Every so often a workshop comes along that makes you slap your forehead and say "Now why didn't I think of that?!?" This was one of those workshops. I have long felt that math teachers are the most underserved department in terms of the school library. Yes, I have books about math. I have encouraged them to bring kids in to see a practical application of decimals in the arrangement of the Dewey Decimal System. But, research? What does that have to do with math? Peter Milbury, LMT, and David Sours, math teacher, from Chico High beautifully sythesized math and research with their lesson on statistics. (DUH!)
Their assignment involved kids selecting a variable that changed over time then plotting the changes on a graph and predicting future trends. The librarian made a website linking to a number of statistics-rich sites. The math teacher taught about plotting variables and methods of graphing. Together they coached the kids through inputting the data into spreadsheets and creating graphs. And the kids finally imported those graphs into Power Point (mostly peer coaching with little teacher input) and presented to the class.
While I would probably not use Power Point or Excel, I could see my math teachers enjoying the application of math to real information. I also really liked their clear rubric which broke down every part of the assignment day-by-day with ample details such as 2 points for eye contact during the presentation.
All can be found at http://melvil.chicousd.org/online/collaborate-mathematics.html
Friday, December 1, 2006
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