Final week July 19-23, 2010

This is my final week of the Summer of 2010 Externships. I did not do daily entries this week because I have been trying to come up with someway to summarize the past weeks. We are done with our work for the City of Carroll and are completing our work for the DNR. This week we have taken some time to update our Excel because of some minor changes from visiting parks last Friday and also took the cash receipt report to the final 2 pilot parks. All parks seemed positive about what we brought to them, and we sincerely hope that what we have done will make an easy transition for them in the future. We have also taken some time to reflect on what the past weeks have brought out for our teaching.

While our externship did not have a lot of "hard core" math involved, it did have some. The DNR cash receipt has many calculations involved with it. It is definitely a project that I could set up for my Algebra I students at the beginning of the year. The question I have to ask myself and keep asking myself is how much direction do I really give to the students. There is a fine line you have cross -- too much information and too little information. When I teach mainly Freshman in Algebra I they are already sometimes having a difficult transition from middle school to high school. If this is a project for the beginning of the year for them... how far can I push?

The second part of our externship did not really have any math involved. We were collecting data for the city. BUT, we do have the entire data set, and I wonder if I can't use part of the data set and ask students to look for correlations or trends. I could also ask students to do some research about ADA compliance's and see what it really takes, mathematically, to design something as simple as a city sidewalk from ramp to ramp. This may also be a time to bring in some real-life learning and ask the students become disabled for a day. Is the slope really important now? I remember talking with the City Engineer and that is exactly what they did in one of their trainings. They were given basically an obstacle course with different barriers from the street/sidewalk side as well as handicaps. Students sometimes really need to see things to believe them.

The major thing that I really want to take back to the students is communication skills. Year after year, we as teachers tell students they need to explain themselves. I know I stress this year after year, but I have never had the backing this externship gave me to say -- well this past summer.... Now I have it. They cannot argue with me. They, as well as me in many respects, need to step it up. As I keep looking at the 21st Century Skills need for our students, employability, technology, health, financial, and civic literacy, it becomes a huge part of teaching. This is not just a one person job. It is a job that all teachers need to take responsibility for in our classrooms everyday.

This externship has been a very positive experience overall, and I hope to get the opportunity to do it again in the future. The more real-life connections we can personally make to the math will have a great impact on the way we teach our students!