How to Solve a Problem
from Teach Like your Hair's on Fire
by Rafe Esquith
Viking 2007 page 147
How To Solve A Problem
Step I. Understand the Problem
(Put your pencil down)
Collect Relevant Data
Step II. Choose an Appropriate Strategy
Act It Out
Choose an Operation
Draw a Picture
Guess and Check
Look for a Pattern
Make a Chart or Table
Make an Organization List
Use Logical Reasoning
Work Backwards
Step III. Solve the Problem
(Pick your pencil up)
Step IV. Analyze
Does My Answer Make Sense?
Note: Teach Like your Hair's on Fire by Rafe Esquith is a book to read and cherish. On those days when your energy wanes and you wonder why you ever decided to teach, Rafe Esquith will bring you back to the ideals that fire your teaching spirit.
Friday, September 7, 2007
Lesson Idea - How to Buy a Used Car
For many years I taught the lowest level 11th grade English classes. Here is a lesson that worked.
How to buy a used car.
Ask the students if they have bought a used car. Ask those who have to relate their experiences. Take notes on the board and begin to brainstorm the process. Ask a student to put each idea on a 3x5 card one side and one idea per card. Budget, plan, search, compare, shop, test drive, mechanically evaluate the used car, negotiate, purchase, buy insurance (search, compare, shop, negotiate, and purchase), buy the plates, and continue to test drive for the 30 to 60 day warranty on a used car, if there is a warranty, are some of the ideas that will be offered. Here are some more ideas for after the purchase: plan for repairs, plan for regular maintenance, plan for gas, plan for gas to go up in price, budget for the real cost both per mile and per day of the car. Have the students brainstorm all these and more. Use a modified Delphi method * to get all students to participate by giving the students 3x5 cards and having them write their ideas, one per card, without their names. Collect the cards, type up a list of ideas, give the students the list of ideas, and brainstorm one more time. Give the students the second list of their ideas and have them organize the process. Using the 3x5 cards with one idea per card, put all the cards on a table and have the students come up with piles with names that would help organize the process and see the process clearer. I use small boxes that can be labeled for each pile. We try out different labels while we sort the cards. Search the Internet for help. Go to Kelley Blue Book and Used Car Buying Tips. Ask a car salesperson to come to the class room and talk to the students. Ask an auto mechanic to come in or ask the mechanic to agree to be recorded in an interview on how to evaluate a used car. Now develop a formal procedure manual. Edit and polish it and put it on a blog. Ask students, parents, and interested people to contribute to the blog. Name it Roosevelt's (your school's name) Guide to Buying Maintaining, and Affording a Used Car or Second Period 's Guide to Buying, Maintaining, and Affording a Used Car.
Follow up unit idea.
How can I cut my car costs to almost nothing? If the average car payment is say $250 per month. What if I could go for 10 years with no car payments? $250 times 12 times 10 equals $30,000 dollars. What could I invest that money in to make more money? Now opened a new problem with many exciting prospects.
*"Single experts sometimes suffer biases; group meetings suffer from "follow the leader" tendencies and reluctance to abandon previously stated opinions (Gatewood and Gatewood, 1983, Fowles, 1978)." To avoid biases and follow the leader problems, use a modification of the Delphi method.
How to buy a used car.
Ask the students if they have bought a used car. Ask those who have to relate their experiences. Take notes on the board and begin to brainstorm the process. Ask a student to put each idea on a 3x5 card one side and one idea per card. Budget, plan, search, compare, shop, test drive, mechanically evaluate the used car, negotiate, purchase, buy insurance (search, compare, shop, negotiate, and purchase), buy the plates, and continue to test drive for the 30 to 60 day warranty on a used car, if there is a warranty, are some of the ideas that will be offered. Here are some more ideas for after the purchase: plan for repairs, plan for regular maintenance, plan for gas, plan for gas to go up in price, budget for the real cost both per mile and per day of the car. Have the students brainstorm all these and more. Use a modified Delphi method * to get all students to participate by giving the students 3x5 cards and having them write their ideas, one per card, without their names. Collect the cards, type up a list of ideas, give the students the list of ideas, and brainstorm one more time. Give the students the second list of their ideas and have them organize the process. Using the 3x5 cards with one idea per card, put all the cards on a table and have the students come up with piles with names that would help organize the process and see the process clearer. I use small boxes that can be labeled for each pile. We try out different labels while we sort the cards. Search the Internet for help. Go to Kelley Blue Book and Used Car Buying Tips. Ask a car salesperson to come to the class room and talk to the students. Ask an auto mechanic to come in or ask the mechanic to agree to be recorded in an interview on how to evaluate a used car. Now develop a formal procedure manual. Edit and polish it and put it on a blog. Ask students, parents, and interested people to contribute to the blog. Name it Roosevelt's (your school's name) Guide to Buying Maintaining, and Affording a Used Car or Second Period 's Guide to Buying, Maintaining, and Affording a Used Car.
Follow up unit idea.
How can I cut my car costs to almost nothing? If the average car payment is say $250 per month. What if I could go for 10 years with no car payments? $250 times 12 times 10 equals $30,000 dollars. What could I invest that money in to make more money? Now opened a new problem with many exciting prospects.
*"Single experts sometimes suffer biases; group meetings suffer from "follow the leader" tendencies and reluctance to abandon previously stated opinions (Gatewood and Gatewood, 1983, Fowles, 1978)." To avoid biases and follow the leader problems, use a modification of the Delphi method.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
13 Common Symptoms of Language Mis-Behaviors
13 Common Symptoms of Language Mis-Behaviors
To varying degrees, we are prone to commit these, and other, language behaviors that reflect inappropriate evaluations, i.e., our language 'maps' do not properly reflect what we 'know' about the territories of our external, and internal, 'worlds':
1. We fail to differentiate facts (verifiable, historical observations/events) from inferences, assumptions, premises, beliefs, etc.
2. We try to force two-valued, either-or, black-white, etc., distinctions on events and situations which more appropriately ought to be thought of in terms of gradations, i.e., relative to other points along a spectrum rather than absolutely one or the other.
3. We fail to account for multiple causes for any particular event, both in dimension of breadth (what other factors affected the result?) and sequence (what caused "the cause"?); we tend to simplistically focus on seeking 'the' (singular) cause.
4. We fail to recognize the uniqueness of our own experiences; we forget that almost every statement - to include descriptions, judgments, opinions, etc. - we make could be prefaced, or appended, by "to me".
5. We fall victim to the false-to-facts structural flaw of the subject/predicate grammatical form, particularly with respect to unaware use of the "is" of identity and predication; "That boy is a discipline problem." "The rose is red." The form implies a factual relationship between the subject and predicate, as though the label ("discipline problem") and color ("red") were actually properties or qualities 'in' the subjects, rather than descriptions reflecting the evaluations made by the speaker.
6. We objectify processes or high order abstractions as things, or nouns, and speak about them as though they have properties similar to 'real', non-verbal 'things'; the weather, the economy, the handling of the crisis, truth, honesty, justice, security, privacy, etc.
7. We tend to look more for similarities than we do differences; within a group (or a label for a group) we assume similarities that do not necessarily exist and fail to see the individual differences: let's get a 'woman's perspective', look at it from the 'black point of view'; all liberals are this way; all conservatives believe ….
8. We fail to account for the fact that every 'thing' - including every person - changes over time; we should not expect that Bob2002 has the same priorities, attitudes, interests, policies, fears, expectations, etc., as did Bob1982.
9. We talk in absolute, all-inclusive terms that do not reflect the facts of our limited experiences; we cannot experience 'all' or 'everything' of 'anything'. Avoid unaware and inappropriate use of absolute terms (exact same, never, always, all, none, absolutely, without exception) and remember the etc. - more can always be said.
10. We ought to acknowledge that whatever we 'know,' 'believe', or 'assume' is derived from incomplete information, therefore we ought to hold our conclusions, judgments, beliefs, and assumptions rather tentatively, subject to revision should subsequent 'facts' or events indicate.
11. We often confuse the subject noun (actor) and the object noun (recipient of the action). When we say things like, "She hurt my feelings," and "He was mean to me," we assign the 'action', or the feelings of 'hurt' and 'mean' to someone else, instead of accepting that we generated the feelings. Catch yourself when you say, "It makes me _______" – what is "it" and what does "it" do when "it" "makes"?
12. We avoid taking responsibility for our own evaluations, judgments, and opinions, when we: 1) generalize "you" when you mean "I" (How did it feel to hit the winning shot? "Well, you've got so much going on that you can't think about it, you just have to go on your instincts."); and 2) attribute to some undefined "it" ("It just shows you that it's never too late for it to teach you a lesson.").
13. Avoid perpetuating inappropriate 'magical thinking' notions such as myths, superstitions, jinxes, etc.; e.g. 13 is an unlucky number. Remember that words can influence people who can alter 'real things,' but that words alone cannot alter 'real things.' Keep in mind the principle that the cumulative effects of a simple thing can, over time, become significant.
Institute of General Semantics
To varying degrees, we are prone to commit these, and other, language behaviors that reflect inappropriate evaluations, i.e., our language 'maps' do not properly reflect what we 'know' about the territories of our external, and internal, 'worlds':
1. We fail to differentiate facts (verifiable, historical observations/events) from inferences, assumptions, premises, beliefs, etc.
2. We try to force two-valued, either-or, black-white, etc., distinctions on events and situations which more appropriately ought to be thought of in terms of gradations, i.e., relative to other points along a spectrum rather than absolutely one or the other.
3. We fail to account for multiple causes for any particular event, both in dimension of breadth (what other factors affected the result?) and sequence (what caused "the cause"?); we tend to simplistically focus on seeking 'the' (singular) cause.
4. We fail to recognize the uniqueness of our own experiences; we forget that almost every statement - to include descriptions, judgments, opinions, etc. - we make could be prefaced, or appended, by "to me".
5. We fall victim to the false-to-facts structural flaw of the subject/predicate grammatical form, particularly with respect to unaware use of the "is" of identity and predication; "That boy is a discipline problem." "The rose is red." The form implies a factual relationship between the subject and predicate, as though the label ("discipline problem") and color ("red") were actually properties or qualities 'in' the subjects, rather than descriptions reflecting the evaluations made by the speaker.
6. We objectify processes or high order abstractions as things, or nouns, and speak about them as though they have properties similar to 'real', non-verbal 'things'; the weather, the economy, the handling of the crisis, truth, honesty, justice, security, privacy, etc.
7. We tend to look more for similarities than we do differences; within a group (or a label for a group) we assume similarities that do not necessarily exist and fail to see the individual differences: let's get a 'woman's perspective', look at it from the 'black point of view'; all liberals are this way; all conservatives believe ….
8. We fail to account for the fact that every 'thing' - including every person - changes over time; we should not expect that Bob2002 has the same priorities, attitudes, interests, policies, fears, expectations, etc., as did Bob1982.
9. We talk in absolute, all-inclusive terms that do not reflect the facts of our limited experiences; we cannot experience 'all' or 'everything' of 'anything'. Avoid unaware and inappropriate use of absolute terms (exact same, never, always, all, none, absolutely, without exception) and remember the etc. - more can always be said.
10. We ought to acknowledge that whatever we 'know,' 'believe', or 'assume' is derived from incomplete information, therefore we ought to hold our conclusions, judgments, beliefs, and assumptions rather tentatively, subject to revision should subsequent 'facts' or events indicate.
11. We often confuse the subject noun (actor) and the object noun (recipient of the action). When we say things like, "She hurt my feelings," and "He was mean to me," we assign the 'action', or the feelings of 'hurt' and 'mean' to someone else, instead of accepting that we generated the feelings. Catch yourself when you say, "It makes me _______" – what is "it" and what does "it" do when "it" "makes"?
12. We avoid taking responsibility for our own evaluations, judgments, and opinions, when we: 1) generalize "you" when you mean "I" (How did it feel to hit the winning shot? "Well, you've got so much going on that you can't think about it, you just have to go on your instincts."); and 2) attribute to some undefined "it" ("It just shows you that it's never too late for it to teach you a lesson.").
13. Avoid perpetuating inappropriate 'magical thinking' notions such as myths, superstitions, jinxes, etc.; e.g. 13 is an unlucky number. Remember that words can influence people who can alter 'real things,' but that words alone cannot alter 'real things.' Keep in mind the principle that the cumulative effects of a simple thing can, over time, become significant.
Institute of General Semantics
Monday, March 19, 2007
A Road not Taken
The Road not Taken
Robert Frost
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
and sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
and looked down one as far as I could
to where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
and having perhaps the better claim
because it was grassy and wanted wear;
though as for that, the passing there
had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
in leaves no feet had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and
I --I took the one less travelled by,
and that has made all the difference.
Note: The picture is of Edison College, Collier Branch, Naples, Florida
Note: The picture is of Edison College, Collier Branch, Naples, Florida
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
New Jersey HSPA Exams
Click on Elementary School or Middle School in the left column for sample New Jersey High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA) exams.
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Arizona's AIMS Tests
Arizona’s Instrument to Measure Standards AIMS offers sample tests from third grade through eighth grade and high school.
Monday, March 5, 2007
New York Regents Exams
New York Regents exams with answers for high school students in English, Social Studies, Science (Biology, Chemistry, Earth Science, Living Environment, and Physics), Mathematics, and Other Languages (French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Latin, and Spanish).
Florida's FCAT Released Reading and Math Tests
FCAT 2006-released grades 3, 7, 9, and 10 reading and math tests with answers and 2005-released grades 4, 8, and 10 reading and math test with answers.
Florida's FCAT for Grades 1 Through 5
FCAT for grades 1-5 with sample questions and tests, over 50 sites, and more.
MCAS High Stakes Tests
The Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System MCAS was first administered in 1998 to grades 4, 8, and 10. Downloadable released tests are available.
Thursday, March 1, 2007
The Nation's Report Card with Sample Tests
The Commissioner of Education Statistics, who heads the National Center for Education Statistics in the U.S. Department of Education, is responsible by law for carrying out the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) project which is also known as "the Nation's Report Card." NEAP, the only nationally representative and continuing assessment (since 1969) of what America's students know and can do in various subject areas, conducts assessments in reading, mathematics, science, writing, U.S. history, civics, geography, and the arts.
Go to http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/itmrls/ and press the “Search Options” button. Enter a subject and a grade to find test passages, questions, answers, scorer comments, and more.
Go to http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/itmrls/ and press the “Search Options” button. Enter a subject and a grade to find test passages, questions, answers, scorer comments, and more.
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