Posts tagged dreams
Long-term solution to school discipline
Feb 3rd
I think the only long-term solution to child discline is to raise the adult:child ratio to about 1:5 or more, in all situations. Humans are, among other things, group animals with powerful instincts dictating behavior. Any situation where there are too many kids will instinctively feel threatening to kids, on the ancient basis of being interpreted as “not enough providers in the group.” The instinct is, so to speak, to push extras out of the nest.
That’s why it takes incredible effort and systematic, constant measures of all sorts to keep discipline in any situation with low adult:child ratio. On the other hand, parent coops, homeschool classes, work-study programs, volunteer groups that welcome kids and other places with high adult:child ratios typically extend almost no efforts on discipline, and yet have wonderfully disciplined kids – naturally.
This calls for pretty profound changes in how the society runs, and I fully realize this. A large minority of parents (4% overall in the US, 7% among college-educated parents) take measures within families and local communities to make this happen for their kids:http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/family-educator-commons/2010/08/09 Other measures that may work, especially for teens, are work-study programs, apprenticeships with professionals, and overall integrating kids more into the grown-up world, rather than segregating them. It will take some doing, surely! Meanwhile, a good short-term measure is to open classrooms to multiple parent and community volunteers to raise the adult:child ratio. There are a lot of retired, unemployed, studying to be teachers or childhood researchers, vacationing and working-from-home people who would welcome the opportunity to help.
Book review: Little Algebra Book
Sep 12th
Colin Beveridge of Flying Colours Maths sent me his Little Algebra Book preprint for a review. Good books inspire me to two actions: taking and changing of content. The first category has content I like more or less “as is,” and the second category has content that clarified a need for change. Both are valuable, obviously.
What I want to take
- The book has clear infographics for two major metaphors of equality – “balance” and “identical copy,” as well as for four arithmetic operations. For example, a bird popping balloons is used for subtraction.
- Physical pages work as manipulatives: something cool may happen to a picture or an equation when you turn the page. If physical paper is used, why not play with it?
- Minimalism in design and explanation is a mathematical value this book upholds. I don’t like math textbooks that weigh a ton and have a lot of water in them. A sentence, a picture, a few formulas – ah, that’s more like it!
- The book is aimed at multiple ages. I can see using infographics with very young kids, but they are not babyish; the style is more like modern online logo designs, appealing to grown-ups. I may use this with older kids or adults who need to overcome their math anxiety.
What I want to change
- The first phrase! “The aim of algebra is to get x on its own” – I realize it’s an artistic trope, where one particularly important aim of algebra stands for all aims. How can I say this in a way specific enough to be correct, and catchy enough to make good writing?
- Write like this about other metaphors for equations: function machine, symmetry, truth values.
Little Algebra Book site
One of my favorite book review sites, Living Math
Smart or wise?
Sep 12th
We are starting three children’s math groups this week. There are a couple of openings in each. Please email me droujkova at gmail dot com or call 919-388-1721 if you are interested.
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If you have questions about mathematics education, software, games, learning issues, groups or clubs, please feel free to arrange a meeting to discuss it. I am of several worlds that provide for an interesting perspective together: a homeschool parent, a math club organizer, a researcher, a curriculum developer, an online community builder. These consults are free for local homeschoolers.
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Math Club for 5-7 year old kids and their parents will be meeting on Tuesdays, 10-11:30pm.
Math Club for 7-9 year old kids and their parents will be meeting on Thursdays, 2-3pm.
Both clubs will meet at 309 Silvercliff, Cary, NC which is about two minutes from North Cary Park. The clubs cost $15 for each six-weeks session, which covers healthy snacks and supplies for hands-on activities.
Each meeting starts by kids sharing their math discoveries of the past week. Then families lead activities and games if they bring any to share, and I offer explorations centered on a math topic chosen by participants at the beginning of each 6-week session. Parents can also participate by writing club stories, taking pictures, posing and answering weekly questions, or reading math books. Parents can choose to participate more or less actively; I am told by grown-ups they have a lot of fun with activities! We are also working on creating a “book of the club” capturing stories of each session for other groups who want to start math clubs.
Spring topic sessions included Infinity, Dimensions, Variables, Grids and Coordinates.
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Jenny Eggleston of Egg in Nest studio and I, together with an awesome group of Research Triangle, North Carolina homeschooling families started the Renaissance project in 2009 with Art+Math series of unClasses. In the Spring of 2010, the group created mathematical and artistic interpretations of the Carroll’s classic “Alice in Wonderland.” Our next adventure takes us “Through the Looking Glass” of the computer screen.
In the first half of each meeting, we will create art using digital tools and computer programming. No previous programming experience is assumed. In the second half, we will build on the same math and art concepts using traditional art studio media. Discussions of the philosophy of art and mathematics, debates, sharing of favorite poetry and songs happen every meeting, as we brainstorm together and build up our inspiration. For the regulars: yes, Jenny will continue actor readings of her favorite passages from the book!
We will meet on Thursdays from 10 to 12, starting in the third week of September and ending in the first week of December, for 12 weeks total. The total cost, paying Jenny for her time and for art supplies, is $195. The unClass is most appropriate for pre-teens and teens who love art, mathematics, or both. Math anxious people who want to develop their appreciation of mathematics through the humanities are very welcome. This is a high-energy group, working hard and playing hard.
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In October, I will be teaching online adult classes on two subjects. One is “How to organize family math clubs” and the other “Math-rich life with babies and toddlers.” The classes will have weekly online meetings and assignments helping people progress toward the goals stated in class names. If you are interested in signing up, please email me.
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Reference for the screencast: Smart, but not wise – a story of dome building
Not too soft, not too hard
Sep 2nd
How do books come alive?
The new book format by Neil Stephenson is nice, but “too big” – it assumes hundreds of people at least actively geek about it, which means hundreds of thousands of readers.
The Ning format Steve Hargadon used for Book Discussions is “too small” – Ning groups are too fragmented for the purpose, though the idea rocks.
LivingMath reviews from Julie Brennan are “just right” – if they were in a wiki, or the Yahoo group discussions were public and searchable.
Let’s mix the three and make something like MathTropes (like TvTropes) for family math books.
Link to my 1997 picture at Shodor. The materials we made back then are still up, and used.
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