I feel like explaining my new vision has to begin with why I am doing this.There are three steps that brought me to UAB's Fifth-year program. First I have an under grad degree in Electrical Engineering. I chose EE because I am a math geek; I see things in terms of mathematics. Second, I have 7 kids and have home schooled (HS) off and on for the past 18 years. I also taught classes to homeschoolers in Basic Circuits. Third, my kids are growing up and going to public school so I'm thinking, "what do I want to be when I grow up?" I know I want to be involved in my community (CI). Well, in my mathematical way of thinking, "(EE +HS) / CI = go back to school and get your degree to teach high school math"
Math is such an abstract subject. Teaching it has to connect it to our senses and experiences. My experience with teaching comes from teaching in a homeschool co-op where parent/faculty taught enrichment classes in their expertise. I taught Basic Circuits by using an electronic kit. The abstract concepts in the manual were described in terms of a water system, something everybody can relate to. My experience as a musician (I played clarinet in highschool and began violin 2 years ago) connects the tuning of my notes with my instructor with visualizing and hearing sine waves matching up.
The circuits class was also very hands-on. We discussed the concepts, observed a circuit diagram (schematic), speculated about what would happen in the circuit, then built and observed the actual function of the circuit. I was inspired as I looked through the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) curriculum available free through Intel. There are examples out there of this working and it's so exciting.
I've heard the term "Project-based approach" several times and wondered what that was. It sounded like something I'd like to incorporate into my pedagogy because it made the learning real/relevant, a part of life. I have started a free internet course on Project-based Approaches that is giving me more confidence that, yes, I can manage this in a classroom setting.
Assessment in this new environment is also a concern for me. Because in Maja's World, "Don't sweat the details" won't fly. I know my weakness is administration and my employer won't assign me my own "Type two" secretary, so I've got to get a handle on how to tackle assessing my students. Standards-Based Grading was described on teacher blog by Mr. Cornally. This is a direction I want to go. I don't want the typical problems of a cartoon world test (a made-up world with limited parameters), but a test of their ability to assess a real world situation, come up with an approach, and choose from the tools (knowledge) they own or find the tools needed to deal with the situation.
Dan Meyer has a YouTube video called "Math Curriculum Makeover" and makes the point that this is an amazing time to be a teacher. The availability of multi media resources is astounding. I not only have access to resources all over the world, I also have the ability to bring it into my classroom in big screen techni color. Multi media tools like Prezi, Wiki, YouTube, Google, Blogs, are some of the 21st century resources that will help me lead my students into the amazing world of mathematics.
