"Objective"ly Speaking...

Well, I don't know about you, but CBC was not ABC or one, two, three for me! I found some of the examples in our assignment to be really difficult. Theoretically, I understand condition, audience, behavior, and criteria/learning outcome. However, in practice this was very challenging for me. What I found most difficult is the distinction between behavior and criteria. After a while, it started becoming like math to me--I just couldn't see or get it and I felt like I should and I began to feel panicky and frustrated, certain that everyone else in the class was whipping right through these exercises and I would never see the light. Then, as I've had to teach myself to do, I took deep breaths, took a 10 minute break and started over again. Do I get it now? Not totally, but I feel more confident. I think I just need to practice. But there is a lesson in here kids...the way I felt is often the way our students will feel when confronted with something they don't understand...be it, reading, math, or any concept that is simply eluding them--it is frightening and frustrating! It is during these kind of moments that we begin to lose students, sometimes forever, if we don't recognize and positively address the problem.

This is what happened to me with math. When I was in 4th grade, they did a complete overhaul of the math curriculum and brought in what was called the "New Math". I, a straight A student, could not grasp this new math. From the get go, I was lost and so were my parents. I somehow faked my way through but I never caught up and I grew to despise math because it frightened me. I became convinced I would never understand it, and consequently, I never tried. This is how I ended up an AP high school senior in a non-regents geometry class--with freshmen and sophomores!!! And no one then, or along the way, ever questioned my "math issues". I got through college without taking one math course (I understand you can't do that anymore and I say "great!) and I didn't have to deal with it again until MSMC told me that I needed to take Math for Elementary Ed in order to be accepted into the graduate program. You want to talk about panic??? I enrolled at OCC and had the incredible good fortune to get a magnificent teacher. She told me, right off, that I did not belong in her class, that it was too advanced and I should take basic algebra and then come back to her course. After discussing it, she agreed to let me stay and give it a try. OMG, in the beginning, it was worse than TwT! I did not have a clue! But then something funny happened. I started to slowly understand it and then, to actually enjoy it! Don't get me wrong...I had to work 10 times harder than everyone else in the class just to keep up! I remember some girls in my group expressing surprise that I was doing so well and I asked them, "How much time did you spend on this week's assignment?" Their answers ranged from 2-3 hours. I had spent 15-20 hours, no exaggeration, on the same assignment! But I was getting it and I was thrilled beyond belief! I attacked this course in a real discovery, constructionist mode-and it worked for me! A major key to my success was my teacher. She was so encouraging and she said something on the first day of class that had a profound impact on me..."There is no one right way to arrive at an answer in math. There are many ways, some faster and some slower, but the point is to get there". Well, this just floored me. I always thought that in math there was only one way--the way I could not understand! But she was right. I often took the (very) long way because it worked for me. And, get this, after doing it my way, I found I was better able to grasp the short cuts. Bottom line, by the end of the course, I had learned about 10 years worth of math in 31/2 months.

I felt like this...
...just as I did after each TwT accomplishment! And that's exactly how I want my students to feel--that they can do it and feel wonderful! Here's a very important point to keep in mind...both my Elementary Ed teacher, Michelle Tubbs, and my TwT teacher, Dr. Smirnova, loved their content areas and loved helping their students feel the same. This kind of enthusiasm and encouragement is key to motivating students.--it's contagious! Neither of these teachers ever gave up on me, nor once made me feel that I could not do the work. I will be forever grateful to them, both and, in return, I fully intend to do the same for my students.

So, then, why am I fearful about teaching math? Because we are not given the time to cultivate students who don't "get it" immediately. Also, I've learned, math is pretty much taught in a "one size fits all" manner that you are not supposed to deviate from. And that is what scares me. How do I reach the "me's" in my classroom? How do I prevent them from following my path?

All I can come up with right now is that I've got to be excessively well prepared. I have got to have lessons that incorporate a multitude of modalities on the same subject. And, most important, I have to encourage and help those that are lagging behind without neglecting those that are surging ahead.

So, yeah, I'm scared--I'd be worried if I weren't! I don't think anyone outside the teaching profession could ever conceive of the pressure of this job! But in the wise words of Eleanor Roosevelt,

"You must do the thing you think you cannot do."

Until next time...