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The Joy of Impotence

Posted by Waski_the_Squirrel on Tuesday, October 16, 2007 10:20:40 PM
Impotence (in its broader sense) is a bad thing. It suggests that one is ineffectual, unable to do things, perhaps even helpless in certain ways. None of these are ways that most of us like to be thought of.

Sadly, many of us enjoy impotence because it is an excuse or a sort of protection. Impotence comes in many forms. To an environmentalist, we may be impotent to affect global warming. Thus, he may do protests, suggest laws, stop factories, and revel in the good feeling that he put in a valiant attempt before ultimately failing.

In education, impotence comes in many forms. "Kids these days just can't be taught," is a common refrain. Another, at least on Townhall.com, is, "The unions and liberals control education. We're helpless to change it." In this way, there is the feeling of victimization, pride that one is not part of the problem, and the luxury of not being able to solve the problem. It's great fun to point to others' problems while holding up oneself as pure white.

Most of us will not become teachers. I did make that choice, but that was my way of dealing with the problem. Parents might try paying attention to what goes on in school and asking about it. They might attend a few school board meetings rather than allow the school board to meet as a secret cult. They might try voting in school board elections or, better yet, running in school board elections. They might even try meeting and getting to know their child's teachers and friends. In too many cases, even an interest in their own child might be a great step!

I hear from the parents who think I'm too tough. I've never heard of a parent complaining a teacher is too easy. They may impotently complain to their friends, but they won't actually talk to the teacher. They will even sit by and allow the other sort of parent to attack the teacher who has standards.

Impotence spares a person from problems. He is free to whine and complain without actually having to do anything about it. Once a person begins to act, he meets with conflict, sometimes violent conflict. However, the good thing about action is that it can lead to desired changes. Sometimes the changes don't come quickly enough and sometimes we run into a brick wall that we cannot surmount. However, I can guarantee that the brick wall will not be surmounted without trying.

I suppose what led to this blog is the amount of impotence and even pride in it shown on this board. I read too many comments on the various columns (and even many columns as well) which revel in an impotent attitude. We should act, blogging, complaining, and even whining are fine, if they lead to action. Without action, they are so much "sound and fury, signifying nothing." Any reader of Shakespeare's Macbeth likely knows who is speaking in this case!
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Closed Schools

Posted by Waski_the_Squirrel on Wednesday, October 10, 2007 1:40:25 AM
School closing season is over for the moment. It will start up again next summer. Recent victims include Wildrose/Alamo, Tuttle-Pettibone (and one would presume Robinson), Rhame, Verona, and one in the middle of the state that has slipped my memory right now.

I don't want to go into that depressing topic. Instead, I want to point out some of the interesting architecture and locations of these schools. More detailed descriptions, maps, and larger views may be found by visiting my Flickr account. You will also be subjected to a lot of landscapes. Mostly, family and student pictures are marked private and are unavailable for general access.

Just a few short weeks ago, I did a tour of the northwest corner of the state. I was surprised by how many of the little towns up there had shuttered new buildings. (By new, I mean buildings of the 1960's.) Towns like Noonan, Lignite, and Columbus were disappointing for this reason, though Lignite's school was still open!

One interesting building was shuttered years ago in the tiny town of Tolley. Bell towers are an architectural feature that don't appear on more modern buildings.
tolley

Tolley also had a rather unique used-car lot, though only 2 cars remain on the lot.
2 Used Cars, Still on the Lot

Near Tolley there is a functioning school named Bowbells. Sadly, Bowbells is on its last legs. Only about 60 students remain K-12. Nevertheless, it is a pleasant town with a functioning Main Street. The school itself is a rather unattractive mix of additions that show the evolution of architectural style from multistory brick buildings to plain, single-story buildings. Interestingly, the gym (not shown) was condemned a few years ago because it was on the verge of collapsing. The town squeezed together the money to fix it rather than close the school. Unfortunately, the gym was far outlive the school district.
Bowbells
A trip of about 20 miles south on gravel took me to the town of Wildrose. I've always liked the name of this town. The town itself had a sputtering Main Street. It also happened to be the only paved street. Back a few blocks was the school. I chose my odd photographic angle to get the diamond-shaped brickwork. Also of note is the sign over the main door which says "Knowledge is Power". Sadly, this school closed a few years ago with only about 40 students, K-12.
Wildrose









Naturally, I couldn't visit Wildrose without also visiting Alamo. Years ago, Alamo closed and sent its students to Widlrose. As I noted, that school has not closed as well. Alamo is little more than a collection of houses, some quonsets, a bar, and a post office. Very little pavement is found in this town. However, the building shows an attention to detail that has not been seen on schools in a long time.
alamo
My most modern addition on that trip was Alexander. Until recently, it boasted one of North Dakota's better science teachers. It is a very modern, very nice building. A lot of money was spent to give those students a good school. Sadly, with enrollment well under 50 students, K-12, there was no future. This wonderful building sits empty.
Alexander
I've often wondered what it feels like to go home to find your school gone and your town dying. My own hometown is growing, and I am unlikely to ever experience it. I have watched two schools where I was once employed dwindle, but, as yet, they are still holding on. This is one of those realities of life in the Dakotas. It's difficult to turn around and is a symptom of the adjustment to a changing economy and technology.

Recently, the ND Legislature held an Education Interim Committee meeting. I'll post the minutes. In a day or two, I hope to discuss portions of that, particularly what I see as the state's views on its rural schools.
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Review and Saxon Math

Posted by Waski_the_Squirrel on Friday, October 05, 2007 12:36:33 AM
A few years ago, I learned how to drive. When I started driving, it was just in the safe confines of my driveway. Later, I began driving the more complicated (but still safe) confines of the gravel road upon which I lived. Later, my experience expanded to driving to town. Now, I drive cross country and through the occasional city.

I slowly developed skills and then reviewed them over and over until they became second nature. As I reviewed, I also developed the ability to handle more and more complicated situations. I'm working on that in my classroom.

When I was a new teacher, I was foolish enough to believe that students would learn and remember the important things. Apparently my own experience as a student (which is still a few years longer than my experience as a teacher) didn't make the obvious clear to me. People need practice.

For years I had been hearing horrible things about something called "Saxon Math." When I finally got a look at it, I could see the problems, but I also had a revelation. Saxon Math provides daily review of previously learned concepts. As it reviews them, it continually "jacks up" the difficulty level in almost imperceptible stages. Students learn to handle skills automatically.

I do have some quite serious concerns with the Saxon program, but seeing this changed my teaching. I now make sure my homework (and practice work at the start of class) all continually have review in them. I also arrange topics so that I can slowly "jack up" the difficulty. What I've noticed over the years is that most students learn it better. It really makes a difference! Saxon brought this innovation into math (and I'm applying it to science). It seems common sense, but few books do it. I didn't either.

Now, a Saxon textbook does have some issues.  Typically, they are arranged into discrete lessons. This is different from other textbooks which have chapters and units. Each lesson is followed by 20-30 problems. Of these, 2-5 are based on the skill just taught. The rest are review. Saxon uses absolutely no color and does not to "interesting" sidebars. It is very businesslike.

Overall, I like the approach. My greatest concerns are two. The first is that it does not provide enough initial practice with a new skill. When I taught Algebra from Saxon, I felt that students just didn't get the initial grasp they needed. I'd prefer about 10 problems with the new skill. Secondly, the units really are discrete. One day we may be learning the FOIL method, the next day it's geometry, and the third day it's dividing polynomials. The reason for this is to provide practice with discrete skills. My problem with it is that students do not see how those skills fit into the larger picture.

In my own course design (in science) I try to arrange topics by broad units. I may toss a few things into a unit, but I try to arrange the unit (and the succession of units) into a sort of storyline. Within this, I try to arrange skills so that students can develop them. I'm compromising. I've learned the important lesson of Saxon, but I've also learned from other curricula as well.

Saxon is popular with homeschoolers in America. I suspect this is due to its clarity and its lack of politics. Some homeschoolers object to its occasional use of elves or sprites in problems, but this is a minor, humorless group. Overall, it is good for teaching at home, particularly if the parent is not comfortable with mathematics. What it lacks is most often made up for by the unique nature of  a homeschooled student.
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Understanding Physics

Posted by Waski_the_Squirrel on Tuesday, October 02, 2007 1:46:33 AM
Recently, my Physics students asked me where I was getting the material I was teaching them from. I tend to not rely overmuch on the textbook and they were disturbed.

At the moment, we are working on velocity-time and distance-time graphs in cases of constant velocity. (For those of you who don't like Physics, just nod politely. I'm making an education point, not a Physics point.) I've been having them convert between these two types of graph. I've also been having them act out or explain what happened to create graphs. Other times I have them sketch the graph from a short story.

They find it awkward because I'm doing this without numbers. I use the numbers to be sure. I like formulas and I like having them read slopes from graphs or find areas under curves. However, I really like having  them sketch a general shape.

Why?

One can go through some Physics courses and not understand a thing. If you're good at formulas, you breeze through. I want my students to have a better handle on the conceptual end.

My actual textbook asks students to make xy-scatterplots of lab data, both with distance and with velocity. That's it! I wonder what the point of that exercise is? It is abandoned quickly enough.

I made a study of many different Physics books and I majored in the subject in college. What good does it do if I can convert a line with a positive slope on a distance-time graph to a horizontal line at a positive number on a velocity-time graph? However, if I realize that my person is walking in the direction the motion detector is facing, suddenly I have something real world and an understanding of how the graph represents something real.

Onto this, the students can then hang the conversions between graphs with a much deeper understanding. It also provides a conceptual underpinning to the concept of a derivative.

My students have also discovered that the area under a velocity-time graph is the displacement. Starting position cannot be ascertained from a velocity-time graph. Right there is integration and, again, a deeper understanding. They might even come to realize why the integrals all have a +c written at their tail.

I can't claim credit for this idea. I put together ideas from three different texts. However, but manipulating concepts and sketching graphs without concern for numbers, my students are developing a much deeper understanding of Physics. My hope is to help them come to an understanding much more quickly than I did.
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