An accident happened to me while teaching Algebra 2 this year. A very good accident. I was teaching solving equations, and I always tell my learners that solving equations is about looking for 1’s and 0’s. I stress this fact, and point out the 0’s and the 1 every time we solve something.

And of course, before we can do equations, inequalities, or absolute value equations, we do expressions. And EVERY single person in the class can rattle off “Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally For Looking Too Rough” (did you forget the “from left to right too?).

I taught the lesson, I had SADMEP written on the board, and as I looked at it, I realized that if I wrote the 0 and the 1 down in the right places, it would help. Then I taught Inverse and Identity, and I realized that I had the Inverse and Identity right there!

But then I had an IEP learner in my room later, and he asked me to explain it again. He was confused on when to use SADMEP and when to use PEMDAS. He has been told since elementary school that PEMDAS was how to do problems, and in high school it was all different. He really struggled in Alg 1(I had him then also), and his struggles have not abated. So, I wrote down something else on his paper. It looked like this:

Link: http://www.box.net/shared/2msix7air5

And the learner looked at this and said “AHA!  I understand now! We are doing different things.”

The whole issue of Expressions and Equations became clear to him, and I realized I had just written down something that made sense. It have him a HOOK to attach his learning.  PEMDAS was a hook as well, but it no longer works for solving, and putting them side by side made sense to him.

When the learner looks at it, she can see that if you have addition, you need a subtraction. If you have division, you need a multiplication. The Identity is written right there, and the inverse is the opposite! They groupings GIVE the learner a HOOK to LADDER what they know to solving equations.

My learners tell me it makes sense to them. I realize it is a ladder that allows them to practice what they know in a new situation and it gives them the same structure that PEMDAS did for expressions. It does not give them answers, it gives them KNOWLEDGE about how to solve equations.

I like it.

Okay, these are two totally different thoughts on tech and presenting. One is from Laura Bergells from her blog “Maniactive” or “More than Powerpoint” entitled “How do you earn attention when presenting.” 

Laura tells a tale of a presentation she went to where the presenter was rude, arrogant and all together a jerk about tech. The presenter told the audience to pay attention only to him and turn off all electronics.  hmm, my that sounds familiar to these teacher ears.

In the end, Laura asks, “How do you EARN attention when presenting to a modern, tech-savvy audience?“  Right. How do we, as teachers EARN our learners attention. I “present” 3 times a day, for an hour and a half, to three different groups. How do I EARN their attention? Are they required to give me their attention?  I think this is the main question of the modern teacher.

Which brings me to the second idea from Dangerously Irrelevant. How many teachers have I heard say both of the phrase, “I am not good at math,” and “I am not very good at computers.”

I can not count that high. I try to be polite, and helpful when presented with these individuals, but I really have to struggle. These teachers think their audience is just going to give them their attention, and they have to do nothing to earn it. What really gets me is the wave of the hand that says, “it doesn’t matter”. Really?  It doesn’t matter that you are defective?

Don’t you think your learners have figured out you are defective? Does that impact the attention they give you? Personally, I have to say yes. I think I must EARN my learners attention. Every day. 3 times a day. For an hour and half each time.

No wonder I am tired at the end of the day. No wonder I look forward to going to school the next day so much!