Author Archive

Dear Math: Why Kids Hate Math and What Teachers Can Do About It by Sarah Strong & Gigi Butterfield

Wednesday, December 14th, 2022

Dear Math
Dear Math: Why Kids Hate Math and What Teachers Can Do About It by Sarah Strong & Gigi Butterfield shows how teachers can use students’ “Dear Math” letters to get to know their students better and draw them into learning. There is an emphasis on creating a community of mathematicians in a project-based environment. Be sure to get a copy for any math teacher you know. Thanks, Sarah and Gigi.

1. Dear Math, You Are Dreadful

  • Start by telling students that you need to get to know them as mathematicians so you can design and facilitate their math lessons. They will all write “Dear Math Letters” for you to read. To help them get started, give them one of the ten prompts listed on pages 25 and 26. For example, what is one way that math has helped you grow? As you read the letters, be prepared for a large dose of negativity, as math is not the favorite subject of most students.
  • As you read the letters, give feedback and look for connections and commonalities. As you teach, mention things from letters anonymously. Consider having students read each other’s letters. This will help develop empathy between students. Weekly letters should help you determine what was valuable and what wasn’t.

2. Dear Math, You Are Hierarchical

  • The hierarchy here comes from the natural sorting of ability from high to low that happens in classes generally and perhaps more often in math classes. The goal, then, is to disrupt any existing hierarchy or prevent it from happening. Disruption of this metaphor begins with forming close relationships with others. People with close relationships are not likely to compare themselves to each other. Being better connected also improves the quality of group work.
  • Sara’s main tool is what she calls “Belongigness Buddies,” although you can call it something else. Buddies check in on each other daily in person and using social media tools. While the check-ins largely involve content, students are encouraged to include feelings. The teacher also buddies with students who have attendance issues. Absent students can use FaceTime or Zoom to attend class virtually.

3. Dear Math, You Are Unnecessary

  • Teachers, in general, need to be prepared for the “why do we have to know this?” question. Use Internet search if you need to, and it’s ok to say, “I don’t know, but think of this concept as a puzzle that will be good for your ability to solve real problems.” Knowing why they need to learn something adds to a greater sense of agency, the ability to construct new knowledge, and the ability to look critically at new information.
  • Math isn’t pointless and shouldn’t feel that way. Sarah likes to start classes with an image of some sort. She also makes use of story problems, also known as word problems but with more captivating stories. After they read the story, she asks, what is this story about? What are we trying to solve for? What might a potential answer look like? (estimation)

4. Dear Math, You Are Intimidating

  • The three sources of intimidation or anxiety are home, society, and classrooms. Often times a parent’s doubt about their own math skills can contribute to a student’s feelings. Similar messages are also found in our media. Teachers and faster learners are also a source and these are feelings that lead to lower performance.
  • The goal is to design class activities to disrupt intimidation. Sarah describes a “Daily Discourse” activity designed to do this. It’s a ten to fifteen-minute activity led by students, with all students taking turns leading the discourse and taking notes. Gigi reminds us that the opposite of intimidation is encouragement.
Share this:
Share this page via Email Share this page via Stumble Upon Share this page via Digg this Share this page via Facebook Share this page via Twitter Share this page via Google Plus

Dr. Doug’s World Cup Semi-Final Analysis and Maybe a Laugh or Two

Monday, December 12th, 2022

Croatia
England outplayed France if you look at the stats. They possessed the ball 57% of the time and had eight shots on goal to only five for France. The announcers I’m listening to agree.

Harry Kane had a poor effort on his 2nd PK, to say the least. You have to get the ball in a PK on frame in order to score!!!!!!! (I hardly ever use an exclamation point.) As Yogi says, short putts don’t go in, and zero percent of PKs at or outside the “furniture,” as British announcers say, do not find the net or at least the inside where scoring happens. I still love Harry Kane, and I hope you do too.

The semifinal games feature Argentina vs. Croatia on 12/13 and France vs. Morocco on 12/14. This means that the winner and the loser of the first game get an extra day off prior to the final on 12/18 or the third-place game on 12/17.

Analysis

If Morocco can beat Belgium, Spain, and Portugal, they can also beat France, a team that was outplayed by England. If Croatia can beat Brazil, for goodness sake, they can beat ANYBODY! (See note above.)

They will both be underdogs, but you count them out at your own risk. A Croatia-Morocco final would be crazy from a “who saw this coming” point of view.

Who’s the dog? (That’s the underdog for those not into sports betting jargon.) The team that beat Brazil, or the team that beat three top European teams and only gave up one own goal in five World Cup games, including PKs!!!

A Morocco vs Croatia final could be a tough watch. Wake me up when we get to PKs. They are both from group F, and they played each other to a 0-0 (or nil nil) draw during the group round-robin play. Croatia had the ball 65% of the time, but both teams only had two shots on goal.

Who wouldn’t rather watch Argentina and France? There are two other possibilities if there is only one upset, and neither says here is a Must-See game for the casual fan.

It’s going to be life without football for a few days. Then I go cold turkey for two years as I can’t care about the national leagues of other countries. No offense, as I suspect that non-Americans may not care too much about the US league either, although they probably know more players that American fans. I only live for the World Cup and the European Championship, which has better teams overall than the World Cup.

In games when the Premier League teams play, I might watch games if my media would tell me when they’re on. I know, it’s on the Internet somewhere. My bad. I guess that means that I don’t really care about club/city teams mostly owned by people/countries who are seriously wealthy.

Morocco
It’s hard to pick a side if both sides are located in a country where you don’t live. I do cheer for the Elfsborg team located in the city of Borås, Sweden, where my Swedish cousins live. I also pull for NYFC and The Red Bulls in the US Major Soccer League (MLS) as they are essentially New York teams even though The Red Bulls, like the Giants and Jets, play in New Jersey.

With rare exceptions, the MLS features a lot of players you never heard of. The players you may be familiar with are forty-ish-European has-beens squeezing the last paycheck out of what is left of their talent. Get ready for the Messi tour.

If I had to pick teams I wanted to win by country, I would go United States (Where I was born and live), Sweden (My Mother’s home), and Canada and/or England, where I have friends and family. After that, it gets a little arbitrary. In my case, I liked watching Luka Modric during Croatia’s run to the finals in 2018. My daughter also won some money backing Croatia, so that pulls me to them.

This is exciting for Arab and African countries as this is the first country to make it to the semi-finals from either region. Ironically, I find that a lot of people in the US routing for underdog Morocco may also find that they disagree with Arab countries’ views and laws regarding the LGBTQ+ scene.

The Odds and My Picks

I don’t gamble because I live on a fixed-income teacher pension, which means it’s not broke. I do, however, follow the betting scene. The odds for the four teams left to win the Cup are France +110, Argentina +170, Croatia +750, and Morocco +900. The odds for the semifinals are Argentina (-120) vs. Croatia (+400) and France (+189) vs. Morocco (+650). You have to bet $120 to win $100 if you bet on Argentina and $100 to win $400 if Croatia wins. You have to bet $189 to win $100 if France wins and bet $100 to win $650 if Morocco wins. This screams bet the dogs!

As my rationale above explains, these underdogs are only underdogs because they don’t carry a World Cup-winning brand. If you are betting on France and Argentina, the favorites, you don’t have much to win. If you bet the underdogs, you only need one of them to cash to win overall. I would be surprised if at least one underdog doesn’t make the final. Croatia made the final last time, so they have been there. Morocco represents the African continent and the Arab world. Both games they play going forward will be big-time home games for them. They also haven’t given up a goal kicked by another team yet.

Somebody has to win, and good for them. I enjoy watching soccer/football at this level every two years. I just hope that I can get a ticket to a game near me when the World Cup comes to North America in 2026. I hope you can too.

Share this:
Share this page via Email Share this page via Stumble Upon Share this page via Digg this Share this page via Facebook Share this page via Twitter Share this page via Google Plus

Six Ways To Help Students Deal With Academic Burnout by Amanda Winstead

Thursday, November 24th, 2022

Six Ways To Help Students Deal With Academic Burnout by Amanda Winstead

Burn Out
Photo by Monstera: Pexels
Every educator should be all too aware of how real academic burnout can be for students, especially as the holiday break draws near. After months of learning new information and skills, taking tests, and finishing up homework assignments, students can feel burnt out and exhausted, both mentally and physically.

Thus, it’s crucial for educators to truly understand what burnout is and recognize the signs. If students go too long feeling burnout, it can severely affect their educational experience and even start wearing on their mental health.

Let’s take a closer look at what academic burnout is as well as some ways educators can help students deal with it and even prevent it in the first place.

What Is Academic Burnout?

Usually, when you hear the word “burnout,” it refers to occupational burnout. We lead hectic and stressful lives today and, as such, burnout has become a major concern. In fact, the World Health Organization has deemed burnout an official syndrome that can be diagnosed.

However, while burnout typically refers to a syndrome that stems from chronic workplace stress, it’s important to recognize that this same overwhelming stress can occur as a result of chronic classroom or academic stress as well.

When students spend too much time pushing themselves at school and then working on homework when they go home, they can easily become overwhelmed and exhausted. Students need time to de-stress and take care of themselves just as much as working adults do.

Unfortunately, not all educators know how to recognize the signs of academic burnout and what to do about it — but they should. Some of the most noticeable signs of a student dealing with burnout include:

Increasing self-doubt
Feeling defeated more than usual
Detachment and disinterest
Lack of motivation
Poor or negative attitude that is getting worse or not going away
Emotional and physical exhaustion

Burnout 2
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio: Pexels

Six Ways Educators Can Help Students Prevent and Manage Academic Burnout

Academic burnout is not something to take lightly, as it can significantly impact a student’s life and success. Luckily, there are ways educators can help their students mitigate and manage their academic burnout.

1. Make student health a priority

First and foremost, the well-being of your students should be a top priority. It’s difficult to teach your students adequately if they are struggling with their mental health.

Supporting student mental health not only shows them that you care and have their best interests in mind, but it can also teach them how to manage and prioritize their own well-being. You can do this by bringing mindfulness exercises to the classroom, normalizing mental health check-ins with personal awareness, and offering resources to students who might need to talk to someone about their mental health.

Making your students’ mental health, a priority can go a long way toward helping them better manage stress and prevent burnout.

2. Teach healthy coping strategies

For some students, suffering from academic burnout is the result of poor stress-coping habits. Thus, teach them healthier academic coping strategies, such as how to:

Stay present and aware
Recognize their needs and prioritize them
Build self-care habits
Use positive self-talk and be kind to yourself

Essentially, you want them to understand that it’s okay to not always be the perfect student. They are allowed to give themselves a break and even forgive themselves when they mess up or fall behind.

3. Encourage healthy habits

When students are overwhelmed by school, they can start developing unhealthy habits. They might start sleeping poorly, exercising less, and developing unhealthy eating habits. All of these things can make the symptoms of academic burnout worse.

While it is the job of the parent to promote healthy habits, teachers can also encourage healthy habits in the classroom. You can teach them that eating smarter makes them smarter, that getting a good night’s rest can help them focus better in school, and that making time to exercise can boost their mood.

There’s no one right way to encourage healthy habits in the classroom, but doing so can help students better manage their stress.

4. Provide more outlets for students to have fun and de-stress

Learning doesn’t have to just be about sitting at a desk listening to a lecture or reading out of a textbook. There are many other fun ways to help your students learn while also providing them with an outlet to have some more fun and release some of their stress.

Educational video games, for example, can be a great way to boost student engagement while also giving them a much-needed break from more traditional and mentally exhausting teaching methods. You can also use other types of games or more interactive and fun lessons.

If you feel like your students are more stressed and overworked than usual, you can also offer them more breaks during lessons. Even just five minutes here and there can allow them to give their brains a much-needed break. You can even guide them through some meditation or even mini-stretch sessions to help them alleviate stress.

5. Encourage socialization with their peers

When students are burnt out, they might start to isolate themselves and spend less time with their peers. But socialization is important, and it can help them find support in friendship and give them an outlet for their stress.

Of course, you can’t control what your students do with their time outside of the classroom, but you can help by encouraging them to participate in extra-curricular activities or even join a student club.

6. Help them stay organized and set realistic goals

Burnout can also be the result of poor organization and time management, and not all students are great at this, especially when they are younger. So an important aspect of helping students deal with their burnout is teaching them how to be more organized.

This can also include teaching them how to set more realistic and attainable goals. As students get older, they start setting academic goals for themselves, especially if they hope to go to college or land a job.

But this can sometimes lead to them putting too much pressure on themselves by setting unrealistic goals. Helping them learn to better manage their workloads while also teaching them how to set more attainable goals can help them mitigate stress that can lead to burnout.

Wrapping Up

As an educator, you are likely aware that no two students are the same. So not all of the above tips will necessarily work for every student. In the end, the most important thing you can teach them is that it’s okay to ask for help. If they are struggling and feeling burnt out, help them understand that it’s okay to reach out to you, their parents, the guidance counselor, or anyone else for help.

Amanda Winstead

Amanda is a freelance writer out of Portland, focusing on many topics, including educational technology. Along with writing, she enjoys traveling, reading, working out, and going to concerts. If you want to follow her writing journey or even just say hi, you can find her on Twitter.

Share this:
Share this page via Email Share this page via Stumble Upon Share this page via Digg this Share this page via Facebook Share this page via Twitter Share this page via Google Plus

Parents/Educators: Please Don’t Leave Twitter

Monday, November 21st, 2022
Twitter 2

It’s clear to me that Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter has caused many people to leave the platform. While a lot of what happens on Twitter is useless, frivolous, and even harmful, there is a lot of good information being shared by people with similar interests. I’ve been on Twitter since 2009, when I started my blog DrDougGreen.com. I quickly connected with other like-minded educators who were using it to share free resources or advertise education products and services.

It was obvious to me from the start that educators using Twitter were a very small slice of the Twitterverse. If you look at who has the most followers, for example, you will find that they are all politicians, celebrities, athletes, or big organizations like NASA and Youtube. They have millions of followers, and none are considered to be primarily educators.

The top tier on Twitter uses it to promote themselves, their opinions, their causes, and their products. Some also engage in criticizing others. This later behavior often generates stories in the print and online news media. This can result in a common belief that Twitter is a bit of a “cesspool” rather than a place where people can share beneficial ideas and information and engage in meaningful discourse.

I find this unfortunate as, for me, Twitter is a rich source of the kind of resources that I share on my blog. It is also a way that I can spread the word about the important educational ideas that Twitter helps me find. It’s the rare link that I post that isn’t associated with one or more Twitter accounts.

Twitter

As of this writing, I have 6233 followers. While I not in the millions, I am in the top one percentile when it comes to Twitter followers. Unfortunately for me and many others, Since Musk took over, I have sadly lost about 100 followers with a handful leaving every day. Say what you will about him, but he certainly is a lightning rod for media attention and as a result, people are leaving every day. Leaving is facilitated by the fact that when it comes to users, Twitter currently ranks 17th.

Right now, the fate of Twitter is uncertain. Since I find it so valuable, I hope that when the dust settles, Twitter is healthy and still allows people with common interests to share ideas, information, and opinions. This can only happen for education if parents and educators stay the course. I am asking, therefore, that you stick with Twitter and use it for this purpose. In the long run, it will certainly benefit our children and ourselves. Thanks for your consideration. If you have already left Twitter, please reconsider. It’s easy to return. If you never were on Twitter, give it a try. Also, be sure to follow me @DrDougGreen if you don’t already. THANK YOU!

Share this:
Share this page via Email Share this page via Stumble Upon Share this page via Digg this Share this page via Facebook Share this page via Twitter Share this page via Google Plus

How to Raise Kids Who Aren’t Assholes: Science-Based Strategies for Better Parenting from Tots to Teens by Melinda Wenner Moyer

Monday, October 31st, 2022
Kids Who Aren'T Assholes

How to Raise Kids Who Aren’t Assholes: Science-Based Strategies for Better Parenting from Tots to Teens by Melinda Wenner Moyer can help just about anyone be a better parent. Like her, you are not likely to become a perfect parent with perfect kids, but you can profit from the extensive research and expert interviews she conducted. If you have kids still at home, be sure to get a copy as well as copies for any adult children who have kids.

Introduction

  • Over the years, Melinda has engaged in a great deal of research in order to write parenting articles for major publications. She has found that this effort has made her a better parent. The purpose of this book is to share what she has learned with. More than anything, parents want to raise children who are kind. In surveys of what parents want their children to be, kindness comes before intelligence and work ethic. Parents play a key role, but not the only role in child development so it’s vital that their role is as positive as possible. People who are kind, helpful, and generous are happier, more successful, and make more money. (Doug: Being nice is really a selfish thing to do as if you take care of yourself, you can do more for others.)

Part I Traits
1. “It’s All About ME!” How to Raise Kids Who Aren’t (Overly) Selfish

  • Kids can be very self-centered. This is natural as their frontal lobes haven’t fully developed. Start with helping kids understand their emotions and how to recognize the emotions of others. Kids with good emotional recognition generally experience better outcomes in many areas. You can ask about the emotions of characters when you read to kids or just do it in the daily run of life, including your own emotions. When you discipline a child, include emotions. Explain how emotions affect others.
  • Letting kids help around the house can take more time, but it’s important. Make sure that their tasks go beyond cleaning up their room and helping everyone in the house. Look for opportunities for kids to help in the community and try to let them have some choice. Don’t just bark orders. Explain anything that you ask them to do. Be a role model. Point out the good stuff and the bad stuff that you do.

2. “This Is Too Hard.” How to Raise Kids Who Are Ambitious, Resilient, and Motivated

  • In this chapter Melinda draws on the works of Carol Dweck’s Mindset and Angela Duckworth’s Grit that are both summarized here. It’s key that you compliment kids for effort rather than intelligence. If they think they are smart, they are less likely to take on challenges where they run the risk of looking “not smart.” How hard you try impacts how smart you become. Grit is a combination of passion for something, enough self-control so you work at it on a regular basis, the ability to work through and learn from mistakes, and a belief that what you are doing matters.
  • You should expect your kids to pick at least one extracurricular activity each year and stick with it until the year ends. Unfortunately, some such activities are expensive. Any accomplishment tends to motivate and leads to a success spiral. Kids tend to procrastinate as their pre-frontal cortexes aren’t fully developed. Try to make tasks that seem too difficult seem fun or less scary. Help them recognize and eliminate distractions and create a good working environment. Rewards can stifle intrinsic motivation but are ok as a surprise after something is accomplished. Acknowledge their feelings and give choices when possible, even for chores. They are more likely to be motivated if they feel less controlled.

3. “You’re Dumb and Ugly!” How to Raise Kids Who Don’t Bully – and Who Help Those Who Are Bullied

  • Most parents worry about their kids being bullied, but few give thought to the notion that their kids might do some bullying. Research shows that one in three do some bullying and one in six engage in cyberbullying. Bullying is a continuum, and a kid can be a bully one day and be bullied the next. Bullying is something that is repeated and deliberate, and it involves an imbalance of power. It is often done to boost social stature. Among girls, it often involves exclusion or rumor spreading. (Watch the “Mean Girls” movie with your kids.) Kids often bully as a misguided way to deal with their anger.
  • Cyberbullying may have the same causes, but it differs in that it can happen at a distance any time of day, and it usually leaves a digital footprint that can be shared with parents or teachers. Bullying can also have long-term effects, such as depression and low self-esteem. Parents should talk to kids about bullying so they know it when they see it and know that it is not ok. Encourage them to do what they can to help a victim when they see bullying happen. Help them learn how to deal with anger. There is advice here for what to do if you discover that your child has been bullying others or is being bullied themselves. Schools play a big role here, so make sure your school has a plan or a program for dealing with it.
Share this:
Share this page via Email Share this page via Stumble Upon Share this page via Digg this Share this page via Facebook Share this page via Twitter Share this page via Google Plus