I lecture way too much...

In the AP Stat classroom, lecture is an acceptable method of teaching, as most of the students in there are capable of learning that way.  It’s funny, AP Stat and most other AP courses are the ones where we do the fun labs because “kids are smart enough to be able to handle it”. 

In my Calculus 5.0 class, anytime I start a lecture, there is an immediate disconnect.  Kids in this class don’t learn that way and they don’t want to learn that way.  Too often teachers solve this problem by making their classes more regimented.  I guess these kids can’t “handle” a lab or fun activity.

My observations are that students in Calculus 5.0 respond better to the labs and activity, because that’s what they want and how they learn.  I’ve had this class completely fall apart, but it’s weird, it’s only during a lecture that this happens.  From experience, my Calculus class today was close to mutiny as a result of too much lecture.  That, and it was raining outside.

I’m going to embrace my Calculus class’ different learning style, and allow them to work with material using classroom technology and communication with each other to learn.  How do you think they will do on the final exam, a standardized multiple choice exam?  I don’t know, and honestly I can’t say that having them all pass the final is my ultimate goal.  If the end result is a group of students not bored to tears and enthusiastic about interacting with Calculus, I think I’m happy with that.  Now, if only I could explain an F on the final to a parent or administrator……

Yours in getting better at what we do every day,

Mr. C

Haves vs. Have Nots

I open up the opinion page of the paper every day, even though I vow not to.  For some reason, I really care what overly opinionated people have to say.  The guest writers can be entertaining and insightful (George Will), while others are written to be downright abrasive and obnoxious.  Most of all, I enjoy local editorials.  It's my guilty pleasure I suppose.  PSSA Prep Analogy: Mr. C is to editorials as high school students are to: a) Tool Academy b) Call of Duty c) Jersey Shore.


A number of folks have voiced their opinion over the health care reform debate deciding to focus on the health care plan that members of congress are afforded.  "If the new health care plan is so good, why doesn't everyone in Washington go on it to see what it's like?"  Fact of the matter is that these people need the cushy health care plans and pensions that they are given.  Otherwise, nobody would do a public service job where you are raked over the coals for every decision that you make.  The same holds for folks that complain about teacher pensions, but I'm going to avoid opening that can of worms.

Public office needs to be an attractive position, as such, there are perks.  Do we want people representing us just because they need a job?  Again, the teacher pension and benefits situation applies here.  Public office is an incredibly high stress position.  Everyone loves to say that our representatives are incompetent, but that just can't be the case.  Someone that was completely incompetent for the position would work out to be a complete disaster. 

There needs to be a public servant appreciation day, thanking our public servants for the 8 million good things they do for us every day.  We don't need to hang them for 1 or 2 bad things that happen.  I go back to the schools example.  Teachers, administrators, and school board members do a million great things every day on behalf of their schools.  It's a shame that one or two unpopular or bad decisions can overshadow those great things.

Elementary School Teachers

So, my wife has inspired me to write on this subject with all the stories of the cool things she does in her first grade classroom. There is all mess of amazing activity that goes on, in part because it is so difficult to maintain their attention for longer than 10 seconds (don't worry, in high school, that timespan stretches to 15 seconds).  It got me thinking at most districts proficiency numbers, where it is most often the case that elementary schools do great, middle schools so-so, and high schools struggle to be deemed proficient each year.

So what's so different?  I think a lot of it has to do with the "silly", "immature", and "juvenile" games and activities that those teachers introduce.  In high school, most activity is viewed as being too immature for our clientele, so we find ourselves slipping into teacher-centered lecture instead of promoting student-centered activity.  Does proficiency go with it?

I'm well aware of the fact that there are numerous other factors: elementary school brains are developing rapidly, high school brains are focused on other things, environmental concerns, and easiness of test.  I think these factors are reasonably disjoint from enjoyment and engagement felt during the school day.  With a little activity(takes a lot of planning), we can probably get kids to enjoy our class just a little bit more.

When I'm working on a lesson, my last thoughts are "What will I teach?".  The more important questions to ask are "What will they learn?", "What can they do?", and "How can I not lecture?"

Cool Project Ideas - Hypothesis Testing

Alright, so I've been thinking of some good data for your projects that you'll be working on that are due Thursday March 18, and here's what I've come up with.  It will be up to you to do the legwork, but here are some ideas in case anyone gets stuck. 

Violent crimes in one locality by year
Proportion of $$ spent in congressional bills on earmarks
Wins by the -01 and $1 bidders on The Price Is Right
Education level of celebrities on top rated TV shows
Violent acts in primetime TV shows
Disease by locality/ethnicity
Use the Consumer Price Index
Beezid/Quibids winning items

Those are my suggestions, let's just try to keep a purpose behind the data we collect.

-Mr. C

There is no such thing as a free lunch

Reading Malcolm Gladwell's "Blink" and "The Tipping Point" has completely changed my way of thinking.  I've begun to analyze everything going on around me in the context of economic/risk theory.  My latest kick has been recognizing the idea of trade-off and risk free profit, most specifically in the field of education.

For some background, you need to be aware that there is no such thing as a risk-free profit.  In order to earn money or make some type of gain (capital or not), you must assume the risk that is associated with that gain.  Big gains often carry the greatest risk, while small gains do not carry such a large risk.  There are ZERO situations that involve a huge gain with no risk or payoff, and it should be obvious as to why.

With that being said, we tend to ask for things of the utmost quality at no cost to us...
1.  Taxpayers want their elected officials (yes, elected, by them) to be at their beck and call, but don't want to pay taxes. 
2.  Taxpayers want the most exceptional high quality education that can be provided for their children for the same price forever
3.  Teachers want to do great things in the classroom, but may not want to put in the incredible amont of time required to develop a good lesson (also could be the case that they spend their time grading, rather than creating).
4.  Students want an A for just showing up and doing what they're told, without spending the incredible amount of time it takes to actually learn something.
5.  Everybody wants their medical bills paid for via health insurance, but they don't want to pay an increased cost for it. 

So, the health insurance debate snuck in here and is a pretty interesting risk scenario.  On one hand, you can opt to not have health insurance and pay your own medical bills at the risk of paying an increasingly high amount.  On the other hand, you can opt for health insurance, at the risk of paying higher premiums.  And yes, I do realize that insurance companies can deny coverage, so we don't really "opt" to not have health insurance.  Just consider that an insurance company does the same risk management evaluation when they evaluate you for health insurance.

Hoping I can get some student commentary, examples, feedback about risk free profit,
-Mr. C

Vindication!

Before reading this blog, read the article linked below...

Quakertown's Standards Based Grading

So I finally am vindicated. I always talk about how unimportant grades are, and that the important thing is that you actually learn something. In my class, you are learning something with the goal of doing well on the AP Statistics exam.

Quakertown has decided that they are only going to grade the fact that students are learning something. Students are rated on what they are expected to learn on a scale of 1-4. If you know it extensively, you get a 4. If you know it well enough to complete elementary tasks, you get a 3. They have effectively made a student's grade based solely upon what they know. Not because they show up to class and don't fall asleep. Not because they are a nice kid. Not even because they do homework. The fluff in grading that we all know exists but none of us talk about, has been eliminated.

Big surprise that parents and students don't like it. "It's too hard sometimes to get an A." That's how it's supposed to be. The article then goes on to further support my claim that colleges don't really care about grades. I had to grin the entire time I was reading this article. Students don't like this form of grading because it increases accountability. If you want to earn a 4 for that particular standard, guess what, you have to do everything you need to do to learn the material.

In closing, how to I apply this idea to AP Statistics? I really like the idea of students being able to take a retest. An unsuccessful first attempt, and then you go back to the drawing board to relearn it and improve, then take the test again. It forces those that need more work to do more work. Those that don't need more work are able to move on.

I also have a list of all learning objectives for AP Stat. How'd you like to look at home access center and see 10,000 standards and your skill level in each one of them? You'd know exactly what you need to get better at. You'd know exactly what you've mastered.

The wheels are in motion here...

DISCLAIMER: I am in no way saying that North Penn should move in this direction. This blog was simply my musings on a way to adapt this idea of standards based grading to my AP Stat classroom. This article simply inspired me to consider a way to improve my classroom practice.

Free Burrito!!

Friday was a reasonably eventful day for me. I had our amazing tech assistants work on speeding up my laptop, I was using a document camera to get an English project in electronic form, filming a ball being dropped for a Calculus lesson, etc. Oh, there's some teacher duties thrown in there too. Working on these mini-projects resulted in me missing my lunch, and I continued to excuse it throughout the day by saying, "It's cool. Chipotle is on the way home so I'll grab a late lunch there." As it turns out, this was the greatest idea I have ever had.

I got out of the building around 2:50pm, by that point I was starving. Chipotle has never sounded so good. I get into Chipotle and order my chicken fajita burrito(I never order anything else), and as soon as I order the girl behind the counter says, "Free burrito!". Apparently Chipotle does a promotion where they randomly place stickers on the foils they wrap the burritos in, and whoever gets one of the stickers gets their burrito for free. They should call this promotion, "Make Mr. C's day the greatest day ever". This promotion usually results in giving 6 free burritos away per day.

So, as my burrito nears completion, the amazing Chipotle employees were talking about the free burrito promotion. Out walks the manager and explains to the other customers that had to pay for their burritos (ha!) this free burrito phenomenon. He then proceeds to say, "See, the more you come in, the better your chances are for a free burrito."

Well, wasn't he the lucky one to be giving the free burrito to the Stat teacher. I had to sit him down and explain that the probability of receiving the free burrito is the same regardless of the number of times I visit. For this valuable information, I'm pretty sure he was happy I got the free burrito.

Did I mention that I got a free burrito? And that's why Friday January 15, 2010 was one of the greatest days ever.