Does an outside program help or hurt schools and students? (Everyday Math, Reading programs, etc...)
I think whether or not this works depends entirely on the teacher. I have a standard program I use as a guideline but I also work in other “bits” and focus on what I think my students really need. I know another teacher who uses the same program and doesn't use the book much at all. She generally does packets that give the students similar understandings. When I watched the PBS video for this week, Digital Media – New Learners of the 21st Century, it spoke of the difference in our styles when, near the end, it said that there might, in the end be two kinds of schools; one for the rich and one for the poor.
I reviewed the video for this quote but am paraphrasing a bit as well. “The poor one will be a standardized, accountable system that will give you the basics that you need for a service job. In the privileged one they will learn the same facts but will use them to solve authentic problems and innovate and produce new knowledge.” Any kind of math program can be used the same way. It is all in HOW you choose to teach.
While we are discussing going back to a more traditional program from the Mathscapes we use now, it won't affect how I teach. Now that I have learned how to use the constructed type of math education, I can use that no matter what I have as a text book. I have added a bit to the unit on construction that we are doing now. We are working with scale models and our town is building a new school. I was fortunate enough to get real blue prints of the new building and we are going to use that to figure out the sizes of the rooms and compare them to what we have now. The kids are fascinated by the plans and the interest is very high. While they may not all learn the same things from this piece of the unit, they are exposed to real materials and that is much more valuable in the long run than lots of scale problems for homework, although we will do some of that as well.
I liked what Henry Jenkins said in the PBS video, “Society may be too smart for some of the jobs .” I rather hope so!
I agree that the success of a program depends on the type of implementation. I would say the program needs to be compatible as well though. We have the everyday math program in a couple of our grades but the is a large disconnect because of time. The program is a 90 minute program which our teachers are trying to teach in 60. This creates a problem with correlation as parts continually need to be finished up. It also means at the end of the year they have not completed it but are expected to go onto the next grade. So, I would certainly agree with you, but I would also say the people in charge of deciding to use these programs need to be aware of the requirements these programs need to be productive. That is nice that your students can use the new school blueprints to make real world applications. I'm sure they will be able to appreciate what they are learning even more when they see the school as well.
ReplyDeleteI agree 100% that the success of a program is dependent on the teacher. I think that outside programs usually pertain more to elementary schools rather than high schools, or at least I don't hear about them very often at the high school level. I am a high school teacher and I got new Chemistry books a few years ago because the ones I had were over 20 years old. I spent a lot of time looking at the various choices out there and finally settled on the Holt Chemistry text. However, I find that I use the book more as a supplement because like the teacher you mentioned in your post, I have my own sets of practice problems that my students complete that get student to the same understanding. In your post you said "Now that I have learned how to . . . I can use that no matter what I have as a textbook." I think this is key for the success of any outside program.
ReplyDeleteI would have to agreed. Outside programs are great tools to teach with but it is up to the teacher to implement with integrity and to make choices about instructions. It is important to know that even with programs you may need to supplement and you will most likely need to differentiate instruction.
ReplyDeleteI had heard the comment made that the outside, scripted programs (Everyday Math, Connected Math..etc.) were designed to "teacher-proof" the program. Since elementary teachers are notoriously "math-phobic"..we could cure that problem by spoon-feeding them a curriculum. As teachers, we all know what happens when we spoon-feed our students (they regurgitate...but become more and more helpless..and much less inspired)...I think what we are all finding out is that you simply cannot "teacher-proof" the curriculum. You can build a staff with a diversity of strengths and weaknesses, make it okay for teachers to ask for help and put the students (not the script) in the drivers seat.
ReplyDeleteCheers!
Rhonda