A link from your friendly neighborhood (charter school) technology specialist!

Thanks to Ms. Booth for this link to Generation YES Blog: Thoughts About Empowering Students with Technology.  The blog author talks about her encounter with Constance Kamii, a math educator who studied under Piaget and a strong proponent for constructivism.  There are great tips and strategies in this article on working with your kids at home as well as a good explanation of (parts of) the theory behind constructivism.  An excerpt…

Dr. Kamii makes me question everything I think I know about math and how children learn. What I do know is that the way that most children are taught math here in the US is successful for far too few people. But people seem to feel that it’s the only way. Here in the US, it’s perfectly acceptable to say, “I’m not good at math” and acknowledge that fractions mystify most college freshmen. Yet still we cling to our beliefs that somehow, if we just keep reciting times tables, handing out more worksheets, and doing “math minutes”, eventually, the kids will get it.

It seems obvious to me that we have to question assumptions about teaching and learning math — especially in the face of overwhelming evidence that something is very very wrong.

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