| September, 2006 In this issue:
~ New on the Website
~ Getting Kids Reading - WELL
~ Raising Scores without Prepping
~ An Unrecognized Math Skill: VOTING
~ Staying Free, and Ad-free
Getting Kids Reading - well : One big topic we will address on the website and in the
newsletter this year is reading. Critical Reading scores on the SAT had the largest drop
in 31 years. Our kids are reading less, and getting less out of what they read.
"Why does this matter?" a reader wrote. "Technology really offers more than
we need. Our kids are so 'tech savvy.'"
I won't underestimate the glories of technology - particularly since technology is exactly
what enables me to send out zillions of learning
ideas to educators, parents and students around the world with a few clicks of my finger
in a warm, well-lit room - but it is no substitute for the greatest information-processing
marvel of all: our brains. And so often, these days, our kids do seem to be sacrificing
some significant development of those glorious brains as they get so good at clicking,
without necessarily thinking. ... (continued in newsletter)
Raising Scores Without Prepping
Our goal at Newton's Window is to raise scores by
raising scholars - not by prepping, not by over-testing, not by drilling the life out of
the learning. Learning is tough, but kids love tough things they connect with.
Watch them on the basketball court. Watch them jump rope. Watch them learn and remember
the minute details of the lives of their sports heroes or movie crushes. (continued
in newsletter)
Another Invisible Math Skill:
Voting
We've started a new column on the site: Invisible Math Skills. Math is much more
than numbers. The greatest reason for teaching math is not "because you might be an
engineer someday," but because you might want to use your brain someday, and there is
nothing better for developing strong, able minds than mathematics.
Visit these pages often. You will be surprised to see where your math skills will surface.
This is an election year in the U.S., with primaries in many states, and a general
election in every state in November. When students ask
Suzanne, "why study math?," one of her answers is, "Because you might vote
one day." They look at her oddly, but she tells them, "you will hear statements
of all kinds from the candidates running. I want you to be able to logically look at their
arguments, and not get fooled.
I want you to pick people who really represent what you believe. I want to teach you how
to not be fooled, and math will help you do that." Math is about logic and critical
thinking - not packaging. In
fact, it teaches us to look past the packaging to find inconsistencies, and fluffy
arguments.
So this year, as we are inundated with messages from hopeful candidates, read some of
their literature with your kids. Read it critically, and logically. Ask them if the
arguments are good ones, or a flimsy ones. You'll be expanding their ability to think
logically and critically, and demonstrating a valuable life skill: how
not to buy, how not to be fooled. (Continued in newsletter)
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October,
2006 In this issue:
~ Lifting my Head and Hitting the Road
~ Learning Workshops at Newton's Window
~ Why Isn't Michael Hungry Anymore?
~ How a Non-Mathematical Uncle Spawned a Great Mathematical Idea
~ Lifting My Head and Hitting the Road
After several years of research and writing, I am very happy, this year, to be able to
return to visiting schools and parents groups with talks and programs at schools around
the country - all sorts of programs: in-service for teachers, PTA talks for parents,
assemblies for students, Math Nights for families. They are so easy to arrange, contact us!
....... Programs are especially easy to arrange in the Washington, D.C/MD/VA area, as well
as in the Boulder/Denver, Colorado region, as well as Chicago - But wherever you are, we
will come to you! In addition, we'll post areas we're going to be in, so schools and
groups in the same region can contact us to schedule events at the same time, thus
eliminating travel costs.
Boston educators and parents: I will be in Boston for a conference
November 27, 2006 - and am available to schedule a program at your school or group
on Tuesday, November 28th, or Monday night, November 27th , without your group having to
pay any travel costs. Contact
us.
And I will be presenting a program for the Individual
Differences in Learning Association, IDL, on Monday, December 11th, 2006 at 7:30, in
Howard County, Maryland. This is an open program, and a wonderful group. For more
information, visit their website, or email us.
Learning Workshops at Newton's Window
As some of you know, for much of the year, we live on what
might be called a little farm, here in the midst of the sprawling suburbs of Washington,
D.C. There are colorful hens laying eggs in the yard, fruits, vegetables, herbs and
flowers growing in the gardens, books lining the shelves, pictures of Sir Isaac lining the
walls, and of course apple trees in the backyard (how could Newton's Window not overlook
an apple tree?) It is a grand atmosphere for learning, thinking, writing, and teaching,
for cooking, for eating, for connecting to education, for falling in love with learning.
Much of the time we write and speak about these things, but this year we are
opening our doors for day-long workshops where we actually do these things - a variety of
workshops for students, parents, and educators.
The topics cover a wide range of topics, but all have some things in common: we
slow down the pace, open the mind, enrich the experience, and learn. The wood stove is
warm, the cider is delicious, the groups are small, the atmosphere is welcoming, and you
will leave here knowing more than you ever imagined when you arrived in the morning -
looking at education differently, and inspired to continue - writing, learning, thinking,
creating - even cooking.
We believe learning is a life skill, not just a school skill; we believe learning
is something, deep down, that students want to do, not just something they have to do,
....
Will test scores go up? Absolutely, but that's the least of it.
Upcoming workshops: (More are being
added, including some for parents and teachers. check the website.)
Digging In and Loving It - Participants in
this workshop will learn how to "do school" differently. They will learn to look
past the grade, and learn past the grade. They will learn what it means to think through a
math problem, and not just follow a procedure. They will learn to write better, and learn
what it means to have something to say. They will learn to read better, and even discover
why that they want to do more of it. They will learn ingenious strategies for learning a
foreign language better, in fact, for learning anything better.
Writing Because We Have Something to Say -
participants emerge from this class writing better, reading better, wanting to write more,
and knowing how. They find their voice, they discover style, they learn how to continue
this process back in school, and beyond. They learn the many uses of a journal as far more
than a "diary." They learn the value of words, and how to build their own rich
"word bank."
Math for Me Too Participants learn that they
belong in math, that math success has nothing to do with speed, or even intelligence, as
most people think. They discover math skills they didn't know they had, they learn their
own math style, and strategies for what to do when it gets tough - and it does, for
everyone, as Einstein reminded us. Participants learn a new way to do math homework so
that they see connections, remember more, and test better. We head outside and discover
the math of nature; we warm up by the wood stove, and discover how able each student is to
tackle challenges without anxiety. We take on math anxiety, and learn how to banish it.
Students learn the difference between thinking and doing. They discover inspiring stories
of great thinkers from our history. They learn how to really study for a test. They wind
up testing higher, because they've learned deeply, and found a place in this subject.
Learning in Nature - Learning from Nature Nature
is the jumping off point for learning and teaching in this class. Participants explore the
farm in its cooler months; they watch the hens and learn about the laying cycle when the
days shorten. They discover the joys and wonders of decomposition from a steamy compost
pile. We explore nearby Lake Needwood, Interwoven with these activities, we do math, we
write, we discuss readings, we teach students to learn deeply.
Cooking/Farm and Nature Classes Cooking
classes? Even Newton had to eat, after all. Participants gather food from the gardens,
eggs from the hens, discover a working compost pile, learn more about the cycle of food
from soil to table, and create dozens of wonderful, healthy foods. Classes for children
and adults, and include holiday classes - Halloween, Thanksgiving, Winter Holidays and
more, as well as Bread-baking, Gifts from the Kitchen and many others.
Location: We are located in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C. ...For those of you
who don't live near here, if you are planning a trip to D.C. for another reason, add a
memorable workshop to your plans. Or come to town for the workshop, and we will suggest
places to stay, not to mention a few other things you can do in the D.C. area while you
are here! Plus, many of these workshops are moveable, and available to be offered at your
location, to your group. (contnued in newsletter.)
~ Why Isn't Michael Hungry Anymore?
Michael is one of those students teachers love to have in their classes. He is bright and
cheerful, he takes school seriously, and his parents are deeply committed to education.
Like most high school students, he is feeling some pressure about the college admission
tests, and his family hired me to help raise his SAT scores.
Michael is very disappointed with his Critical Reading scores, and the scores on his
essay. He is not alone: in the U.S. last year, Critical Reading scores on the SAT had the
largest drop in 31 years.
Michael and his parents are surprised by the low scores - he is used to getting nearly
straight A's at school, and has just completed an AP English class. He sees his SAT scores
as an aberration.
I don't. Michael's verbal scores fit what I see, a bright student with only mediocre
reading and writing skills. His essay is weak. He is sure the low scores are because the
readers didn't agree with the perspective he took; I think the weak scores are because it
was a weak essay. His approach for getting a better score is to ask me to tell him a
"formula" for choosing supporting examples - another teacher had given him hers,
and he wants to know mine.
But my approach to helping him get a better score is different. "Maybe the best way
to get a better score," I suggest, "is to learn how to write a better
essay." And I proceed to show him exactly that.
But Michael - pleasantly and politely - wants none of it. Like most students today,
Michael sees a test as something to finesse, not a measure of mastery of something
important.
From Learner to "Strategist"
How did this happen? There was a time when Michael would have been one of our hungry
students, the kind of student who asks questions because he wants to know, wants to
acquire knowledge and mastery, a student who expects to reach. What happened to change
Michael - all our Michaels - into students who just want to know how to get A's? (continued
in newsletter).
How a Non-Mathematical Uncle Spawned a Great Mathematical
Idea
All uncles are special, but I have been especially blessed by my Uncle Irving. Even before
he was married and had kids of his own, he used to throw parties for his nieces and
nephews - for no reason other than that he loved us. And these were some cool parties. The
best one was an ingenious treasure hunt, where he had us running from
clue to clue, around the grounds of his apartment until the final clue led us to his
bathroom, where his bathtub had been filled with balloons, and under the balloons were
little gifts for each of us. .....
My Uncle Irving may not have felt himself to be
particularly mathematical, but he was aware of a fact about kids and their brains: they
like to use them. And quite often, the quest can be as much fun as the reward.
Ever since then, I have been a huge fan of Treasure Hunts. Several years
ago, I created one for the Newton's Window Math Bag, and it was a great success at getting
kids to use their brains and the resources around them to go more deeply into math, to
learn some of its rich history, to discover little known resources in every public
library, to integrate in their minds many of the discrete things they've learned - and a
lot more.
It had only one problem: it wasn't BIG enough. We wanted to include more
activities, more clues, more fun. So we did. In the full-size, fantastic,
gigantic, mind-stretching, horizon-expanding, skill-building, confidence-exploding,
Newton's Window Mathematics Treasure Hunt. This is the best kind of educational product:
no batteries needed, just a brain. And it will take students into so many of the rich
topics that have been taken out of the curriculum, to make room for more tests and more
"units." It was designed with our number one goal at Newton's Window - to raise
truly educated kids, in love with education. And it does it in the most familiar Newton's
Window method: student power, not battery power.
The Newton's Window Mathematics Treasure Hunt will be available in November, 2006. ...
available in individual units, classroom sets, or bulk orders. To be notified of the
publication date and eligible for the pre-order price, simply send me an email with
"Treasure Hunt" in the subject line, or sign up at NewtonsWindow.com.
(continued in the newsletter)
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