Learning & Schools
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Friday, 17 October 2008 11:05 |
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There is a nice article in the WSJ about how one high school in Boston is using fantasy football to teach math to students. The reaction to the fantasy math lessons has been very enthusiastic and positive according to the student quoted in the article. From the article. Mr. Summers assigned point values to touchdowns, rushing yards,
receiving yards, and passing yards, and designated Monday as the day
the class would compute their scores (he allotted time early on Tuesday
for teams who had Monday-night games). While the idea of using fantasy
to teach math has been tried before, Mr. Summers isn't just using the
game as a teaching tool; he is using it as a testing tool, as well. Teams in the Bay Cove leagues don't face each other in head-to-head
matchups, but, rather, amass points as the season goes on. Mr. Summers
views the Monday scoring as not just an exercise in long division for
passing yards, but also a way to measure his students' success in
learning the math. For every one of the scoring totals that turns out
to be incorrect, the student is docked five points, resulting in a
lower score. "It actually balances out the playing field," he explains. "If your
team is mediocre, but you're good at math, you may end up doing better
than the great teams who don't do math really well."
Make sure you go over your teams fantasy results with your kids each week and show them how knowledge of math is used throughout life -- especially in fantasy sports.
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Monday, 15 September 2008 15:34 |
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Our friends over at BestStuff.com have a great review of some of the top technologies that are making their way into today's classroom. From tablet PCs to interactive whiteboards (the end of chalk dust on teacher's sweater), the article provides an overview of the leading edge of education and also what you should be asking your teachers and administrators about. Here is a snippet about on-demand video from the article. "Interactive response systems, like SmartTech's Senteo or Promethean's Activexpression,
add interaction and excitement to the classroom as well as improve
teachers' abilities to gauge learning. Each student is given an
RF-enabled remote that lets them log responses to teacher-generated
questions. In a flash, the teacher and the class can know how each
student "votes" for immediate feedback on how learning is going.
Beyond just multiple choice
or true/false questions, the system can also record attendance and
permit numeric answers. Also, the information can be anonymous to the
public, but teachers can learn which students are struggling with
specific concepts and tailor individual instruction to their needs.
Frequent questioning engages the students and lets all students answer -- rather than just one who is chosen by the teacher."
There is a lot of new stuff going on with technology and education and we'll keep our eyes and ears open. Send us anything you find at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
.
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Thursday, 11 September 2008 09:48 |
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The USA Today wonders whether we should pay our kids for performance when it comes to school? Athletes, CEOs, and many others are paid according to how well they do? The paper asked 74 CEOs about this issue. From the article, "Incentives are the tools we use to generate self-motivation," says Graham Barnes, CEO of Concerro, a San Diego company that helps manage shift work for nurses. He pays his children, ages 15, 11 and 8, to complete homework and rewards them with trips and computers for report cards with straight A's.
Are CEOs onto something? Is paying kids for good grades a secret of success?
What do you think? Do you pay your kids for their grades and other achievements? Do you pay for HRs in little league games or goals in soccer? |
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Tuesday, 09 September 2008 07:47 |
Mathcounts.org,
a non-profit dedicated to improving math skills of middle school
students, named fantasy sports as the 6th most important math event of the
last 25 years. According to MathCounts.org,
“Twenty-five
years ago most people wouldn’t have believed math and sports would go
hand-in-hand, but that’s precisely what fantasy sports has
accomplished. In fantasy sports, players “pick” athletes or teams and
score points based upon their performances in real life. It’s not just
about how many homeruns A-Rod gets for the Yankees, it’s about how many
runs he scored, his OPS (online percentage plus slugging), and other
involved statistics. Fantasy statistics like K/BB and WhiP, and results
that factor in infinity, demonstrate the significant role math plays in
these games now pulling in over 100 million teams per year.”
Do
you highlight the math and thinking elements of fantasy while you play
with your kids? This is an easy way to flex those young brains and help
them see the importance of math in the ‘real world.' Lookout for our fantasy math worksheets later this week.
Also, its not too late to sign up for this season's leagues. Join now.
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Wednesday, 13 August 2008 11:52 |
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 With high gas prices and an economy that's not doing so hot, it's no
question that shopping for back-to-school can break your family's budget. To make it easier on our wallets and pocketbooks, Family Education has given us ten tips on how to save money when shopping for your child's back-to-school supplies. Outlined below are a sample of these tips.
Shop OnlineSave money on school supplies and
back-to-school clothes by shopping online. Office supply companies may
offer better prices online than in their stores. Be sure to look for
inexpensive delivery options, to keep the overall price down. This way,
you save time, gas, and money. Stock Up for Next YearEvery school season
follows the same routine: School supplies are bought, kids go back to
school, and then the stores put everything on sale. Retail stores tend
to discount school supplies even more after the "buying season" is
over. By thinking ahead and taking advantage of markdowns this year,
you're sure to save money for next year. Recycle Last Year's SuppliesGive the Earth and your pocketbook a rest this school year by recycling old folders, binders, notebooks,
and other supplies. Tear out and recycle used pages from old notebooks,
and use the remaining fresh pages this year. Make sure you keep supplies like calculators,
rulers, protractors, and sharpeners, because they can be used for
several years. Shop at Bargain and Dollar StoresYour local dollar or discount store is a great place to save money on back-to-school supplies.
Name-brand versions of supplies like pencils, rulers, highlighters,
scissors, erasers, folders, and notebooks may be discounted to around
$1 at dollar stores. You may not find everything you need, but it's
worth a shot to see what they have in stock. |
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