Garden Project AAS

The Anglo-American School of Sofia has made a commitment to sustainability. The building and grounds are a model for green technology and living. The landscaping uses native plants accustomed to Bulgaria's climate, and rainwater is collected and reused. The next step was to involve students in this commitment and allow sustainability to become apart of their learning.

Composting: A group of high school students took on the initial organization of this projects. A structure was constructed on the grounds. High school and middle school students made posters and gave assemblies to educate the rest of the student body. Elementary classes collected the bins of organic waste and took turns mixing the waste in preparation for compost.
Plans were made to purchase chickens and a hen house was constructed on site. The eventual goal was to enrich the compost with chicken manure.

Planting Beds: The beds were constructed and some dirt delivered. A consultant was hired to advise on plant choices.  This was important for learning as many projects of this sort are started without proper knowledge, and they fail.  The school wanted plants that could be harvested in either early June, before school let out, or in the fall term. And the plants had to be adaptive to the school environment. A garden club worked throughout the year on this, and other students volunteered service hours to help mix and move soil. Elementary classes planted seeds as well as assisting with weeding and watering. There are plans for an outdoor classroom on site so classes can continue to learn as they gather produce and seeds in the fall term.

Providing Interest and Buy-in: It was important that students felt like it was their garden and had a part in the process. One piece of this included allowing the elementary classes to name a chicken when they arrived, and collect the eggs on a regular basis.
Another suggestion was to have different classes be responsible for certain plantings and their care. This was less effective, as plants, especially in their early stage, need constant and regular care. The school schedule and calendar made this difficult. Teachers ended up responding to garden needs as they saw them, and volunteers stepped up when a need in the garden was made known.

Reading List: Creating Cultures of Thinking

I need a good reason to read a book about educational theory. This one was mentioned to me by a colleague,  with the suggestion that we might collaboratively work on implementing some of its ideas. It is entitled Creating Cultures of Thinking: The 8 Forces We Must Master to Truly Transform Our Schools, by Ron Ritchhart.  Here are some ideas from chapter 2:
Focusing Students on the Learning vs. The Work
Teaching for Understanding vs. Knowledge
Encouraging Deep vs. Surface Learning Strategies
Encouraging Independence vs. Dependence
Developing a Growth vs. A Fixed Mindset
 The author outlined several strategies where we can effectively model these expectations for our students. I was encouraged to find that much of the modelling techniques are currently used in Science when we use the Scientific method.

We ask questions to find out.
We look for possible answers.
We question our claims.
We test our claims.
We look for other possible solutions.
We analyze our answers.
We make conclusions.
We test our conclusions in other ways.
We rate our accuracy.
We compare and rate usefulness of our results.
We listen to others' results.
We don't accept others' results without trying them ourselves.
We don't give up until we have found a satisfactory solution.

One of the biggest road blocks that I have found in students is the early development of the Fixed Mindset. My reading has brought new light on to how we, as educators, cause this, especially with the use of formal assessment and traditional testing. Students are told that they either know it or they don't know it. Both of these self assessments need to be broken.  We love to give problems like this:

By the way, what is the point of this type of problem? Who cares? It is just work.


Furthermore, this doesn't really test a persons deeper understanding of area and perimeter, only that they can use a formula, and use the four operations.

All the perimeters are easily divided by 4, causing us to believe that a square must have a perimeter that is a multiple of 4.

A better problem would be:
Can you make a square enclosure with a string measuring 18 feet long? How long is each side? 
Students with a fixed mindset will say it is impossible, where as those with a growth mindset will try their hardest to make a square with perimeter 18 ft. If they are successful, they will have no difficulty going on to generalize a formula that works for all perimeters of a square.

Mathematics Assessment Institute CEESA

My 6th grade students were preparing to sit an internal assessment to determine their Math placement for next year.  One student, full of determination, asked to come in for extra help during her break time. I was impressed by her attitude and tutored her on some topics I expected to be on the test. She didn't do well, and I realized I had failed her by focusing on the test material, and not her learning.

Much of our teaching strategies have changed over the last 30 years, but our assessments remain the same.  Steve Leinwand,  http://steveleinwand.com/ at the Mathematics Assessment Institute held at the American School of Warsaw, outlined how there is a need for change in the way we assess students in Mathematics, and how we prepare them for these assessments.

Erma Anderson, also speaking at the Math Assessment workshop, described assessment as a practice of listening to what the student has to offer, and observing what they can do. A traditional test where there is only one answer to a problem do not begin to show the true abilities of a student.

Within my role of classroom teacher, or math teacher, I have often been involved in assessing students' readiness for acceleration or advanced courses. This has always proved difficult, especially taking into consideration the student's age, gender, socio-economical background, and attitude. Parents, also, want to see their child perform to their highest potential.  In one international school, the department decided to advance all and any students according to parents choice. We only tested students who wanted to be even further advanced, two grades above their peers. In yet another school, the department found that entry tests were meaningless if given before the student had entered the program.  This was because most testing gave appropriate and meaningful data to the teacher who was currently teaching the student.

One role I played was in assessing students whose teacher was seeking support in properly evaluating their true level.  I found the main reason why this was proving difficult was because most of the assessments we use  in classrooms are generated to test a specific set of skills at a specific level. I was able to take away that constraint by offering the student some open ended problem solving situations and investigative activities. One first grade student was generating fourth grade level questions when asked what he was interested in working on.

The link below was introduced to me by Steve Leinwand, and provides a very dynamic way of introducing algebraic concepts, and assessing how ready students are for this abstract math.
https://teacher.desmos.com/centralpark

Math Works: Teaching Math with the Brain in Mind

Teaching overseas, as in the Marshall Islands, often becomes all about learning a new culture, a new language, and a new way of life. Unfortunately, as teachers, we do not often bring that new way of thinking into the classroom.  I am an experienced Mathematics teacher, with 20+ years of experience teaching internationally, but was still finding my students were not achieving the success I desired.  It was time to look deeper.

The book, How the Brain Learns Mathematics, by David A. Sousa, gave me many answers and caused me to drastically change the way I taught Math to students in the Middle Years.

First, Math is a language that most children do not speak. And if the student doesn't have a culture whose language emphasizes math, then they are less likely to "pick up" this language in English.
Second, our memory is less likely to store meaningless information that we consider unnecessary.
Third, the order and timing of how we introduce new math concepts determines how much of it is likely to be understood and used later.

I started using the concept of Math Centers in my classroom, where groups work on a variety of activities either independently, in groups, or teacher led. The tasks are designed to give students an ideal amount of time to tackle the practice of skills, review of material presented earlier in the year, investigate a new concept or pattern, and problem solve.  It was necessary that students cover all of these areas but there simply was not enough time for the whole class to visit each task every day. By rotating through the centers, the students would have enough time to work on one task a day.  The added bonus, was the group work element, which provided me more time working with a small group, and helped build team building and collaborative skills.
This process is most effective if the teachers in a department work collaboratively on a curriculum that is vertically aligned, using similar language throughout.
Naturally, the Math work must be meaningful, and seen as useful to each student.  Here is an example of how this can be done easily and effectively.

Hundredth Day of School Problem:
We want to do an activity for the 100th day of school where we will give each student 100 Froot Loops to string as a necklace. I need to go to the store and buy the correct number of boxes of cereal so that I have enough Froot Loops. How can we make sure we have enough? Come up with a plan which we can test.

Developing Critical Thinking

This is my 5th grade classroom on Kwajalein Atoll, when the president of the Marshall Islands visited. The students were asked to tell about their experiences living and going to school on a Pacific Island. I was at George Seitz Elementary School for 8 years, which provided me with a huge range of professional learning experiences, and the opportunity to follow some trends and assessments over time. The general trend was lower test scores every year, with the assumption being that educators were over simplifying material in favor of higher grade averages and student success.

The coursework entitled "Critical Thinking and Formative Assessments, Increasing the Rigor in Your Classroom", is based on a book by Betsy Moore and Todd Stanley. It identifies the need to raise standards in the classroom, and gives practical ways to help students achieve them. Much of it revolves around critical thinking activities and discussion. I started implementing these in my classroom and saw improved test scores and more motivated students.

Kwajalein is a missile base and many of the residents are part of the space program. I saw this, as well as our unique location,  as an opportunity to build the elementary school's Science program.

We held field trips to radars and launch sites. We took advantage of a visit from NASA to find ways to interest students in rocket science. We had Science Fairs. We went out and explored the environmental impact of our community. This led to the creation of Science units and labs that I could use in my next position, where the Elementary School was attempting to set up a Science lab for teachers to use as part of their curriculum.

Master of Ed: International Teaching US

During my time teaching Middle School Mathematics at Escola Americana do Rio de Janeiro, I was able to complete my Masters degree from Framingham University. This degree is especially designed for those teachers who have decided on a career teaching overseas, as well as for local teachers desiring to teach in an International School.

The program was important for teachers to not only understand the unique challenges of teaching in an international setting, but to stay current with educational practices in the US. The courses included English Second Language/ Cross Cultural Awareness as well as Issues and Influences in Education. 

At this point I became interested in Curriculum Theory and Practice, and Research and Evaluation Methodology.  These are two areas that don't always directly affect the classroom teaching, but provide a necessary framework for every school.  Since then I have served on numerous curriculum committees, and, more recently, an Assessment Committee.

Research Paper Topic : The Effect and Influence of Homework in Mathematics Teaching.

In international schools, we are catering to students who come from very diverse backgrounds and cultures. Parents, as well as students need to be educated as to why we use certain practices in our teaching methodology.  I found that Mathematics was often a hot topic with Middle School families, leading to strong opinions that were best confronted with proper facts and research.

BEd Mathematics, Cheltenham UK

After graduating from high school at the American School of Brasilia, I was able to attend a traditional Teacher Training College in England. This four year course prepared we well for teaching the Middle Years by insisting that I do five in-school practical teaching experiences of various lengths. The Mathematics department supplied me with an in depth understanding of the material I would later find myself using to challenge Middle School and Upper Elementary students in Mathematics. Here are some of the lessons, most in the form of investigations that I have used:

Fudge It : An investigation into the number of square pieces into which a 12 in by 12 in pan of fudge cat be cut. Students find the obvious solutions: 4, 9, 16, 25, 36...144 pieces; then they are told that the pieces do not necessarily have to be all the same size, but they must be squares. This opens up a whole new range of solutions and the discussion of possible outcomes. More advanced students will start to find patterns and rule out impossibilities. There is always the added bonus of making real fudge at the end!
Used with students grades 4 through 7.

My degree familiarized me with classic problems that are perfect for math enrichment. These include the Fibonacci Numbers, Graphs and Networks (including the Bridges of Koenigsburg Problem and the Five Room Problem),  The Rice and the Chessboard Story, and the Tower of Brahma Puzzle.
There are many sources with supplementary material if you know such topics exist and their value in teaching problem solving, investigating and critical thinking in mathematics.
Here is a site I use regularly with upper elementary enrichment students:
http://math.schaubroeck.net/school.html

I have used the platonic solids countless times with students as young as 2nd grade, as a beginning to thinking about and creating in the 3D.  Students learn quickly how to make their own nets to build a solid, then go on to create their own general rules and create their own, more advanced, 3D solids.

Tessellation is another great activity that can capture the attention of students in geometry, and focus on its application to pattern, space and design.


Finally, I did take some basic computer courses as part of my degree.  Although they are now very out-of-date, I did learn some programming. I see its value today, and have found some simple applications in geometry.
Here is a site that is easy for younger students to use:
http://www.mathplayground.com/mathprogramming.html