New York Times Opinion Pages hits again. On April 12 an opinion piece called, “Teachers: Will We ever learn?,” by Jal Mehta, that gut wrenchingly challenged the ability of teachers to challenge the cognitive development of their students. The worst is when the author states, “By these criteria, American education is a failed profession.” A failed profession? To think that I’m […]
teaching
Teaching the Individual
James Lee, in his letter to the editor on August 6 regarding the article, “Carrots and Sticks for School Systems,” said something that I liked: Excellent teaching requires well-honed judgments about individual students based on observation, information from a robust assessment program, and a great deal of knowledge and informed intuition about young people. To […]
Preparing to Swim
This past Friday I went to my cooperating school with a small pit in my stomach – I was to find out exactly which class I will be teaching next semester. STUDENT TEACHING IS COMING! I observed one class of MATH143, a class exactly lined up with the last third of the Calculus unit at Queens college, and then […]
Ping-Pong or Pictures
Think to high school and the questions that bounced around the room. I can imagine most started with the teacher asking a question and then a student would answer. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Oh, then throw in a few “Whys?” by the teacher, and maybe a time for reversals, student questions and teacher answers. The majority […]
Is Algebra Necessary?*
About a year ago, in an effort to keep up to date with Educational news, I subscribed for NYTimes weekly education updates. If I’m to be absolutely honest here, my effort to read these is often abandoned. Still, sometimes as I glance over the articles offered a particular one will catch my eye. The immediate effect is to self […]
Can’t Do, Can Do
The unfortunate reality of mathematics education, is that many students in the classrooms come up with the idea that they can’t do it. “I just don’t have a math brain like you,” is a common comment I’ve received. If this were a true statement it would be rather unfortunate, for then there would be just […]
