mathematical applications apply to real life situations. For example, when learning percentages will be used later in life for determining sale prices or determining what percentage of their salary will be deducted for taxes. Giving students examples of real life situations involving math may help them to understand how important it is to understand mathematical processes.

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Technologically Illiterate Educators

Karl Fisch, a teacher at Arapahoe High School in Colorado, says "If a teacher today is not technologically literate-and is unwilling to make the effort to learn more-it's equivalent to a teacher 30 years ago who didn't know how to read and write". Harsh words, but I have to say that I agree with him. Twenty years ago, people were able to get jobs that did not require much knowledge of technology. Today, however, it is getting more and more difficult to find occupations that do not require knowledge of technology. It will only get more difficult in the future. Most workplaces of the 21st century use technology of some kind, therefore, if eductors don't technologically prepare their students then their students will have trouble being successful. It is a teacher's duty to be up-to-date on technology so that he/she can properly prepare his/her students for their future.

International School Blogs

This picture is from the Montfort Secondary School blog site located at http://www.montfortschool.blogspot.com/. Montfort Secondary School is a catholic school located in Singapore. Their blog is used to keep parents informed of upcoming school events. There are also links to infromation for Montfort alumnus as well as information about the school band and sports teams. There is also a link to the Montfort Secondary School Official website. The blog also has a list of videoclips of sporting events and other school functions but there are no clickable links to these video clips.

This picture is from the blog of Hiroshima International School which is located in the Chugoku region of Japan. Their blog is accessible from their school website or you can get there directly by clicking http://www.hiroshima-is.ac.jp/news. The blog is used by all grade levels to showcase projects that they are working on. This picture is of grades 4 and 5 working on their science projects. you can read the latest posts or you can view newsletters by grade levels. There are also links to posts about infromation technology and sports.

Using Blogs in the Classroom

This picture is from Mr. C's Class Blog at http://mrcsclassblog.blogspot.com/. Mr. Chamberlain is a teacher at Noel Elementary School in Noel, Missouri. He seems to use blogs a lot in his classes because he has a lot of different blogs. His class blog consists of student blogs where students answer specific questions that he has asked them to answer. This blog seems to focus on science with videos of experiments and streaming video of his class. Some students have even started their own personal blogs where they post whatever is on their mind. Mr. C seems to be a teacher dedicated to using technology to educate his stucents.

This is a picture of an art sculpture done by a student at Memphis University School (Lower School student). This blog, located at http://musowls.blogs.com/lowerschool/, serves as a source of information for parents of Lower School students of Memphis University School. It contains information about upcoming events as well as important information that may relate to parenting. There are also links to the MUS homepage and links where you can check up on your child's assignments and grades. Thsi blog seems to be a great resource for parents who want to stay on top of their child's education.

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