+ STEM Curriculum and Students with Learning Challenges

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Linking complex math equations to tangible tasks and objects  students could see, touch and interact with, increased their competence and fluency in different subject areas.

According to an article by Richard G. Collins and Joseph J. Viscomi in IDA’s “Perspectives” newsletter, the Brehm Preparatory School in Carbondale IL   has responded to the pressure for increased STEM education.

Brehm is a grade 6-12 coeducational boarding school for students with complex learning disabilities.

STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.

Brehm has increased its instructional opportunities in forensics, physics, chemistry, anatomy, precalculus, calculus, assistive technologies, and computer programming.

Programming classes were implemented.  Students are now given  the ability to think abstractly and solve complex problems with a computer.  A programming language, SCHEME, was selected for its simplified set of rules which allow students to learn all the syntax in less than 30 minutes.

Much like the game of chess, say Collins and Visconti, this language is quickly learned, but it requires practice and an ongoing implementation of strategy for mastery.

Students successfully used the computer to apply complex concepts in order to solve otherwise impossible problems.  

SCHEME  gives immediate feedback, a distinct advantage when dealing with bugs or short attention spans common to students with possible executive function issues.

The school turned to  the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) ( http://www.usfirst.org). 

The FRC  competition allows engineers to work with students in an innovative and exciting setting, where  they build robots to solve problems.  According to the article,

The competition was a great opportunity for all involved, and, with the help of some mentors, served as the foundation of a successful program that is very exciting and motivating for students.

It gives them the opportunity to demonstrate their skills head to head with teams from around the world in a very competitive environment ruled by gracious professionalism.

Since students with learning challenges often excel in creative thinking and hands-on projects in the arts, they also excel in fun hands-on STEM projects that combine science and technology.

Brehm students learned science skills in order to design and test theories for solving problems related to tasks for their robots.  

In order to use the latest industry standard computer, electronics, robotic parts and programs, students had to understand and use technology.

This kind of difficult application involves melding creativity, understanding, cooperation, stressful timelines and individual experience.    When Brehm students linked complex math equations to tangible tasks, the result was engagement with objects students could see, touch and interact with.

So, while these students were strengthening their STEM education, they were learning leadership and teamwork skills.   They dealt successfully with stress and tight timelines.  And faculty noticed that the program has a positive impact on all areas of school life and decisions.

In order to quantify the experience at Brehm, administrators looked at graduation placements.  This is what they found: prior to the introduction of the robotics program, students weren’t selecting STEM-related majors. 

But since the three-year inclusion of this program, the first graduating class who participated in the project went to CalPoly Tech, DePaul, Carnegie Mellon and Wisconsin Stout in majors that included computer science, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and chemistry.

Brehm School is located at  1245 E. Grand Avenue   Carbondale, IL 62901.   Phone: 618.457.0371    Fax: 618.529.1248   Visit http://www.Brehm.org.  Information: admissionsinfo@brehm.org

The Brehm School also offers their Options program, which  is a comprehensive transitional program for post-high school students with complex learning disabilities.  For that information, visit http://www.Options.Brehm.org.  

sole source for this information is the article by Richard G. Collins and Joseph J. Visconti in the  Summer 2010 issue of “Perspectives,” a quarterly publication of the International Dyslexia Association.  http://www.interdys.org   

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021   or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com

+ November 2010 — Lindamood-Bell Workshops in Cincinnati

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Lindamood Bell Learning Processes is bringing five of its teacher-training workshops to the Cincinnati area November 8-18, 2010.

Teachers, parents and educators will have the opportunity to attend the workshops at the Holiday Inn Concinnati Airport in Erlanger Kentucky.

• Attend the two- day “Seeing Stars” seminar November 8-9.
• “Visualizing and Verbalizing” is a two-day workshop as well: November 10 -11.
• “Talkies”  is a one-day workshop on November 12.
• The LiPS (Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing) workshop is a three-day workshop November 15-17.
• “On Cloud Nine Math” (OCN) is a one-day workshop on November 18.

Call 800-233-1819.  Register for the workshops at  http://www.lindamoodbell.com/registration.Aspx

tutoring in Columbus OH:  Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021  or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com  

+ Tips for Teaching Math Facts

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From TeachHub, these twelve tips for teaching math facts, by Randi Saulter.  For the entire article, visit  http://www.teachhub.com/news/article/cat/14/item/227

• Teach a limited number of facts at a time
• Add new facts only after the previous set has been mastered
• Do cumulative practice 
• Form a verbal chain (recite problem and answer aloud)
• Mastery = automaticity
• Set  realistic, individual fluency goals
• Have a routine for daily practice sessions 
• Have a routine for corrective feedback during practice 
• Keep practice sessions short 
• Have a process for monitoring progress 
• Begin memorizing multiplication facts in Grade 4 (at the latest)
• Celebrate success! 

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021  or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com

+ Math Camp for Pre-College Students at OSU

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The Ross Program at the Ohio State University is an intensive summer experience.  It’s designed to encourage motivated pre-college students to explore mathematics.  Over eight weeks, students are immersed in a world of mathematical discovery.

Founded by Dr. Arnold Ross, the multi-level program began at Notre Dame in 1957.  Spurred by the launch of the Sputnik satellite, and the subsequent surge of interest in science education, the program has run every summer since then.  It was moved to Ohio State in 1964.  At this time, the program is also supported by the Clay Mathematics Institute, OSU, and The Epsilon Project of The American Mathematics Society (AMS). .

Goals

The central goal of the program is to instruct bright young students in the art of mathematical thinking, as well as to inspire them to discover for themselves the value and importance of abstract ideas. First year participants take the basic course in number theory.  For most students, this is the first time they’ve been asked to consider entirely new questions, to develop entirely new methods of thinking, and to justify every answer.

The value: students gain proficiency in computational tasks and build a foundation for critical thinking. Only students who can ask why things work the way they do will be able to lead the way in future scientific innovation.  The Ross program strives to nurture precisely this type of questioning and independence of thought.

Who is eligible?

According to the web site – http://www.math.ohio-state.edu/ross/ — ambitious pre-college students with interests in mathematics and science are invited to apply.  First year students range in age from 14-18 years of age.  Admission decisions are based on several criteria:

• the applicant’s work on some challenging math problems
• essays concerning the applicant’s interests and goals
• teacher recommendations 
• school transcripts

Costs and financial aid

The fees for the program are determined entirely by the cost of eight weeks of room and board.  For the 2010 session, the fee is $2,500.  Some financial aid is available.

Visit the site for more information or to print out a brochure.

tutoring in Columbus OH:  Adrienne Edwards  614-579-6021   or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com

+ Take Ten Minutes and Teach Your Child

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The LDA Early Childhood Committee places an occasional article in its Newsbrief called “Take Time for Ten Together.” 

Here are ten “teaching” tips from the January/February 2010 issue: You’ll be teaching math, science, cognitive skills, time planning and self-esteem! 

• Introduce a child to a ruler or yardstick.  Include them in the task if you’re measuring a room, building a deck, or estimating how much paint will be needed for a project.
• Ask a child for ideas when you plan a renovation.  Ask him or her to make the sketches or draw up a materials list.
• Include a child when you design the layout of a vegetable garden.  Ask what veggies they’d like to plant.
• If you’re planting flower seeds, ask a child to help measure the depth of the hole for the seeds.  Ask their assistance in planning where which flowers will look best.
• When you’re doing routine maintenance on a vehicle, explain to a child what is being done.  Explain the reason for each tool.  When the oil needs changing, take the child with you to your recycling place.  
• When you purchase new household or garage tools, take a child to the home improvement or auto store.  Explain what the tools are used for.  Calculate costs.
• If you can, buy child-sized tools so your child can help with routine yard maintenance. He or she will ”learn by doing,” bond with you, and experience a big sense of accomplishment.
• If you’re making plumbing repairs, show your child where the water shut-off valve is located.  Explain why the water must be shut off before repairs are made.  Explain the purpose of the Teflon tape used in plumbing repairs.
• Changing furnace or air conditioning filters?  Explain why.  Let them help.  They can mark the calendar for the next scheduled change.
• As you change the batteries in your smoke detectors twice a year (schedule it with the changing of the clocks) explain how the detectors work.  Show how to insert the batteries.

These activities are teachable moments, and the benefits for the child (and you) can last a lifetime. 

Join LDA, the Learning Disabilities Association, by visiting http://www.ldaamerica.org.  (By the way, they are accepting proposals for grants until March 15, 2010.  This year five organizations were awarded a total of $35,000.) 

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards  614-579-6021  or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com

+ NY School District Offers All-Girls Tech Program

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The Fairport Central School District in upstate New York has approved an aggressive approach to counteract the gender gap in technology education, according to Ernst Lamothe, Jr in the Democrat Chronicle.

The district is set to begin a two-year pilot program starting next fall, to create four all-girl technology courses (two in ninth grade and two in middle school).  Enrollment will be voluntary, in compliance with Title IX.

Dave Allyn, a special assignment administrator for the district says, “Girls sometimes won’t take technology classes because they don’t want to be the only girl in a class or in a technology club.  Job growth is happening again in engineering and some of the sciences where old stereotypes persist about those male-dominated fields, and we need to make our young women aware that there is an opportunity for them.” 

Although women make up more than half of the work force, they hold only 28 percent of technology positions (US Bureau of labor Statistics).  The number of young women studying computer science has fallen by more than 40 percent in the past two decades.

With computer support specialist, systems administrator and engineering positions expected to grow significantly by 2016, educators and employers worry that young women are failing to gain the necessary skills for those jobs.

Both the University of Rochester and Rochester Institute of Technology have less than 30 percent female enrollment in their undergraduate engineering programs.

More than 450 public schools nationwide offer single-sex academic classes, says the US Department of Education.  Research finds that female students learn differently, including preferring collaborative learning and quieter environments.

They are more concerned with complete understanding, doing quality work and helping others.  Male students tend to want to complete tasks as quickly as possible and move on.

Instead of trying to make girls fit into the existing system, school districts nationwide are changing to become more inviting for girls.  The solutions include instituting after-school technology clubs targeting young women as well as offering single-gender technology classes.

Universities also continue to push hard to attract more female engineers, since women make up less than 18 percent of six engineering fields, including single-digit percentages in civil and mechanical engineering.

Colleges and universities have started national programs such as “Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day,” which is part of February’s Engineering Week.  The push continues in March, during Women’s History Month, when elementary and secondary schools can participate in live Web chats and teleconferences that encourage girls to consider engineering as a major.

The Rochester Institue of Technology began several initiatives six years ago.  They offer a middle school girls’ robotics program every winter, as well as an elementary design program camp.

At the Fairport schools, boys made up 90.3 percent of the enrollment in technology classes last year; this year, the proportion rose to 91.7 percent.   When the high school added a computer game design course to teach students programming skills, only three of the 115 enrollees were girls.

These single-gender classes will have the same curriculum and exams as their mixed-gender counterparts.  There will be two eighth-grade Technology for Girls classes that will last one quarter at two of the schools and a semester- or year-long course at the other two.

Fairport Middle School teachers purchased computer programming, designed by a Carnegie Mellon University professor, intended to appeal to girls.

According to Allyn, “Usually computer games are all about car crashes, armies, gunfights and sports, which boys tend to like, but not always young girls.” 

But this new system encourages people to write stories and put them into animation, which taps into the creativity and technology aspects for the female students.

The district has also added hand-drafting units for graphic arts and two environmental-related units, because women make up almost 50 percent of people in the field of environmental engineering.

Elizabeth Brown, a technology teacher at one of the schools, says schools need to follow that up by offering young girls more classes focused on green and alternative energy issues.  She has her class building solar-powered cars this year.

“If we are serious about this issue,” says Brown, “you have to make inroads with our young women now, and it must start as early as middle school.”

The school district also started a new middle school club called Cyberettes, connecting them with female computer students enrolled at RIT.  They work together on projects such as Web design, encryption, programming and video editing, giving young girls an introduction to technology careers and advice from women talking about their experience in a male-dominated culture.

Margaret Bailey, mechanical engineer professor at RIT and executive director of its Women in Engineering program, says

There are some girls who are going to do well regardless of putting them in single-gender class or not.  But for those who might not, what Fairport is doing makes sense, expecially at a young age, when you see girls losing interest in math and sciences because they are not getting much encouragement about pursuing careers in those areas.

Additional Facts:

According to the US Census Bureau, women make up a small proportion of professionals in key technology fields:

• Physics: 21 percent
• Computer science: 18.6 percent
• Aerospace engineering: 11.5 percent
• Civil Engineering: 9.5 percent
• Mechanical engineering: 7.1 percent

sole source: article by Ernst Lamothe Jr at www.democratandchronicle.com on 11/16/09.

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021   or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com

+ Mathematics! Logic! Philosophy! Comic Book?

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Graphic novel “Logicomix,” is based on the early life of brilliant philosopher and mathematician Bertrand Russell and his impassioned search for truth.  

Authors Apostolos Doxiadis and Christos Papadimitriou are academic mathematicians and writers who wanted to create an “honest-to-God yarn, simply a story.”  But in this case, the heroes are all logicians.

In Publisher’s Weekly, Calvin Reid says

It’s difficult not to be dazzled by Apostolos Doniadis and Christos Papadimitriou’s Logicomix.  It’s a biography of the mathematician/philosopher Bertrand Russell, a fiercely engaging examination of his elusive attempt to isolate the logical foundations of mathematics, and a rousing historical yarn.

And all of Logicomix’s storytelling and intellectual pyrotechnics are delineated in extraordinarily crisp, cleverly designed and beautifully colored artwork by the team of Alecos Papadatos and Annie Di Donna. 

What a Comic book!  Easily one of the most impressive combinations of popular art and serious history that I’ve encountered in prose or comics.

A dramatic story of madness and reason, love and war, this is a story about the conflict between an ideal rationality and the unchanging, flawed fabric of reality.   In his agonized search for absolute truth, Russell crosses paths with legendary thinkers like Gottlob Frege, David Hilbert, and Kurt Godel.  He finds a passionate student in the great Ludwig Wittgenstein.

But truth eludes him.  According to historian Howard  Zinn

This is an extraordinary graphic novel, wildly ambitious in daring to put into words and drawing the life and thought of one of the great philosophers of the last century…  The book is a rare intellectual and artistic achievement, which will, I am sure, lead its readers to explore realms of knowledge they thought were forbidden to them.

“Logicomix” is at the same time a historical novel and an accessible introduction to some of the biggest ideas of mathematics and modern philosophy. 

Barry Mazur is Gerhard Gade University Professor at Harvard.  He has written that

This magnificent book is about ideas, passions, madness, and the fierce struggle between well-defined principle and the larger good.  It follows the great mathematicians — Russell, Whitehead, Frege, Cantor, Hilbert — as they agonized to make the foundations of mathematics exact, consistent, and complete.  And we see the band of artists and researchers — and the all-seeking dog Manga — creating, and participating in, this glorious narrative.

Writer Apostolos Doxiadis studied mathematics at Columbia.  His international bestseller “Uncle Petros and Goldbach’s Conjecture” was the first novel to make fascinating fiction out of mathematics.  He has awards from his work in film and theater, and is also a pioneer in the study of the interaction of mathematics and narrative.

Co-writer Christos Papadimitriou is the C. Lester Hogan Professor of Computer Science at UCLA Berkeley.  He has won numerous international awards for pathbreaking work in computational complexity and algorithmic game theory.  He is also the author of the novel “Turing: A Novel About Computation.” 

The graphic artists are a husband and wife team, Alecos Papadatos and Annie Di Donna.  Papadatos worked for over twenty years in film animation in France and Greece.  In 1997 he became a cartoonist for the major Athens daily To Vima. 

Annie Di Donna studied graphic arts and painting in France and has worked as an animator on many productions, among them Babar and Tintin cartoons.  The couple have been running an animation studio since 1991.

Michael Harris, professor of mathematics at the Universite Paris 7 and member of the Institut Universitaire de France,

The lives of ideas (and those who think them) can be as dramatic and unpredictable as any superhero fantasy.  Logicomix is witty, engaging, stylish, visually stunning, and full of surprising sound effects, a masterpiece in a genre for which there is as yet no name.

“Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth,” by Apostolos Doxiadis and Christos H. Papadimitriou, is published by Bloomsbury USA.  ISBN-10 1-59691-452-1; ISBN-13 9978-1-59691-452-0.

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021   or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com  

+ National Math & Science Initiative (NMSI)

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The first full year of NMSI’s project is complete.

At the 67 high schools with NMSI programs, the number of passing scores for students taking college-level Advanced Placement (AP) math, science and English exams increased by 51 percent.

That’s nine times the average increase among schools without NMSI support.

Results for underrepresented populations were even better. 

 With NMSI support, African American and Hispanic students passed 71 percent more AP exams.   Girls passed 55 percent more.

Such success today promises further achievements in the future.  Research shows students who pass AP exams are three times more likely to earn a college degree.

There is no secret behind NMSI’s success — just proven methods.  Better training and performance incentives result in better teachers.  Individualized instruction and scholarship incentives result in college-ready American high school students who can compete internationally.

The challenge at this moment is to replicate this project on a national scale and so help rebuild America’s performance in math and education.  Three decades ago, the US ranked third among developed nations for college students earning science and engineering degrees. 

Today, we rank 17th in science and engineering and 26th in math.

This should concern all Americans, because expertise in science, math, engineering and technology is what drives our high-tech global economy.

American companies understand the critical need to close the achievement gap.  The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, and ExxonMobil have committed millions to help NMSI succeed.

NMSI is currently funded for expansion to 350 schools in six states over five years.  But more growth is necessary.  More public and private funds are needed so these proven strategies can be delivered to high schools across the country.  Millions of students can be equipped with the math and science skills they need to succeed in college.

Visit www.nationalmathandscience.org to learn more.

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021   or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com

+ Staff Development for Educators Online

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SDE Online Courses are available for educators who want to advance instructional skills.  Visit http://www.sde.com/OnlineCourses

Each six-week, instructor-led course is convenient, affordable, fun and fast, and fits perfectly with your lifestyle.  They promise to deliver a rich learning experience, whenever you want, wherever you are — for just $129.

Participate in a group: learn together, share the fun and enjoy the savings — up to 25 %.  Ask about the flexible group discount plan.

And you can net 24 instructional hours when you complete any course successfully.  Also take advantage of the opportunity to earn graduate-level credits through Madonna University and Antioch College.  For more information, email credit@sde.com .

In the Spotlight

• Singapore Math: Number Sense & Computational Strategies — Learn over two dozen strategies from the successful, more intuitive Singapore Math program.
• Singapore Math Strategies:  Model Drawing for Grades 1-6 — Jumpstart your math instruction with this highly visual approach to teaching math; focuses on strngthening problem-solving skills.
• Guided Reading Strategies for the Differentiated Classroom — Combine the principles of differentiated instruction and guided reading to reach struggling readers.
• Ready, Set Read! — Understand how children learn to read and help improve their confidence.
• Solving Classroom Discipline Problems — Create a more peaceful, respectful and productive classroom.
• Differentiated Instruction in the Classroom — Examine DI integration across different subjects, grade levels and learning profiles.

Visit the site for even more opportunities.  You can also subscribe for email updates. 

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards   614-579-6021   or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com

+ Free Parent Seminars at Marburn Academy

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Parents in central Ohio are fortunate because Marburn Academy in Columbus has expanded their popular Free Community Parent Seminar Series for 2009-2010.

For over eight years, Marburn Academy has been offering parents of children with learning differences access to state-of-the-art identification and remediation information that isn’t available anywhere else in Central Ohio.

Parents who have attended these seminars have learned about the many unique and innovative programs Marburn has introduced to our area. 

They have also gained valuable insight into appropriate instructional approaches that work best for teaching reading, writing, spelling, math, and organizational skills to bright children with learning differences such as dyslexia and ADHD.

Seminar Dates and Topics

• September 8, 2009 — “When Children Struggle With Reading: Is It Dyslexia?”
• October 6, 2009 — “Solving Reading Problems”"
• October 20, 2009 — “Understanding the Problems of ADHD Children” (part 1 of a series)
• November 17, 2009 — “Improving Self-Management Skills for ADHD Students” (part 2 of the series)
• January 12, 2010 — “How to Get High School to Work for ADHD Students (And How to Get ADHD Students to Work in High School)”
• February 9, 2010 — “Early Identification and Early Intervention: Why Wait for Failure?”
• March 2, 2010 — “Correcting Persistent Writing and Spelling Problems:  Sources of/Solutions to the Problem”
• April 6, 2010 — “ADHD Students and the Role of Medication”
• May 4, 2010 — “Solving Math Learning Problems”
• June 15, 2010 — “Understanding the Problems of ADHD Children” (part 1 of a series)
• June 21 — “Improving Self-Management Skills for ADHD Students (part 2 of the series)

Registration is required.  Contact Barbara Davidson at 614-433-0822, ext. 107; or email bdavidson@marburnacademy.org.  The Web site is http://www.marburnacademy.org.

All seminars are held at the school – 1860 Walden Drive, Columbus OH 43229.   They are held on Tuesday evenings from 7:00 -9:00 pm. 

All are free to parents of children who learn differently.  Cost to professionals who attend: $40.00.

tutoring in Columbus OH:   Adrienne Edwards  614-579-6021  or email  aedwardstutor@columbus.rr.com