Moving at the Speed of Creativity by Wesley Fryer

Authenticity in Math: Connecting to the Real World

These are my notes from Audrey Crumbliss and Jon Hughes’ presentation at the 4 November 2010 Innovative Learning Institute, sponsored by the OU K-20 Center in Norman, Oklahoma. MY THOUGHTS AND REFLECTIONS ARE IN ALL CAPS.

Math is all around us
– How do we get math into the classroom?
– If we do, how does that change what is happening in our classrooms?

Teaching with Authenticity is practice #2 of the Ten Practices of High Achieving Schools in Authentic Teaching

Components of Authentic Teaching
– Construction of Knowledge
– Disciplined inquiry
– value beyond school
– Implicit View of Students

Authentic Teaching Increases Student Achievement
– student scores on conventional tests (Newmann, Bryk, & Nagaoka, 2001: Smith, Lee & Newmann, 2001)
– student motivation to learn (Green, Miller, Crowson, Duke, & Akey, 2004: Roseser, Midgley, & Urdan, 1996)

Authentic interactive instruction increases achievement for ALL students, regardless of school level, size, context, ethnicity or socioeconomic status (Smith, Lee & Newmann, 2001)

Meaningful and authentic learning for students
– is active (Bransford et al., 2003)
– allows for student choice (Yair, 2000b)
– involves social interaction (Greeno, 1997)
– creates an intellectual climate that nurtures and challenges students and results in high school student engagement (Hargreaves, 2003; Yair, 200)
– uses inquiry and other techniques that explicitly help students make sense of content at hand (Newmann, 2003; Pasley, et al, 2004)

Audrey and Jon were inspired last summer by Dan Meyer

Jon Hughes’ Math class www.youtube.com/coachhughesmath
– what can we learn from Dan Meyer?
– “The formulation of a problem is often more essential than its solution…” – Albert Einstein
– What are some ways we can let students formulate the problem?
– “Be less helpful” – Dan Meyer
– What does it mean to be less helpful?

Sample Clock Diameter Problem

Problem: Some teachers tend to train kids to be “impatient problem solvers”

How do we see authenticity reflected in these lessons?
– In what ways were the students active?
– How did this lesson allow for student choice?
– HOw did the lesson involve social interaction?
– How does the lesson create an intellectual climate that nurtures and challenges students?
– How does this lesson facilitate high student engagement?
– How does the lesson use inquiry and other techniques that explicitly help students make sense of content at hand?

Other resources for Authentic Teaching
– Dan Meyer Blog: blog.mrmeyer.com
– Where is the Smath: www.whereisthesmath.com
– WolframAlpha: www.wolframalpha.com
– Goofram: www.goofram.com
– Mathalicious: www.mathalicious.com

WHAT A GREAT SESSION! SO GREAT TO HEAR HOW JON ESPECIALLY IS IMPLEMENTING THESE IDEAS. BTW, JON IS A COACH. WE HAVE SOME FANTASTIC COACHES IN OKLAHOMA WHO ARE TEACHERS, AND JON IS AN EXAMPLE. ONE ISSUE I’D LOVE TO HELP WITH IS THE IT DEPARTMENT IN ELGIN CURRENTLY PROHIBITS STUDENTS FROM PLUGGING ANY TYPE OF FLASH MEDIA DEVICE INTO THE COMPUTERS AT SCHOOL. THIS INCLUDES THE FLIP CAMERAS, SO THIS PUTS THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR UPLOADING ALL THE VIDEOS ON JON’S SHOULDERS. THAT POLICY NEEDS TO CHANGE. THERE ARE MANY WAYS TO KEEP THE SCHOOL COMPUTING ENVIRONMENT / NETWORK SAFE AND STILL ALLOW STUDENTS TO USE FLASH/USB THUMB DRIVES. JUST LOOK AT MOST COLLEGE COMPUTER LAB FACILITIES TO SEE HOW THIS CAN WORK. 🙂

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