Musings from Mrs. Galvan

I have been saving interesting articles and blog posts lately that all point to the importance of certain non-cognitive skills for our students to be successful. Below are links to recent good reads. Also, discussed here on This American Life  and in my blog a bit here . Kids need these skills for success: Focus  - Avoid Distractions Positive Attitude  - Never saying "I'm bad at Math" Resilience  - I haven't mastered factoring YET GRIT , hard work, growth mindset matter most. As teachers, we can't just teach the concepts. We won't be successful unless we are encouraging these skills too.

I heard two interesting reports on NPR while driving to work this morning about two issues facing high school students: they are sleep deprived and stressed out . Key Quotes: Because teenagers need eight to nine hours of sleep, waking up at 6 a.m. can lead to a pattern of sleep deprivation. And that puts them at higher risk of a whole range of potential problems, from depression to automobile accidents. "A little stress is a good thing," Alvord says. "It can motivate students to be organized. But too much stress can backfire." As educators we are always trying to create a rigorous, challenging academic environment for our students to grown and learn. I am constantly preaching the importance of grit and hard work in my math classroom . Still though I often worry about the pressures we put on our students so I was happy to hear this report this morning. Because we only see our students 40 minutes a day, it is easy to lose perspective. My algebra class isn...

Read this. I do want more real life based, ongoing, STEM related projects through which to teach geometry and algebra. The problem is... I don't have them created. I do have lots of mini projects, that are interesting, on par with students' knowledge base, valuable, strongly related to the content, and most importantly, already in my toolbox ! My plate is already full this year with the whole digital portfolio goal, so perhaps I can find just one unit this year to amend slightly so that it fits this model.... Thinking. Image from Paul Curtis.

I have been asking my students' parents to refrain from telling their children if they were bad at math at Back to School nights for years. Why would kids want to try at a subject that is hard if their parents give them an out? Here is a good synopsis , backed up by a recent study linking the anxiety of parents to the performance of students, of how and why parents (and teachers) should change their tone and " jump into the subject they once feared with both feet."

"Grit is passion and perseverance for very long term goals."

Do I need to shuffle and spiral my homework assignments?  An interleaved assignment mixes up different kinds of situations or problems to be practiced, instead of grouping them by type. When students can’t tell in advance what kind of knowledge or problem-solving strategy will be required to answer a question, their brains have to work harder to come up with the solution, and the result is that students learn the material more thoroughly.

We need sleep! Another article on the importance of sleep for adequate brain function. I like this quote below and hope my students take it to heart. So what happens if you don't sleep? "A whole constellation of different brain and body functions start to deteriorate," he says. Our brains are less effective at absorbing new information without sleep. Plus, our ability to retain recently learned information is impaired, and "you lose the chance to essentially hit the save button on that information."

Great blog-post on what teaching IS and ISN'T. Teaching isn’t just “making it fun” for the kids. Teaching isn’t just academic content. Teaching is understanding how the human brain processes information and preparing lessons with this understanding in mind. Teaching is simultaneously instilling in a child the belief that she can accomplish anything she wants while admonishing her for producing shoddy work. Teaching is understanding both the psychology and the physiology behind the changes the adolescent mind goes through. Teaching is convincing a defiant teenager that the work he sees no value in does serve a greater purpose in preparing him for the rest of his life. Teaching is offering a sympathetic ear while maintaining a stern voice. Teaching is being both a role model and a mentor to someone who may have neither at home, and may not be looking for either.

I started teaching when I was 21, right after graduating college. So like many other teachers, there hasn't been a single August that I haven't spent preparing to go back to school. When August 1st rolls around, I come to terms with reality: my summer vacation is over. No longer can I stay up late every evening and ease into my morning each new day. No longer will I run around with my kids, alternating parks and play dates. I join the rest of the working world. Luckily, every year, about a week into August,  the "blues" turn into excitement. This yearly shift confirms to me that I chose the right job. I think it's good to bolster this excitement though with a few reminders about why I got into teaching. I teach math, but it wasn't my love of Algebra that made me pursue teaching. Frankly, learning Algebra isn't the most important part of a middle school student's life (Shock!). I strive to teach my students many things besides factoring, empathy, valu...

A student at my school used trig to help free a falsely accused man from prison. She also provided math teachers everywhere with another answer to the most annoying question we get: When am I EVER going to use this??? High School Student's Math Skills Contribute to Release of Man Wrongfully Imprisoned for Seventeen Years from David Hinden on Vimeo . Here is a handout on the calculations.

So working at a prestigious school on the west side of LA means that I don't face some typical challenges faced by most middle school math teachers. For example, my students don't lack motivation. I have been sitting on this blog post for two months, meaning to post something about it or at least discuss it with colleagues and students, but working where I work, I have been busy organizing a staff musical number instead . Anyways, the research is a decade old, but the message is clear. When students aren't motivated they don't engage in school. When students don't engage in school, they are less likely to graduate, less likely to instantly become excellent, independent, happy contributors to society (yes I too became a teacher to "make a difference"). While we can't control all the socio-economic factors at play in students' lives, we can try to come up with ways to motivate students while they are at school. The Forbes article narrows the fo...

In the classroom and in life, I am continually frustrated by negative attitudes, so much so that I have the following rule in my syllabus: Never say "I hate math". I strive to encourage my students to see what is possible and not to get bogged down by what is challenging. For example, instead of saying, that they are bad at fractions, I make them repeat that they need practice  with fractions and remind them that saying is believing. I love reading this parenting blog - Short Fat Dictator . Not only is it is hilarious, but it describes my own home life as a mom of two small kids pretty accurately. I hope that this post about the writer's confident two year old will inspire my middle school students to start each day with this question: " I wonder how many good things are going to happen before bed today?" 

I don't know much about programming except that it seems to be key skill if you want to be competitive in the job market. Software Engineer continues to be a top profession  both from the perspective of being lucrative and for promoting a nice quality of life, and yet the image of a nerdy, anti-social programmer persists among my students perhaps preventing them from even considering a future in computer science. My students are  not typical middle school kids. The independent school that I work at attracts the best and brightest in Los Angeles. Yet, not many of our graduates go into STEM professions. This report from NPR discusses what it is like to be among the only women in the field of programming. Beyond trying to recruit girls into the field from the practical perspective of being able to get a job, I like how the woman in the story mentioned that programming can also offer a nice solution for the age old issue facing women in the work place: how to balan...

Careercast.com released their report on the Best Jobs of 2013 . According to the website: High pay, low stress, a robust hiring outlook, a healthy work environment and minimal physical exertion combine to define what makes a great job for most people.  The top three jobs, Actuary, Biomedical Engineer and Software Engineer, would all be quite impossible to obtain without proficiency in math. Just saying.

Another article about math anxiety . A growing body of research suggests that parents and teachers might transmit their own math anxiety to children.  I like the point that the article makes about how our culture accepts people who are "bad at math" while there is a clear social stigma associated with a deficiency in reading. I agree too that we definitely need to better prepare our elementary teachers as they are the first to reach our students. If a kid doesn't like math in 3rd grade, by the time they get to me in middle school, their minds are made up! The article also gives good advice about trying to calm down. I have taken to leading my students in mindful meditation before exams. I find that it calms them down and lessens their stress (well they tell me that it does).

 This video is a great introduction to programming. These jobs will be plentiful and they look like fun.Be open minded to a career in programming (or another STEM career). If you LOVE English and history, then consider a double major. Take your time with your education if you have it. :)

I have had this article saved on my computer for quite sometime. This NPR report spoke about a study on the difference between "embracing struggle" as part of the learning process between eastern and western cultures. "In Eastern cultures, Stigler says, it's just assumed that struggle is a predictable part of the learning process. Everyone is expected to struggle in the process of learning, and so struggling becomes a chance to show that you, the student, have what it takes emotionally to resolve the problem by persisting through that struggle." I wavered on whether or not to share it with my students as I don't want to give them the impression that they don't work hard. My students work very hard... though they sometimes give up on solving a problem if they path to solving it isn't immediately clear. One thing I did change the day I heard this report: I let students work more often in groups to figure out a new concept instead of me modeli...

I shared this article with my students back in October. It discusses recent findings from Payscale.com about the top earning professions. Twenty-eight of the top thirty jobs requires math! I tell my students every year about this time when we are deciding on which math course they should take next year, to keep their minds open to a major that might require math and to not close doors to a STEM career at age 14. I often share my math in college story. My very first class at UCSD was a calculus class. I am sure my professor was a brilliant mathematician, but he was a lousy teacher, especially when compared to the dedicated and passionate teachers that I was fortunate enough to have when I was in high school. My calculus professor didn't turn around from the board once during his hour lecture, spoke with a heavy accent and wasn't at all engaging. Only after reading the section from our textbook did I realize that he was explaining an integral, something I had le...

When I heard this report on NPR recently (February 8), I thought of how hard it is to be in middle school. I remember feeling insecure about how I looked or how I sounded when I tried to speak up in class. I took for granted that my parents were supportive and available, though I still felt embarrassed by them. The love between this mother and daughter is amazing. I am impressed by the daughter's maturity and compassion. We all have a lot to learn from her example.

Are you a worrier or a warrior?  Your DNA might have something to do with it. Check out this article from the New York Times.