The first day of class...

Here it is fall and school has started. What does a teacher do on the first day of class? For the moment let us leave out Kindergarten as that is a special deal--most kindergarten teachers have to deal with parents leaving off their kids--lots of tears, both from the kids and the mothers. As I said, it is a different scene.

The high school (secondary school in Canada) is cool. The entering class be it ninth grade (Freshmen) or tenth grade (Sophomore) probably would be scheduled to an assembly where they are given a pep talk plus rules on how to behave, what offices to go to if having a problem, hours for lunch and going home in the afternoon, maybe bus information as well. And of course they would be given their "home room" assignment. Do you remember your home room? I don't but I know I had one--I think it was the band room. Meanwhile, upper grade high school students were probably going about their classes getting textbooks and finding out what the goals for the class would be for that semester. Seniors are the cool ones; they know all the ins and outs of school behavior. They even know where their locker is.

But the elementary teacher probably has his/her hands full. Perhaps in the gym or maybe out under the covered play area, the kids gather as they get off the bus. Intermediate grade children (fourth, fifth and maybe sixth) might even see their name on a list and head for that room--mostly to see who else is in the class. But the first and second grades are probably being put in a group for each primary teacher.

It goes like this. "Hi, what is your name?" "MarySue? That is a nice name. Do you know your last name too?" "Smith." Good, you go over to that nice teacher next to that wall--that will be your teacher this year. Her name is Mrs. Gray. Have a nice year." "And what is your name dear?" And so it goes until the grades are sorted out. In some cases the children know from a letter that has been sent home who their teacher is and what room number they have. It takes a couple of hours but soon everyone is in their correct classroom with the correct teacher.

There are exceptions. I remember twin girls who kept exchanging classes at recess and at lunch. No one could tell them apart. They didn't like to be separated so they shared as much as they could. And no, I don't know why some school policies say that twins should be separated. I should look up the research on that subject some day.

Another exception to calmness on the first day of class was when an Italian family moved into the school district. I think there were six kids, one for each grade. But it was the first grader who drove everyone nuts. He couldn't speak English so he yelled and I do mean yelled bloody murder until someone would go get an other child who could speak a little English and and would come to the first grade to see what the matter was. He finally was sent to the principal's office and when he yelled there as well, the secretary who had several of her own children, knelt down in from of the child and gave him a stern talking to in English. Maybe it was the mother in her that he recognized but he immediately settled down. But it was a rough go for several hours until she talked to him.

So now we're in the new classroom with thirty one? Twenty nine?" Hopefully under twenty five children all looking big eyed at the teacher. A few of the children may have already said something like, "my brother had you last year." But I suspect the teacher has already said that they would be able to talk a little later on--"we need to get our coats and lunches stowed away first." And I suspect for the most part many teachers would have the children sit on a rug while she would go over the list in her hand of the children she would have this year. Charles Brown? Does your family call you Charles or Charlie or Chuck? Then on to the next child. It takes time and for sure someone will need to go to the bathroom. Stress seems to make bladders smaller for some reason. Do you ask the child to wait until you show them all where the rest rooms are and which one is for boys and which one is for girls? Flip a coin. Once the teacher knows who the children are and that the correct kids are in the class, then the desks and chairs can be assigned.

To a non-teacher, the question probably is why not alphabetical? For most teachers you want to put some of your smaller children in the front while some of the taller children may be in the back rows. If the teacher has some children who don't speak English as a first language you may also want to put them closer to the front. Also, desk height is important as the children will be learning to write and draw this year with more precision then in kindergarten. Chairs size is also important. This chore also takes time. And thank heavens for those children who sense that the teacher needs some assistance. There is always four or five who know how to help. Must be in their genes although I have observed that the country school children are more helpful then the city kids. In some cases the teacher has to write a quick note and have one of these children take it to the office. "I need three more desks and chairs! Mrs. Smith, Rm 12."

So we have the desks and chairs taken care of. It's probably time for the bathroom tours. I remember telling the girls that I would give them privacy but if I heard giggling or yelling or shouting, I would come in the girls room. Much twittering from the girls. Did they want to test me? Always a question of should they.

Recess time is a good time to explore the play area outside. How far to go on the playground, what slides to use and in some cases what classrooms to stay away from (upper grades who may be still studying). Also this is a time to introduce the playground supervisor (teacher assistant or volunteer mom or dad) if the school has such a position.

Lunch time is another major informational time for first graders. In some schools the children go to a lunch room--in others the lunch comes to the classroom. Either way it is a new behavior for the children to learn about.

Maybe by the afternoon, textbooks, writing materials, rulers, whatever the school supplies are passed out and if the teacher is on the ball, a sticky as to whose desk is whose. Later after the kids have gone for the day, I would make a large name tag to put on the front of each desk with the child's name. Big enough for me to read it from the front of the room. It would take me a week or longer to learn everyone's name and even then I sometimes would have to ask once again.

By the end of the day I would read a small story to the class. It was almost time for the busses and the children had been on great behavior all day, excited, in some cases so excited that they would actually wiggle like a puppy. What teachers want is to keep that excitement for the rest of the year.

Oh dear, as I once did, I forgot to say that early on in the morning a teacher has to do the lunch count. Some kids will say they want lunch although they brought their lunch from home. Others have no idea what they are to do--they didn't have a lunch to bring and they didn't have any money to bring. What to do? And now in some schools that are children who are helped with their lunch costs. I even forgot the breakfast bunch who get a subsidized breakfast in the morning. Regardless of your political philosophy, from a teachers point of view, children who have food in their stomach learn better and more. And they don't fall asleep. I had one child who would fall asleep at her desk. I don't know why--I remember calling the mom by phone and she told me Beth got plenty of sleep at night. I was a young teacher so I didn't say anything about seeing the doctor. Perhaps I should have. I don't know and I've worried all these years what I should have done.

One more chore for the first grade teacher--getting the kids on the right school bus. In some cases older brothers or sisters made sure their sibling is on the right bus. But probably that clip board with all the children's names will have a number near it--the right bus number; bus 12 or 5, whatever. When all the kids are gone all you want to do is go back to your desk and sit down. Maybe a bit of cold coffee from lunch will help. It is a tiring day to be sure. And tomorrow the lessons start. Time to start putting names in the grade book.

Do you remember your first grade? Probably not. So be sure to thank a teacher the next time you meet one--that person might have been a first grade teacher at one time.

The Beginning of the School Year

Hey, I'm back from vacation. Sorry for the drought of words about teachers but I was at a place with limited (for me) web access.

On the flip side this is a cool time in education--the beginning of school for most children and young adults, teachers getting classrooms ready, new schools opening up and a big problem, new bus routes. At the college level freshmen are arriving, somewhat scared but excited, getting their dorm rooms decorated and finding their way around campus and town......all the time twittering Mom back home.

But the big news in this part of the world has been the strike by teachers in a suburban school district. They wanted more then the district was willing to give. Or should I say less then the district was willing to agree to. The strike was not about money but rather class size.

I have a good friend who keeps saying that we need to outlaw teacher unions because they are always asking for more money. Sorry, old friend but this time it was not about money. As I have repeatedly written on this blog, teachers teach because they want to teach--they have to teach--they need to teach. If they wanted more of a salary they would go work in a different profession. I know of two teachers who are retired who have been tutoring young adults for free. But my main point is that the teachers who were striking were asking for smaller class sizes so they COULD DO A BETTER JOB OF TEACHING THEIR STUDENTS. It is difficult to teach first grades how to read when you have a class of thirty-four children. Let's even make this example an easy one by saying we have only one child who is hyperactive and two who don't speak English at home.

So how does a first grade teacher start the year? The first thing is to find out who can read already. I would guess that about six to eight students will have some understanding of how to read. So that makes one group of readers. There may be another group that is ready to read, is excited and will constitute a second reading group. The teacher still has over half the class to test and decide how to start the remainder of the children into reading groups. And for you non-teachers, consider working with a first grade reading group and still have the rest of the class doing something positive--not just wasting time. That is a management task of great skill. A fourth grade teacher can say to the rest of the class, do your homework, your math problems or even read your library book while I work with this reading group. Yup, first grade teachers in the fall are a special breed. I luv ya!

But I got sidetracked--sorry. The teachers on strike wanted smaller classes which they eventually got--twenty-four kids in the primary grades. Some class caps in the intermediate grades but the middle and high schools didn't get the cap on classroom enrollment as they wanted. I heard one high school teacher say she would agree to this because if the primary teachers could do a better job of getting children to read and write, her job would be easier later on. Smart lady.

So the strike is over. I was amused by the court who was going to fine each teacher who didn't go back to work two hundred dollars a day. I suspect that some of the beginning teachers with medical and tax deductions don't make that much.

Just another point for you to ponder. In Bellevue, a city east of Seattle and close to Microsoft's main campus, there are several private schools who advertise that their class limits do not exceed ten students per teacher. Ten students per teacher. Now take a wild guess which students are going to learn more, the ones in the twenty-four students classroom or the ones in the ten limit classroom.

I'm truly glad the strike is over. I know it was hard on the teachers. The decision to break a law probably bothered most of them but it was a matter of being between the rock and the hard place. As far as I could tell, the teachers just wanted to be able to do a better job of teaching.

My mind wanders into puzzlement. Can you imagine any other profession that would strike to do a better job? I'm serious. Would Boeing engineers go on strike to build a better airplane? Or Microsoft workers strike to do better coding. It is absurd at the extreme. Interesting thought.

Drive carefully--the kids are back at school.... Several children wandered in the street yesterday in front of me. So be careful. And be sure to thank the teacher on duty in front of the school when you drop your kids off.

The Elephant in the Room.

I've tried to ignore it--that elephant sitting on my morning paper. You know the story. It is about the teachers' strike in Kent, Washington. They have been on strike for a number of days and the district sued to get them back to their classrooms. The court ruled that they were in violation of their contracts and had to go back to class.

So they voted last evening as to what to do and according to the Seattle Times morning paper, they voted 74 percent to remain on strike. I can hear it now from some of my friends. "Get rid of the unions." "Put their leaders into jail for a couple of days--that will learn 'em." I'm always amazed by my friends reactions to strikes.

But first a disclosure. I was a fairly young teacher in a Seattle suburban school district when I was elected president of the local Teachers' Association. No, it wasn't a union. Then after a couple of years I became the president of the state teachers association. So I know a little about teacher organizations. There are teacher unions but they are not viable in the State of Washington. They are found mostly in the tech schools and some community colleges. Most K-12 school districts have an Educational Association of which teachers can join or not join. As far as I know it is still not mandatory to be a member. Most if not all do not have paid officers and only a few have some sort of office. Some have a paid staff member to do paper work and printing, etc. Most do not.

Most of the education associations have an agreement with the state educational association that when you pay dues locally, you also become a member of the state association. But not all teachers belong to the state group. The state EA does have a building with offices with an executive secretary. But not a lot of power. The main function of the state association is to monitor the state legislature as to education bills and teacher requirements.

Years ago when I was the state president, I would go to Olympia to testify for or against some proposed education bill. We had a simple decision point--if it was good for kids, then we were for it. Simple as that. Did we ask for more money for teachers? Certainly. But so were just about everyone else asking for money. Some years we would do better and other years we would do worse. But our main objectives were to improve the education system of the state.

I find it interesting that the Kent Teachers Association is striking for smaller class sizes as one of its primary goals. The KEA and the school administration have already agreed to the pay raise.....3 percent if I remember correctly. What teachers really want are smaller classes to do a better job of teaching the kids.

Okay, let's do some simple math here. Let's say that school starts at 9 in the morning and the kids go home at 3 pm. Six hours divided by 60 gives us 360 minutes. Take away 15 minutes for recess and another 30 minutes for lunch and another 15 minutes for slippage.....going to and from classes, going to the busses...etc. So let's say we have 300 minutes for teaching. Divide that by the number of children in your class--let's say 40 kids (I had 42 one year in a fifth grade) and you get seven and a half minutes per child. Not a lot of time. In todays world as a teacher you may have five kids who do not speak English as a main language, three kids who have a learning disability (like Dyslexia), and four kids who are hyperactive. You may also have a child who is handicapped in some way--has had brain aneurisms. This is not uncommon. I do not find it surprising that the Kent teachers want more time with their students in a smaller class.

Now take that 300 minutes and divide by 27 students. What do you get? Eleven plus minutes. Do you see why some private K-12 schools will keep their class sizes to ten or twelve students?

So we have teachers striking. Will the courts put them into jail? Who knows. I do know it bothers teachers greatly if they are breaking the law. But many think they are between the rock and the hard place-what to do.

As an aside and not on this subject for the moment. For all of you who want merit pay for teachers, how are you going to do it with large class sizes? Just asking....

If you see a teacher out on strike, give them a fist bump for me. They are there for your kids.

New Technologies and the Classroom Teacher

Oh my, it is fall and there is so much to write about--the beginning of school, teacher strikes, class size, high school football, back to school shopping, and H1N1 flu. No wonder some parents get stressed.

But I want to write about something different--nay, I need to wrtie about something different in education. For years, we in education have been opening schools, welcoming students, passing out textbooks, and preparing classes for another year of learning. But today's teachers have a bit more on their plate.....facebook, twitter, web pages, and cell phones......among other technologies to hit the classrooms. In some ways I am envious of what is available.

So let's start with cell phones or mobile phones. Should kids have them? If I were a parent I would want my kids to have the phones. "I won't call you during class but I want to hear from you when class is over." I love the comic strip, Zits (by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman) where the teenager texts his Mom who is in the same room with him. I wonder what the fifth grades will be texting home during class time.... But still I think having a communication system with home is a good thing. The challenge for the teacher will be to get the kids to put the cell phones away during classes. I suspect it will be a major job for teachers to devise some way to put the phones on hold.

Facebook could be another challenge. I'm sure the upper elementary and middle school students will be telling all about their classes on facebook. Hmmm. Sounds like a good sociology project for some graduate student. I remember telling my fifth grade parents at the first PTA of the year that "...I promise not to believe half of what I hear about your family life if you promise not to believe half of what goes on in my classroom." While my kids' parents and I laughed it was a good bargin. At the moment I don't know what to say about my students and facebook. Maybe a up-to-date active teacher could tell us what they are doing....

But then we have some technologies in the classroom that I wish I had had. I would have loved to have had a "Smart Board" (See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMART_Board_interactive_whiteboard). I've already mentioned this device--an interactive white board which can be hooked to a computer for presenting and saving of learning material. Instead of the teacher spending valuable time writing on the blackboard (or regular white boards) to present material, the teacher can type it on the computer and the material will appear on the board for the class to see. Not only is it a saving of time but it is easier for the kids to see. I think the best part of this new technology is that when we are at a stopping point in the lesson and need to go on to something else, I can save the material for tomorrow and I won't have to repeat writing on the board the same material once again. Having a Smart Board must be a delight to have. I find it interesting that Bellevue schools (rated in US News and World Affairs for the top high schools in the State of Washington) have these devices in the classroom. Oh my I was born too soon. By the way, you can also project clips of movies on this board, for example, a clip of Hamlet's soliloguy rather then having someone in class read it aloud. I never understood the beauty of Shakespeare until I was in college. Well, the Smart Board would be a device I would want in my classroom.

Another device would not exactly be in my classroom but on the school web server. It would be the software program, BLACKBOARD. This is a classroom management software program that allows the teacher to put the handout, the assignments and the homework schedule so that kids can access it from home or elsewhere. One of my graduate students once developed a program much like this for a high school math class so that the parents could sign in (their code word only) and see how their child was doing.....and what grades he/she was getting. Some parents liked it and some didn't want to know. But it was available. The Blackboard program does that to a sense--keeps the parents informed as well as the student. The problem here is that all students need to have computer access and not all do.

What else would I like. I would really like to have a computer/video projector, particularly if I did not have a Smartboard. I could do lesson plans to project on the board for all to see--to some degree the same as a Smartboard but it does not have the capabilities that that device has such as saving of writing on the board. But still, a video projector would be cool.

So of course I would want several small camcorders. I have used camcorders before and they are phenomenal. For example, you can hand a camcorder to a middle school science student and say, "Show me three examples of erosion." OR to a high school civics class, you can ask them to show you a problem in the town and how would they fix it. Letting the students use the camcorder can be a learning experience for not only those that record something but for those that watch as well. Okay, so I want two or three camcorders in my classroom....along with the vidco projector.

And I want a web page of what my class is doing....done by the students but with my supervision. So many parents work at times not condusive to coming to parent/teacher conferences. If I couldn't have the Blackboard software program then I think a web page would help parents know what is going on in the classroom. What are we studying and what are the assignments. I think communications with parents is critical for student success. Parents and teachers have to be on the same page for success to happen.

There are a number of software learning programs I would like to have in my classroom for the elementary and some tuning devices for my high school band. Playing in tune can be fun when you're watching it on a computer screen. Yeah, there are a number of technologies now on the market that are amazing. But if a mechanic needs certain tools to repair or fix a car, or if those building a Boeing plane need a device to accomplish the task, why can't we teachers have tools that help us teach the chidlren and young adults. The new technologies will help those learn more in a more effieicent manner. I want 'em--the new tools of the trade.

Can you tweet? Then twitter a teacher and thank them for the help they gave your child.

What makes a good teacher education?

In the past month the New York Times had an article with the theme of "do we need education courses for our teachers?" The article went on to suggest that perhaps just having people who had completed their college education and had a strong major in any subject would probably be better teachers in the long run having the passion for their subject major. Interesting thought. W do have a lot of unemployed folks right now that completed their undergraduate degree and have a major in some area. Sports medicine, women's studies, political science, creative writing--there are a number of majors that might lighten up the curriculum of a school. The problem is that because the state pays the money to the school districts they get to make the rules of what is to be taught. Not all these majors fit the curriculum. And educational reformers love to say that if they were in charge ALL teachers would teach their major. Sounds like we have some round pegs being fitted into square holes. Things don't just fit easily.

But let's advance the tape a bit. In a more recent follow up article in the New York Times, a number of people wrote in to comment on their thesis. And many of them supported the idea of not requiring education courses stating that they had not learned a thing in these courses. All they needed was time as a student teacher. Several of the writers were positive that the education professors had not been inside a school in years. One writer said that he had taken a number of educational courses and had learned "nothing that he had not already known." Another writer mentioned that he took the courses while maintaining a full time summer job, did not read the text and still got an "A" in the course.

To be sure my heart sunk reading the negative comments about educational courses. I've heard it before but it still hurts. Am I and my colleagues that out of touch with the world of education? I don't really think so. I've spent much time lately pondering where the truth lies. To be fair the New York Times is an east coast newspaper and many of those who responded were from east coast schools. Perhaps I am not as aware of the school situations back in the northeast. My big city school experiences have been in Portland (Oregon), Seattle (Washington) and Vancouver (British Columbia). But many of the respondents to the article of whether we need education courses were fairly vehement against. These were apparently experience teachers too. To be fair there were a number of respondents who said that teachers needed a knowledge of curriculum, an understanding of child growth and development and an understanding of educational theory. I suppose the question really is--how much and when does a teacher to be need this knowledge. The old question again.... "Which knowledge is of most worth?" Plato asked that question many centuries ago....

There seems to be a missed assumption somewhere in all this writing. I sensed that several of the negative writers went to class and said "teach me something--I'm waiting." I'm concerned about the one who didn't read the textbook and still got an "A". Might there have been some kennel of knowledge in the book? And then, when do we know when we have learned...something..anything.

As I said I have pondered and puzzled over how college instructors, particularly, educational professors teach. I had one professor during my doctoral days that never told me a thing. It was a course on "Creativity." I had to take it even though it was not part of my major area. He had us read, create, present, look, and on and on but he never told us anything. We had to come to our own conclusions and findings. It was amazing....about thirty five intelligent people all coming to different endings in the course and feeling like they had learned so much. More strangely, I have reached back into that course many times to look at the creativity of grade school students and to understand what they were trying to tell me. I even visited the Musee d'Orsay in Paris and spent a wonderful day exploring my understanding of creativity. And the professor never told me a thing. Amazing.

I had another professor who I thought was the worst teacher I had even come across. He was terrible. Absolutely the worst. He was in Psychology and believed in the Skinnerarian school of thought of stimulus/response. For every stimulus there is a response. He was a difficult lecturer--he was hard to hear and he basically read from his notes. But here is the kicker--his tests were truly stimulus/response tests. One hundred and fifty to two hundred and fifty sentences with a word removed. For example: "For every stimulus there is a correct _______. The correct answer for this professor was "response." I tried to get out of the class but my major professor, the one who advised me, said I had to take it. I was unhappy. So I spent my time in class mentally arguing with this guy. At one point I was sure I had him. He said in class that if you cannot see it you cannot measure it, therefore it doesn't exist. HA! I had him. And I asked in class, "what about God? Can you see God? Can you measure it? I really was pleased with myself. However the professor just said, "No that is something entirely different" and went on. I was upset. I did get though the course and I probably learned more Psychology by mentally arguing with the professor the entire time. To this day, I think he was wrong on so many things. And he really put me off when he dismissed my question on how to measure God.

However, several quarters later I was taking a course on Philosophy from a professor I really admired. He had the class discussing ideas and concepts, then pointing out our differnces and similarities. It was a wonderful course--I was in heaven. But there was a time when I just didn't grasp a philosophical concept of duelism. Didn' make sense to me. UNTIL.....it dawned on me that that phycology professor was a duelist. Human behavior over here and Religion and Faith over there. And the two would never meet. I finally understood. The wonderment of it all.

My main point here is that learners probably shouldn't come to class and say, "Teach Me." There is a responsibility of the learner to make some effort. Maybe if the professor doesn't meet your standards, try to understand why. Is it the fault of the teacher or the fault of the learner. And sometimes the learning becomes clear many year later.

I also had a professor in School Administration. Now this guy was a poor lecturer. He had been a principal and a superintendent and knew state law forward and backwards. But he still was a terrible lecturer. Terrible. But we graduate student quickly found out that if you stopped Professor Higbee in the halls and asked him a question he was a fountain head of information that was valuable. Many of us even when taking other courses would stop him on his way to his office and ask for advice. He was outstanding. I suppose that sometimes it is the responsibility of the one wanting to learn to figure out how to get the information out of the one who knows.

I have several more examples of interesting instructors. And no, I'm not patting myself on the back for outstanding learning--rather I feel strongly that at times experienced teachers who take a college course need to take some responsibility as to what they learn. And if you don't read the book don't blame the instructor for not making you read it.

I have a philosophical saying that I like. I may have already mentioned it here in this series of blogs. "There is no nobility in being superior to anyone else. True nobility is when you have been superior to who you were yesterday."

I suspect all of us have had teachers that were not to our liking but I suspect we all have learned something from each of them. I'd like to thank a number of teachers for what they did for me.

Teachers and Technology

Technology has been around for quite along time. In the broader sense, hand printed books and next the block printed books to Gutenberg's press (c. 1430s) was a bit of technology that helped the masses read. At first only rich individuals could afford books. And could afford teachers to teach them to read. I like the story that the Italicized font was developed in order to produce smaller sized books so that those on long carriage rides could hold a smaller size book on the rather bumpy roads of yore. I never checked this story out to see if it was true--but it makes a good story anyway.

So we have books in the classroom--sometimes not enough and sometimes out of date. But we use the parts we can. I once had a conversation with a Russian colleague (Professor of Education) who mentioned their problem when producing a Social Studies book was to decide which history they should include. Their government puts a hold on some of their history--it doesn't get all told. Interesting. Ah, the fascinating philosophical question: which knowledge is of most worth?

So we have books as a technology. I once was reading a book about the life of Nathaniel Bowditch, the first American navigator (as well as mathematician) to my fifth grade class. Somewhere in Bowditch's childhood, he was indentured to a chandlery which meant he couldn't go to school, so at night he borrowed an encyclopedia and hand copied it. My kids were duly impressed going over to the eighteen volume World Book set we had in the classroom. I never told them that the encyclopedia was much smaller in the 1750s and in one volume.

I suppose you could say that the blackboard was a technology. And certainly going from turkey quills to metal quills was an advancement in technology. In some of the old schools today you can still see desks with a hole in either the right or left top side of the desk. It use to hold ink bottles of which the teacher was required to fill from time to time.

The first typewriter called the Type Writer Machine was produced by the Remington Arms and Ammunition family about 1875. An interesting fact was that young ladies of the day were taught to use this machines, i.e., to learn typing, and they themselves were called "typewriters." Around 1880 there were advertisements for "typewriters" to come work for different companies in Boston. And if I remember correctly it took a number of weeks to learn how to use these machines but half the curriculum was on how to dress and how to act in a company office. But the typewriters (the machines this time) didn't make it into the schools until the early 1900s. I find it interesting that learning to type became predominately a woman's skill until after World War II. Perhaps the Army needing company clerks who could type forms and requisitions finally broke down that barrier. In some high schools before WWII, learning to type was limited to girls only.

But the end of World War II also brought a change in the schools. Overhead projectors, 35mm slide projectors, Opaque projectors and the 16mm film projector made their appearances in some cases for the first time in the public schools. When I returned from the Korean War, I started teaching in a brand new elementary school and it had one overhead projector, two filmstrip projectors, one opaque projector and one 16mm projector--for the whole school which had sixteen teaching stations. When a teacher wanted to use one of the projectors, she/he would sign up for it and it would be wheeled to the proper classroom for its use and then returned to the storage area......which just happen to be my classroom, designated by the principal. I had to wheel the equipment whenever a colleague wanted it--hardly any one wanted to use the projectors so it wasn't a hard job for me.

An interesting aside. On the school campus was the old four classroom school that had been in use since the 1930s. Some say it was build during the great depression....I really don't know but it was old, hence the need for a new and larger school. As the community grew the need for more classroom space became apparent and the old school house was once again put to use for two fourth grades. When those two classrooms wanted to see an educational film (I was told by my principal to never call them "movies") I had to lug that damn 16mm Bell and Howell Movie Projector across the playfield to that old schoolhouse. The first time I did it I set the projector up, threaded the film and then left. That afternoon a fourth grade student came to my room and said that the projector wasn't working. So I ran down to the old building and sure enough, it would not turn on. That afternoon, I took the projector into a commercial store in Seattle and left it there to be fixed. A few days later they called me and said there was nothing wrong with the projector. So I went and picked it up and took it back to my school--finally getting it back to the two fourth grades across the campus. This time I tried it out and it still wouldn't work. I repeated my activity of above--they said it was fine and I again retrieved it. Only to find it wouldn't work once more. This time the store said, hold on, we're sending a person out to your school. The first thing he did was to check the voltage--there wasn't enough to run the projector. This old school only had four wall outlets and they didn't have enough wattage to run the projector which needed a thousand watts. A few years later over the objections of some parents, the old school was razed. I was happy with the decision.

Another technology that became available to the schools was an invention by the Germans--the tape recorder. After the war we suddenly had reel to reel tape recorders to replace the very difficult to use wire recorders. Speech teachers were delighted with the new tape machines.

However......and this is a big "however". No where can I find in college catalogs any courses that are about "audiovisual", the term used then for technology from the 1930s until the 1950s. It just wasn't taught to teachers. There is, however, a fair amount of graduate research on how to use "media" for the Department of War and the Department of Defense but not for the public schools. But the colleges of Education didn't seem to think that using technology would be important in the education of school teachers. Although I have never checked I suspect that even state standards from the Office of Public Instruction on the requirements for certifying teachers in this state would not require training in the use of media.

It took the Russians flying "Sputnik" over our heads to get congress and the public to suddenly want the schools to do more in mathematics and science....and with technology. Our eyes were opened and the schools quickly found themselves with overheads for each classroom, carousel slide projects, and movie projectors.

And colleges started requiring an "A-V course" (audiovisual) for all teachers on how to thread the Bell and Howell Filmosound projector, how to clean it, and how to change the bulb. My oh my. I wonder what the final test looked like for that course? It's all history now.

If you had a teacher who used technology, best you thank them if you can. They were a rare breed. They deserve a pat on the back.

Teachers and Mathematics.....and Technology?

Remember a number of blogs past that I said that schools had a choice in how they would teach mathematics to their students. Each school board needed to put their collective heads together and decide how they wanted to teach mathematics in their schools from kindergarten through twelfth grade. In a very simplistic way of presenting the problem, districts can either teach math by rote method or by discovery method. Remember now, I am being overly simplistic in my explanations

Let's start with the rote method. Based on a top down idealistic philosophy, the teacher explains how to do a mathematical problem like how to add two numbers and two number (45 + 45 = ) explaining how to "carry over to the next column". Right. Perhaps the teacher would do several problems like this and then have the students do several like problems for themselves. If the students got the problems correct, the teacher could go on to a different mathematical problem like adding three number to two numbers (123 + 45 = ). What the teacher is trying to do is to get the students to understand the concept about carrying over to the next column of numbers. Most children get this concept--adding numbers together to get a total becomes second nature for most. This is the rote method of teaching whether it be mathematics or some other subject. If you want to make sure the students have the concept in long term memory you provide more problems for them to solve. Time on task is the phrase we teachers tend to use. The biggest problem is that by providing more problems for them to solve you introduce boredom to the ones that have quickly understood how to do it. We want kids to like mathematics (an Affective Domain objective) and not be turned off from it.

Okay then. What about the other method of teaching mathematics? The Discovery method. This follows the Realistic philosophy of using real things to learn and by allowing the student to "own the learning, i.e., discover the concept without someone else telling them. For example with this method a teacher might place forty five bottle tops on one desk and another forty five bottle tops on another desk. The teacher then asks the students to be sure of the numbers on each desk then ask the question how many total bottle tops are there? In all probability the students will count from the forty five on the one desk and continue counting numbers on the second desk. Time consuming and a high possibility of error in the county. Then the teacher asks the class, "Is there a better way to count these bottle tops?" Eventually the students would want to put numbers on the board and would "discover" carry over to the next column. Indeed if the discovery was truly earned, there would be no need to do larger numbers in addition except to "prove" it works. The "Aha" method. Supposedly the students enjoy gaining this knowledge, hence, the Affective Domain is involved. "Liking Math."

Studies have been going on for years on both of these methods in teaching mathematics. Several of my mathematics colleagues state that one method or the other is by far the correct method and I am led to believe that neither method has achieved stardom.

Recently the Issaquah School District had it's math teachers review both methods as well as review a number of textbook series to use in the district classrooms. Buying a large number of textbooks is an expensive proposition and the district doesn't want to get it wrong. As a principal I would be asking my follow principals in other districts "what do you use--how do you like it?" and the teachers would be going to summer school and asking the professors what is best? After all this, Issaquah School District made the unanimous decision to go with the Discovery method of teaching Algebra and Geometry. Good, let's get on with the teaching......except......... the State Superintendent of Public Schools said the other method was probably better. What? (see "Which Math Book to Use? A Passionate Debate Rages" by Katherine Long in the Seattle Times Newspaper 8/16/09)

Actually the real problem in all this mathematical debate lies with the colleges and universities who mandate that to get into their institution students must have four years of high school mathematics. They are the driving force behind all this. Bellevue (listed in the top 100 high schools) students want to get into the university of their choice (hopefully with a full scholarship) and so mathematics becomes the gate keeper. Issaquah (and Mercer Island and Everett and Lake Washington) school districts follow suite. They all want their high school graduates to be the best. It makes sense to me.

What doesn't make sense to me is that we are discussing which textbook to use. Haven't we forgotten something? Where are the computer programs to teach mathematics? Why not a teaching program that explains a mathematical concept to the student (viewer?) and have them do a problem. If they get it wrong the computer says "no, lets try it this way." For heaven's sake, we could have the rote method as well as the discovery method all rolled up on a CD....or a box set of CDs. We have some of the best programmers in this area who are doing nothing but working on game software. Why doesn't Bill Gate's Foundation on Improved Teaching put out a call for new software on LEARNING MATHEMATICS. Now someone is going to ask me why the publishers don't produce a CD on mathematics. The reason is that they make a heck of a profit on textbooks. CDs would not produce the revenue that the textbooks do. Simple. I really believe that technology at this point could solve a number of problems in the educational market. Good computer programs would allow a bright student to move ahead and hence not get bored. The slower student would be given more problems to solve but be given instant help when needed. Where am I wrong here? What am I missing? And perhaps a bright student would not need four years of mathematics. I learned my "statistics" in college from a computer program called "Statpak."

Okay universities. Produce a sample test of what you expect of entering students and we teachers will teach our students to do well on it and even do better. The ball is now in the Mathematics Departments at all the universities. What do you expect?

And software companies--pay attention. What our educational system needs is good CDs or web based programs that can teach mathematics. Wow! What a concept.

One more time--say it with me. "Thank you teachers for what you do in our classrooms!"