It's the end of a long work week. You would think driving around in a golf cart collecting data would not be so tiring, but I guess when you are used to being inside a building teaching all day, the outside air really gets to you.
Reflecting on this week. I have realized a something, you really do not think about all the math that takes place on relatively simple tasks. That is probably why I have heard countless times, "Oh, you teach math, I was never very good at that." I just do not think people realize that they are really doing a lot of math without even thinking about it especially when it is a day to day "normal" task for them. As I think about teaching next year, I really want to have my students focus in on when and where they actually use math without even thinking, because as they go through high school math, that is what should happen. High school math should be done just naturally, without even thinking. Now, to convince a student....
Some of the math in our externship I used lately would be taking a reading with the survey equipment. We have to try and get a reading in the thousandths place in relationship to a horizontal axis AND a vertical axis. If you do not know the difference between horizontal and vertical, how are you going to adjust the survey pole correctly? Also, as we take all the other readings, we use a digital level for the slope and an engineering tape measure which gives measurements in a decimal form. We found out all the computer programs require measurements in decimal form verses feet and inches. (4.25 ft instead of 4 ft 3 inches). If you do not have an engineering tape, you get to do all the conversions on your own. It is all the simple stuff you do not think about.
Another realization that I have come to lately is the need for students to just jump into a task and take control of it. Ask good probing questions, but take control of the situation. If we waited to be told what to do, step by step, we would not get anything accomplished in our day to day tasks for the DNR or City of Carroll. You have to try something. If it is wrong, you may have to go back and correct your mistakes but keep trying.
The last thing I have seen in the last 3 weeks is 21st century skills are crutial. No matter what the task is, you are constantly made very aware of the skills: employabiltiy, technology literacy, health literacy, financial literacy, and civic literacy. I do not think a day goes by where you would not use all of these skills some how and in some way.
I enjoyed this post immensely!
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