Hawaii educator Joseph Manfre honed in on the "we" of the "I do, we do, you do" teaching concept in his middle-school math classes to better empower students and prompt critical thinking. Manfre also increased student input by creating small groups with rotating student facilitators to ask "what should we do next?" to prompt students' solutions.
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Teaching to the test can be especially problematic when those tests prevent students from moving forward, asserts Ted Dintersmith, founder of What School Could Be. "Why would we block a kid's life prospects because they can't factor polynomials, when not even scientists or engineers are doing that?" asks Dintersmith, whose digital forum lets teachers brainstorm better teaching ideas.
Rebuilding "social stamina" skills in students for in-person interactions and self-advocacy will take precedence over academics in Bloomington, Ill.'s summer school programs, says Diane Wolf, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction. Wolf chooses to celebrate students' gains in technology, self-reliance and more during the pandemic rather than adopting a "learning loss" view.
Third-grade students in a project-based learning study in Michigan scored 8% higher on the state science assessment than those learning through traditional science lessons, according to researchers Joseph Krajcik and Barbara Schneider of Michigan State University. Their program focuses on students developing solutions to real-word problems and also increases social and emotional learning, researchers say.
The design process used in engineering is a useful approach to teaching students to think critically, writes educator Anthony Nesbit, as it involves asking students questions and making connections between the known and unknown. Nesbit and other teachers share the importance of the skill, including teacher Kristen Koppers, who suggests teaching students to think creatively because some subjects -- including math -- may have many different paths to the solution.
Hawaii math teacher Joseph Manfre says many students want to discuss last week's riots at the US Capitol, and he's using the opportunity to illustrate the "whole political dimension to the application of math in the real world." Manfre says he made use of Vice President Mike Pence's letter saying that all electoral votes would be counted and moved into a lesson on gerrymandering for math engagement.