Shifting toward PBL in Math

by | Dec 6, 2012 | Making The Shift, The How of 21st Century Teaching, Voices

I’ve been thinking, experimenting and testing out ideas about how to move math instruction forward in my classroom, using technology and Problem-Based Learning as much as I can. It’s a daunting task even if I’ve done it before in science. We aren’t all the way to PBL yet. But I think a recent inquiry activity we did is foundational — it begins to shift responsibility for learning onto the students’ shoulders.

Teaching in the Age of Siri

by | Oct 23, 2012 | Making The Shift, The How of 21st Century Teaching, Voices, Web Tools That Deepen Learning

Short of banning smartphones (a short-term solution, at best), I think the evolution of AI services like Siri means that the problems I pose for my 8th grade math students will have to shift from a focus on finding the answer as the endpoint — to a greater focus on analysis. OK, you have the answer but so what? What does that answer mean in a real-life situation?

And I wonder how teachers in other content areas might have to rethink their teaching and assessment strategies, with Siri at our students’ beck and call?