An organization of CORD

CON N E C T IN S
E DUCA TOR S AN D EM PLO OYER S: Discovering Solutions Through Partnering

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Volume 15, Number 5 focusing on

Best Practices in Contextual Teaching

Self-Efficacy: The Key to Contextual Learning Success

by Sandra Harwell, Vice President for Professional Development, CORD

The essence of contextual teaching is helping students gain a feeling of accomplishment. Students feel empowered when they figure it out. The joy of success, or as Albert Bandura (1977) so aptly named it, self-efficacy, gives learners strength to take on even more difficult tasks. Our middle child learned this lesson when he tried to help a hatching chick out of the shell. Without the struggle to free itself, the chick lacked the strength to survive in the world outside the shell. In order to develop self-efficacy, students need to struggle to make connections. Contextual teaching methods encourage students to use their prior experience and previous learning to solve problems and find answers. Teaching contextually by Relating, Experiencing, Applying, Cooperating, and Transferring allows students to take pride in saying, I figured it out by myself! It is that

pride and sense of accomplishment from contextual learning that motivates learners to take on those more difficult learning tasks. CORD uses the acronym, REACT, to describe the essential elements of contextual learning. R = Relatestudents need to relate new knowledge to prior experience and learning E = Experiencestudents need to learn actively through problem-solving, analyzing, synthesizing, evaluating A = Applystudents need to have practical application for the learning. Students need many diverse opportunities for applying new learning. C = Cooperatestudents learn best working in cooperative groups T = Transferstudents must be coached in order to transfer new learning to solve problems outside of the classroom. Teachers do this by providing opportunities to use the classroom-based learning to solve real-world problems and to make connections.
See Self-Efficacy, page 2

Whats Happening in This Years Exhibit Hall!

Visit with some special guests from Universal Orlando appearing on Thurs. and Fri.,11 a.m. -2 p.m. New exhbit hall receptions Thurs., 11:30 a.m.1:00 p.m. & Fri., 12-1:30 p.m. Prize drawings Thurs.,12:30-1 p.m. & Fri., 8 a.m. To enter, complete game cards in your conference bag. Get your copy of Career Pathways autographed by author Dan Hull and contributors.
Where: Exhibit Hall (Palms Ballroom) When: Thursday, Sept 29, 5-6 p.m.

Connections

Volume 15, Number 5

NTPN Cares
by David Bond, Director, NTPN

Check out these articles in the Connections Extra! inserts. Teaching Mathematics Contextually: The Role of State Leadership by Heyward Hickman, Mathematics Consultant, South Carolina Department of Education, Columbia, S.C. Building Academic Skills in Context: Research-based Strategies for Integrating Math and CTE by James R. Stone, Director, National Research Center for CTE, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, Minn.. Couple Shares Philosophy on Teaching by Jane Nelson, Instructor, University High School, Orlando, Fla. and Jim Nelson, Instructor, University High School, Orlando, Fla.

cONNECTIONS EXTRA!

There are some significant events that the National Tech Prep Network cares to acknowledge. First, we are saddened by the loss of lives, livelihoods, and property due to Hurricane Katrina. NTPN has announced that a donation of several thousand dollars will be made to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. Our complete statement on the disaster may be seen at www.ntpn.info. At the same time, we celebrate the manner in which the Nation has rallied to support the people in the Gulf Coast area and the determination of those people to make a new start. We also celebrate a renewed emphasis on helping students to achieve success in academic and technical skills. NTPN congratulates Dan Hull, CORD President and CEO, on the publication of the new book, Career Pathways: Education with a Purpose. Dan and more than 20 coauthors cared enough to give up some time away from summer vacations to make this book a reality. I challenge each of you to commit to a renewed national spirit of caring whether its helping our neighbors rebuild or caring enough about our students and the future of this country to implement and improve upon career pathway programs. Let us know how we can help.

Self-Efficacy continued from page 1

The more elements included in each classroom learning activity, the more contextual the activity is, and the greater the chance for the student to gain self-efficacy. Through professional development, teachers can learn to use all of the elements in teaching rigorous academic content in ways that students develop understanding rather than simply memorize facts for tests. CTE teachers have a wonderful opportunity to teach rigorous academics through their technical content. It provides the perfect environment for contextual teaching and learning. In 2002, CORD launched the first professional development program designed to help CTE teachers work with their math teacher counterparts in becoming math teachers in their fields of expertise. This program, Mathematics Enriched CTE, combines faceto-face workshops with an online format and spaced over 18-weeks, or one semester. Teachers have become increasingly confident as they participate in online discussions and learn from each other. Students have made great progress when mathematics and CTE teachers work together to improve student performance. Here are samples of what teachers have said about their experiences in the program:

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B C D E

Low-Tech Teaching Still Works for High-Tech Kids by Deborah Wasylik, NBCT, Dr. Phillips High School, Orlando, Fla.

Faculty Workshops Promote Literacy and Learning Across Disciplines by Tracy L. Harrison, Professor of Reading, Valencia Community College, Orlando, Fla.

See Self-Efficacy, page 4

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Volume 15, Number 5

Co nn ec tio n s

Effective Teachers are Life-long Learners

by Samantha Stevens, Grundy County High School, Coalmont, Tenn.

Read about successful classroom strategies used by an award-winning math instructor. In this day and age, and in conjunction with the No Child Left Behind legislation, there is a great effort to ensure the success of all students in their academic endeavors. It is my teaching philosophy that all students can learn, albeit in different ways and at different paces. An effective teacher finds the key as to how each of her students learns academic content. Once teachers unlock this wealth of information, opportunities for success become numerous. Each semester, in an attempt to find out the different learning styles of my students, I have students list ways, methods, activities, and study habits that they feel help them learn material from their coursework. As part of their first project, I escort my students to the library, where they each take an online hemispheric brain dominance test. The results of the test are instant. Students print the results and perform a comparison of left brain dominance to right brain dominance. To conclude their project, students write an essay that compares the list they generated for me to the traits of the results of their brain dominance test. After reviewing each students finished project, I generate a list of findings for each class. With this list, I design my lesson plans to accommodate the visual, kinesthetic, and auditory learners in my classroom by using a variety of teaching techniques and methodologies. On any given day, a visitor to my classroom would see the following activities occurring: peer tutoring, cooperative group learning, hands- on laboratory activities, a PowerPoint presentation, posted lesson objectives, use of graphing calculators and Calculator Based Rangers to perform technologybased activities, and possibly a lecture. In the instruction of mathematics, I have found it impossible to completely do away with the lecture method of teaching, so I use it to introduce new concepts. This toolkit of knowledge has come with fourteen years of experience and attendance at many workshops and conferences. I am always looking for ways to enhance my teaching as well as to engage my students in the learning process. It is my belief that active learners extend the learning process throughout their lives and adapt and use their knowledge in their lifelong endeavors. As educators, we must constantly find ways to turn our students on to the learning process. I am fortunate that I work in a school system that allows me the freedom to use the instructional methodologies and activities I deem necessary so long as I meet national, state, and local standards and objectives of the courses that I teach. I am one of the many instructors in our high school who use a variety of teaching methodologies. All of the mathematics classrooms are equipped with an overhead projector, projector cart, computer, mathematics software, and a classroom set of thirty Texas Instruments TI-83 Plus graphing calculators as a result of a Goals 2000 grant that two of my colleagues and I wrote in March 2000. As a result of our endeavors, the scores of our students on the ACT and state-mandated tests have risen continuously. Our students and mathematics faculty are wellversed in the use of the graphing calculators and the handheld data collection devices used in mathematics and science lab experiments. If we, as educators, expect our students to succeed, not only do we have to provide our students with the right tools and knowledge for success, but we also have to empower ourselves with effective teaching methodologies and instructional activities. To stay current, teachers must seek lifelong learning practices. Contact Samantha Stevens at sstevens@k12tn.net.
Want to go to Disney World?

Buy Epcot Center tickets, shuttle passes to Epcot, Pleasure Island, and Downtown Disney at the Marriott Convention Center Entrance (lower level).
See pg. 9 in the program book for

ticket sale and shuttle hours.

Connections

Volume 15, Number 2

Im glad I teach construction math instead of plain old boring math, it seems to me it is a lot easier for us voc-ed teachers to make up and use problems like using mulch or rafters than trying to make math interesting other ways. (CTE Teacher) The exposure to the different vocational type problems was an eye opener. As math teachers we need to be aware of them and incorporate them into our math curriculum. (Math Teacher) In this edition of Connections, Jim Stone and Heyward Hickman describe student success in mastering mathematics when students experience mathematics enriched Career Technical Education (CTE) classes. When mathematics is taught in the context of student interest and experience, students performing below grade-level in mathematics begin to make considerable progress. Students struggle to learn and apply the mathematics concepts to solve the problems in their CTE courses. By doing so, they truly develop the thrill of learning! Tracy Harrison explains the importance of helping community college faculty recognize their role as reading teachers. She explains the difficulties of helping faculty members verbalize what they really value in student learning. It is not easy for

faculty members to clearly identify what they really want students to know and be able to do. Faculty members have to fight to free themselves from expecting mediocrity from students. Both faculty and students can fully experience self-efficacy when learning expectations are clearly articulated. It is the struggle to solve problems and make decisions that form the basis for student success. Samantha Stevens discusses the importance of using multiple contexts, including high tech options for teaching students to maximize their learning. Teachers need to be life-long learners to stay up-to-date on the many contexts that are meaningful to their students, including their preferred learning style. Deborah Wasylik cautions us not to be overly focused on using all the high tech options for teaching. Contextual teaching and learning, regardless of the use of technology, empowers students to use their own abilities to achieve that ah-ha! experience. Jane and Jim Nelson share the importance of helping students find answers by posing stimulating questions. The search for meaning is innate, according to Caine and

Caine (1991). The more students ask, I wonder if and teachers guide their quest to discover the answer, the more powerful the learning will be. This edition of Connections is a powerful tool for teachers seeking to motivate students to learn at deeper levels. In the economic climate of this century, rigorous academics are essential to student success in entering the workforce as adults. All educators must be concerned with improving the achievement of all students in rigorous academics as well as guiding them to master highly technical skills. The future of this nation in a globally competitive economy is at stake. Bandura was right. Self-efficacy is a motivational force that provides the learner with a sense of pride and a belief that I can do it! Self-efficacy is the result of teaching rigorous academics in a context of relevance. Contextual Teaching is the pedagogy that will insure no student will be left behind. Contact Sandra Harwell at sharwell@cord.org.
References Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Caine, R. and G. Caine (1991). Making connections: Teaching and the human brain. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

CONNECTIONS
Janice Marie Ferguson, Editor Mark Whitney, Associate Editor David Bond, Director, NTPN

Visit NTPN on the web at ww w.ntpn.info

Connections is published by the National Tech Prep Network, a membership organization of educators and employers dedicated to the advancement of Tech Prep. NTPN assists its members in planning, implementing, evaluating, and improving workforce education programs. NTPN was founded by CORD, a nonprofit organization that has been leading change in education for over twenty years through curriculum development, teacher training, and Tech Prep leadership.

Questions about Connections? Contact: Janice Marie Ferguson, NTPN, P.O. Box 21689, Waco, TX 76702-1689; 254-772-5095 ext. 253; or 09/05 jferguson@cord.org

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Volume 15, Number 5

Teaching Mathematics Contextually: The Role of State-Level Leadership

by Heyward Hickman, Mathematics Consultant, South Corolina Department of Education, Columbia, S.C.

Mathematics consultant supports teacher professional development and Career Pathways training A state-level mathematics consultant wears many hats. He or she coordinates academic standards development, instructional materials adoption, curriculum development, and state assessments; serves as liaison to higher education and professional organizations; and provides technical assistance and professional development to school districts. However, since one of the strongest predictors of students success is the quality of their teacher (Sutton & Krueger, 2002, p. 84), one of the most important duties of a state-level mathematics consultant is to support the advancement of teachers professional growth. Quality professional development is essential if students are to be beneficiaries of teachers improved professional practice. One way to help students acquire mathematical knowledge and be prepared for life after high school, including higher education and the workforce, is by having mathematics teachers collaborate with career and technical education (CTE) teachers from various career areas, which is vital in developing teachers knowledge of using and designing authentic, occupationally related applications of mathematics. The need to understand and be able to use mathematics in everyday life and in the workplace has never been greater. . . . Just as the level of mathematics needed for intelligent citizenship has increased dramatically, so, too, has the level of mathematical thinking and problem solving needed in the workplace, in professional areas ranging from health care to graphic design (Carpenter & Gorg, 2000, p. 4). Since students can learn best about mathematics topics through solving meaningful contextual problems (Sutton & Krueger, 2002, p. 76), teacher professional development that emphasizes contextual teaching and learning is ultimately beneficial to students. It empowers teachers to give students opportunities to collaborate in solving high-level occupational applications of mathematics and to apply problem solving processes beyond the routine methods used to solve typical textbook-type mathematics problems. Harwell and Blank (2001) state that teaching contextually provides the opportunity for creating learning organizations that develop citizens who successfully compete in a global economy (p. 14). As a result of a partnership of the South Carolina Department of Education, CORD, and AT&T, teachers had the opportunity to receive career cluster mathematics

N a t i o n a l Te c h Pr e p Ne t w o r k

training. The professional development involved CTE teachers in various career clusters and mathematics teachers. Career cluster mathematics training enabled CTE teachers to incorporate additional mathematics concepts into classroom instruction and align CTE mathematics requirements to state mathematics standards. In addition, it provided secondary mathematics teachers with examples of problems that require students to apply secondary mathematics standards in realistic contexts. This professional development enabled both secondary mathematics teachers and CTE teachers to work together to support mathematics achievement through contextual problem solving. The training included instructional materials, six face-to-face meetings, networking using Blackboard, and 13 weeks of online support. In addition, followup sessions were conducted at state conferences, a listserv was established, and additional online support was made available to encourage continued professional growth. Eighty-two surveys were administered to participants during four statewide training sessions. Fifty-nine percent of the respondents were CTE teachers Continued on back

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Volume 15, Number 5

Continued from front and 42 percent were mathematics teachers. The presurvey was administered prior to the training, and the postsurvey was administered after the training to assess the affects of the training on the participants confidence level in using and designing occupational applications of mathematics and the frequency of their use in classroom instruction. The number of teachers who felt confident in using occupational applications of mathematics moved from 54.6 percent stating well and very well prepared before training to 73.6 percent stating well and very well prepared after training. Prior to the training, 50 percent of mathematics teachers stated they were not well prepared to design mathematics application problems. After working with CTE teachers during the training, the number decreased to 6.3 percent. Prior to training, 43.2 percent of teachers reported that mathematics applications are very important in increasing students interest in mathematics. After the training, once teachers had a chance to reflect on their instructional practices and modify their own classroom instruction, the number of teachers reporting that mathematics applications are very important in increasing students interest in mathematics rose to 71.1 percent. The following barriers to using occupational applications of mathematics in classroom instruction were identified with less frequency after the training: lack of knowledge of mathematics standards, quality of instructional materials, and lack of training. The next steps are to determine how this training affects students mathematics academic achievement. A quasi-experimental pilot study was conducted in South Carolina during the 20042005 school year to determine whether or not automotive technology students improve their mathematics scores as a result of the automotive technology teacher participating in career cluster mathematics training and implementing the strategies in his or her classroom. The treatment group (career cluster mathematics) outperformed the control group in a comparison of pretest and posttest mathematics scores (alpha = 0.056). Even though the pilot study results are promising, demonstrating that, at least in this case, CTE had a positive impact on students academic mathematics performance, an additional study using a larger, multi-state sample is needed to support the conclusion of the pilot study. State leaders can spearhead similar professional development activity by (1) initiating collaboration between the state-level office responsible for the states academic standards and the state-level office responsible for CTE and by (2) planning joint teacher professional development events between academic mathematics teachers and CTE teachers. Integration of academic mathematics with CTE will help students obtain deeper mathematics understanding, which in turn will lead to higher scores on state-level mathematics assessments. All students are entitled to a first-rate mathematics education coupled with a career plan that will prepare them for successful lives beyond high school in higher education and the workplace.
Contact Heyward Hickman at hhickman@sde.state.sc.us. References: Carpenter, J., & Gorg, S. (Eds.). (2000). Principles and Standards for School Mathematics. Reston, Virginia: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Harwell, S., & Blank, W. (2001). Promising practices for contextual learning. Waco, Texas: CCI Publishing. Sutton, J., & Krueger, A. (Eds.). (2002). EdThoughts: What we know about mathematics teaching and learning. Aurora, California: Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning.

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Volume 15, Number 5

Building Academic Skills in Context: ResearchBased Strategies for Integrating Math and CTE
by James R. Stone, Director, National Research Center for CTE, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, Minn..

Study shows that contextual math learners success rates exceed success rates of traditional math learners One of the salient features of Tech Prep is its emphasis on improving the math and technical skills of participants. The original legislation called for the integration of academic and vocational education and applied instruction. More than ten years after the passage of Tech Prep, initial enthusiasm for alternative approaches to math instruction as described in Perkins II has waned (NAVE, 2004). A study by the National Research Center for Career and Technical Education (NRCCTE) found that while many labels have been used to describe nontraditional approaches to math instruction (e.g., applied math, integrated math, contextual math), most have been vaguely defined and inconsistent in their use. However, the demand for high student math achievement has not abated. Spurred on by an unending stream of reports about industry needs and school failures, many states are raising the bar and requiring more math courses for graduation. In the past 20 years, the average number of credits required for graduation has increased from an average of 22 to an average of 26. All of the increase has been in academic credits, mostly math and science. Some states now require four years of math. Has the increase in math course taking increased math achievement? One source of evidence to the contrary is the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), which has been measuring the academic achievement of students for more than 30 years. The average math score for 17-yearolds in 1971 was 304 out of 500 possible Many scholars argue that how we teach (pedagogy) is just as important as how much we teach, if not more important. --James R. Stone points, while the average score in 2000 was 300 on the same scale. These data suggest that doing more of the same may not be the most effective way to improve math achievement. Furthermore, on numerous measures, American students lag behind their peers in international assessments of math performance. Many scholars argue that how we teach (pedagogy) is just as important as how much we teach, if not more important. What John Dewey argued philosophically, Jean Lave, Lauren Resnick, and others have confirmed through research: People learn best when the learning occurs

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in a context that has value or meaning to the learner. Career and technical education (CTE) is a context that attracts many students. In fact, virtually all high school students take some CTE and more than 40 percent take a substantial amount during their junior and senior years. This is also a time when most have completed the required math courses. Because CTE courses and programs are built on workplace requirements, in which various kinds of math skills are always needed, CTE is an obvious curriculum in which to test a contextualized approach to improving the math skills of high school students. NRCCTE researchers sought to test the notion that if the math in the CTE curriculum was highlighted through pedagogic and curriculum modifications, students would develop a deeper, more sustained understanding of math than students limited to the traditional CTE curriculum. Researchers wanted to know whether math skills could be enhanced without losing any of the technical achievement that is the primary focus of the curriculum. NRCCTE researchers, working with an advisory group of math and CTE experts and building on the Continued on back

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Continued from front National Science Foundations contextualized curriculum, developed a pedagogic strategy and an approach to professional development that were then tested on more than 4000 students in 240 schools in 20042005. Teachers in each of six occupational areas were randomly assigned to be part of the experimental group or part of the control group. Students in those teachers classes were pretested on their math ability. Teachers in the experimental group became part of a community of practice that included math teacher partners. This community of practice began by developing curriculum maps to locate the math in the CTE curriculum that could be further developed. Not surprisingly, researchers found that the amount and kinds of math varied across the different occupational areas. For example, one curriculum included more statistics while another included more measurement. Still another required computation and estimation. As the intersections between the CTE content and the math concepts were identified, their place in the curriculum and scope and sequence was located for each study site. The scope and sequence became the guide for when to focus on the embedded math in CTE. At the end of the semester-long experiment, researchers post-tested students on three global measures of math achievement, all available through commercial vendors: a traditional math test, an applied math test, and a widely used community college placement exam. We also tested all of the students on their occupational skill development using tests appropriate for their occupational focus. The short version of much data is that the experimental interventions worked. Students in the experimental classes scored higher than the control group on 14 of the 18 measures of global math ability. We also found no difference in the development of occupational skills and knowledge. CTE students math achievement improved without affecting their technical skill or knowledge achievement. Here are five core principles that emerged from the NRCCTE study: * Curriculum development to enhance mathematics is more than a set of polished lesson plans. It is a process that requires the sustained effort of a committed group of teachers working together over timea community of practice. Individual teachers working on their own are not likely to be able to replicate our results. * If the integration process is to be effective, its overall focus must be the CTE curriculumnot the math curriculum or math standards. We do not believe that you can force fit a math curriculum (e.g., algebra I) into a CTE curriculum. * Math is an essential workplace skill. Math should be thought of as another tool to solve workplace problems. * Math should be enhanced, emphasized, and encouraged wherever it emerges within the CTE curriculum. * CTE teachers become teachers of math, not math teachers. This is an important distinction that reflects the fact that the CTE curriculum has its own integrity and value to students. Contact James Stone at stone003@umn.edu.
References Silverberg, M., Warner, E., Fong, M., & Goodwin. D. (2004). National assessment of vocational education: Final report to Congress. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Office of the Under Secretary, Policy and Program Studies Service.

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Volume 15, Number 5

Couple Shares Philosophy on Teaching

by Jane Nelson, Instructor, University High School, Orlando, Fla., and Jim Nelson, Instructor, University High School, Orlando, Fla.

Seeking answers through exploration just one of the classroom strategies used by these science instructors. From Jane Nelson: My charge as a teacher is to guarantee that all children continue asking questions because they have experienced the joy of discovering answers. If children ask questions, and adults give answers by rote, children learn that there are people who know things and that by memorizing facts they will know things also. If children ask questions and are told that the questions are not worthy of answers, children learn that they should not ask questions because there are no answers for their questions. However, I introduce interesting science activities to my children so they learn how to ask questions that have answers in science, and I say, Lets go find out! We do crazy things in class, but the children laugh as they actively find their answers. They learn that important answers are inside themselves. George Bernard Shaw says it best: I am not a teacher, only a fellow traveler of whom you asked the way. I pointed ahead ahead of myself as well as you. This is what the word teacher means to me. I am convinced that I must provide a safe, nurturing, joyful place for children to ask and answer their own questions. My children enter class with different talents and knowledge of technology. It is my belief that technology should be in my classroom so that it evens out the playing field. If one needs assistance in computer interfacing, math, or science, I give it as part of the regular lesson. If some are gifted, I provide Saturday academic competitions that stimulate without the threat of grades. I work with children with the assumption that they want to learn as I move students into the world of lights, LEDs, and amplifiers. Children who do not know skills and are punished for their lack of knowledge will learn to hate the process of learning. As a science teacher, I have the advantage of being able to teach the content of science in an interesting way using technology and toys to motivate. The gift of exploration stays with them even when the children leave the classroom. A graduate, Frank, tells a neighbor, In Nuclear Power School, I am using all that stuff she taught me. Students, who might be overlooked for Advanced Placement Physics are able to succeed if the delivery system matches their innate need to do work with stuff. The group work and laboratory activities are not random, last-minute attempts at keeping the children happy and busy. The content is an integral part of each activity that is presented in such a way that the students want to solve the problem. To solve the problem, they have to interface with the content. Thats the best kind of learning. It is the right of children to find out just what the rules are that make the whole universe work and exactly how they, as important parts of it, fit into that universe. It is my greatest reward as a teacher to be able to preserve these rights for all children. They do not come into the world bored with life and too tired to learn. Children are turned off by boring environments and lulled to sleep by monotony. Sounds of happiness, laughing, and helpful peer interactions are present in my classroom as well as faces with smiles as children flash light waves onto solar cells in an attempt to answer their own questions. It does not happen without the teacher being ever vigilant to keep the children on task, help when a group meets with frustration, and provide just the right amount of challenge without making the wall too high to scale. Sharing with fellow teachers what works is a great way for all teachers to save a great deal of time finding out how to meet the needs of the students in a typical school classroom.

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Volume 15, Number 3

Continued from front From Jim Nelson: In my classroom, students find a place in which the wonder of questioning and finding answers is something worth doing just because it is fun to see how nature works, and a place in which students and their concerns are important. Students often comment that they couldnt have done it without the support of their groups and the hands-on activities that make the words in the book seem real. It is rewarding to see that laughing students can and do achieve excellence in my classroom. They work in groups to determine how much potential energy becomes thermal energy as toy penguins go down slides at their lab tables. The answer is not in the book. However, it is the important kind of investigation that students can do independently. The process of finding answers is the learning that is important for the student. The facts needed to find the answers are assimilated as a natural consequence of accomplishing a task. Experiencing learning in a relevant, exciting, and joyful way helps students know that they each can contribute an important part to the whole of their class, school, and national communities. During classroom poster sessions, students use their communication skills to present the results of an investigation. The presentations are as important to them as conferences are to adults. During labs, my students discover answers to questions about how nature works, and they begin to understand the control that they have over their own lives. The laboratory investigations are not trivial; using computer interfacing probes to find the half-life of a capacitor as it decays is college material. However, when the students work in groups, with me as a consultant on the side, always checking on progress and offering advice when needed, they can do it. I encourage my students to overcome their weaknesses so they can say, We did it! The fact that many of the students in my classes are minority students, and that they take the Advanced Placement test at the end of the year, gives me one method for measuring their success. Last year nearly 75 percent of the students passed, to their surprise. Many did not think they could do it. They needed the hands-on approach to learning physics to understand the concepts presented in the textbook. No matter how great the presentation in a book, doing science for oneself is a much stronger learning tool. A book can be a great resource, but the learning has to take place inside each student. Students respond to learning in an environment filled with computers, simulations, and everyday objects like toy trucks and cars. They love being able to show their stuff by creating computer presentations, books, and scaled models as proof that they understand the concepts presented in the curriculum units. The students find out they are not pawns in someones chess game. By using computer simulations and equipment similar to that found in college laboratories, students realize that they are responsible for their own decisions and internalize the ideas of cause and effect. Students discover laws that govern outcomes in life, as well as in physics. It is my duty to help my students become happy, successful, adaptable adults who can learn answers to new questions, as needed, during a lifetime of learning. During laboratory activities, students struggle to analyze graphs in order to discover electrical laws of circuitry. They use multimeters and computer interfacing probes to collect the data. Those tools keep the task interesting. I have faith that doing so prepares them to become problemsolving adultsadults who will not quit because they have confidence in their own abilities to handle the job. Contact Jane Nelson at nelsonj2@ocps.k12.fl.us and Jim Nelson at nelsonj8@ocps.k12.fl.us.

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Connections ex tra !

Volume 15, Number 5

Low-Tech Teaching Still Works for High-Tech Kids

by Deborah Wasylik, NBCT, Dr. Phillips High School, Orlando, Fla.

Improve student-teacher interaction with old-fashioned techniques used by this award-winning teacher. I love technology. I have a laptop and a camera phone that sends text messages, and I am learning how to PodCast on my new IPOD. Students from kindergarten to high school are techno-savvy, mastering the intricacies of GameBoys faster than they master the alphabet! Teachers are being pressured by administrators, parents, students, and even the educational vendors to incorporate technology into their classrooms. I am reviewing a new AP environmental science textbook that not only comes with PowerPoint for teachers but allows students to download the chapters into their MP-3 players! The bells and whistles of technology are seductive, but whenever the allure becomes too strong, I remember back to the 20 years I spent in corporate America before entering education. I especially recall when PowerPoint was first introduced. Thousands of companies began issuing laptop computers to their sales forces so that all presentations could include animation, color graphs, and even sound effects. These presentations could be tailored to a customers needs and could be given anyplace you set down a laptop. This technology was going to revolutionize the job of the sales person! But take a moment to think of the customer. Suddenly, every salesperson entering the office sat down and opened up a computer. Presentation after presentation, day after day, blended together into a useless and ineffective blur. Eventually many companies told their sales staff to stop using PowerPoint when they recognized that their audiences tuned-out as soon as the program began. I have seen students tune-out of classroom PowerPoint presentations if overused also. So how do we find the balance in our classrooms? My husband, a former lawyer and history teacher, reminds me that Socrates is considered one

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... it is good to occasionally stop and remember how many great minds were developed using the Socratic method of simply asking questions and requiring students to think. --Deborah Wasylik of the greatest teachers of all time. In this century, surrounded by an amazing array of technology, it is good to occasionally stop and remember how many great minds were developed using the Socratic method of simply asking questions and requiring students to think. Much of the technology being used in classrooms today provides excellent presentations but does not necessarily provide opportunities for critical thinking. I believe that old-

fashioned methods, which provide the greatest interactions between student and teacher, are still most effective for developing critical thinking and assessing student learning. Many of them have been around for decades (or even centuries), can be accomplished in any type of classroom with any age level, and are within every budget. Two favorites that are regularly used in my classroom are the overhead projector and individual white boards. The advantage of the utilitarian overhead projector is that I face the students and look at them as I present new information. I can tell if the students look confused or whether they look interested and engaged. As the students copy the notes, they do not even realize that every concept is reviewed THREE times. The first is when I read the notes exactly as written, which enhances learning for my poor readers and for my auditory learners. The second is when I orally elaborate on the notes, using examples and different wording as I explain the notes in more detail. The third is when the students actually write the notes in their notebooks. I can further assess comprehension by pausing and asking a few questionslike Socrates. My second favorite is individual white boards. I went to Home Continued on back

Connections ex tra!

Volume 15, Number 5

Continued from front Depot and purchased a 4 8 sheet of shower surround. One side has a polished white surface. When I told the store manager I was a teacher, he cut it into 32 squares at no extra charge. I tore up some old towels to use as erasers and had each student bring in a white-board marker. For less than $15 I had a great learning tool for each of my students, the 21stcentury equivalent of the small slates effectively used in pioneer classrooms. Students of all ages love to use them to display their knowledge of vocabulary terms, math equations, spelling words, or (in my case) Punnett Squares. I often add a competitive element by giving points for correct answers. They perceive it as a game, but I use it as an informal assessment, since I can easily see who has mastered the material. My sister has just returned from spending a year in Malawi, Africa, one of the poorest countries on earth. She told me that most schools in that country consist of a group of students and a teacher sitting under a tree. There is no electricity, often no roof, no benches, not even a chalkboard. Only the teacher has a textbook. And yet, learning still takes place. As we enter another school year and design our new curricula, we may be wise to occasionally resist some technology temptations and keep some oldfashioned simplicity in our classrooms. Contact Deborah Wasylik at wasylid@ocps.net.

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Connections ex tra !

Volume 15, Number 5

Faculty Workshops Promote Literacy and Learning Across Disciplines

by Tracy L. Harrison, Professor of Reading, Valencia Community College, Orlando, Fla..

Practicing reading comprehension important for students even beyond elementary and secondary education When people ask me what subject I teach at the community college, I simply answer, reading. This response confuses some people. Most people assume that by the time adults graduate from high school they can read. But those of us who teach at the college or high school level know this is not always the case. Sure, most of our students have many sight words stored in their mental word banks and can even decode new words. However, when they are asked to read something technical or complex, many of them are unable to comprehend the material well enough to connect with what the words actually mean. The dilemma that many of my colleagues face is, How do we teach them the required objectives for my course and teach them how to read their textbooks, too? Unfortunately, there is no easy solution. Among the brave college faculty members and secondary educators who attend my workshops, the consensus seems to be that we have to do something to promote better comprehension, because our students success depends on it. I believe all teachers have the responsibility to help their students become more literate. With this in mind, I began to develop workshops designed to help college faculty members and secondary educators take on this daunting task. The first workshop, We Are All Reading Teachers, was created to identify ways to address the question, Do they know what they need to know? Most teachers cannot feed all of the necessary information to their students in the short period of time that they are in class; therefore, we send them home with reading assignments. We assume that if they read it, they got it, and we move on to the next topic. This workshop gives teachers The dilemma that many of my colleagues face is, How do we teach [students] the required objectives for my course and teach them how to read their textbooks, too?. --Tracy L. Harrison ideas for supplements and activities to provide the proof, or comprehension artifacts, which verify that they did understand what they read. Workshop participants are given multiple strategies for prereading, interactive reading, and postreading activities. As I present these concepts to workshop participants, sometimes I can see that they are not all going to be easily convinced of the effectiveness

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and/or timeliness of these strategies. The key to minimizing this skepticism is to have them bring their textbooks to the workshop. This way they can create activities that are immediately applicable to their classes and texts. Also, placing participants in collaborative groups that link the same or similar disciplines is an effective way to generate ideas, connect disciplines, predict problems and solutions, and make new friends. Another role we have as teachers is to provide our students with the skills necessary to be content literate. Content literacy is the ability to use reading and writing to learn subject matter in a given discipline. How does content literacy fit with education buzz words like independent learning and critical thinking? I assume that we can all agree that literacy plays a key role in both concepts. But, exactly how do we assess whether our students are independent learners or critical thinkers within our discipline? Sounds like the perfect concept for another faculty get- together. In this second workshop, We Are All Critical Reading Teachers, faculty participants are asked to identify learning outcomes that reflect their personal values for their students learning. What do I want Continued on back

Connections ex tra!

Volume 15, Number 5

Continued from front my students to know about my discipline? Surprisingly, the answer to this is not always as easy as it may sound. Most often the learning outcomes that we value for our students are only loosely related to the specifics of our subject areas; however, they are almost always directly tied to higher-level thinking skills about our disciplines. This is where writing can play an important assessment role in independent learning and critical thinking across disciplines. Many teachers cringe at the thought of reading stacks of poorly written reports or essays, but with a carefully designed rubric the errors can be kept to a minimum and we can feel confident that the important life skills that we value have been learned. Of course, writing is not the only way to assess critical thinking, so other methods such as speeches, role play, and games are also discussed as new ideas for assessment. Again, faculty should leave the workshop with a critical thinking activity specific to their course and a rubric that they can use as an assessment tool. Many college instructors today find themselves in a process of change and transition as they reconsider their instructional beliefs regarding literacy and learning. By creating faculty reading workshops, we can begin to reflect on what we do, how we do it, and why we do it. This reflection will help us examine the changes necessary to help students become better, more effective readers and ultimately reach their academic goals. Contact Tracy Harrison at tharrison6@valenciacc.edu.

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