It is a gray kind of marine-layer day here in California. The kind of day that makes me want to hunker down in my jammies, grab my ubiquitous cup of coffee and read a book. Except now that I am an iPad owner, it makes me want to cuddle that sleek, little rectangle and find something new and different to do.
So reluctantly, I put my NY Times crossword puzzle aside and I continued my quest for great Education related apps.
I found one.
I have been thinking a lot about snowflakes lately, which is strange because I live in California and it is spring. However, my kindergartner is completely fascinated by snowflakes, mostly because each one is unique, like no other in the universe. And not to sound trite, but so are students. Unique. Like no other in the universe. Recently I spoke at a career panel and was asked by a sixth grade girl, “Why do you like teaching?” I stopped and thought about why I liked being a teacher. What did teaching mean to me? As I looked out over the sea of young women sitting there, I knew my answer. I like the puzzle of teaching to the unique. I thrive on figuring out how to make EVERY child learn what is just right for them. I gauge my success as a teacher upon how effectively I succeed at this. I believe that it is this constant need to advocate for every learner that makes this profession so very interesting. Let’s face it–it requires flexibility, creativity and plain old mental Olympics to achieve this in the classroom.
After the launch of the infamous and much heralded iPad last week, I set to my humble blog in order to comment on some reasons I felt that the current functionality of the iPad was not compelling enough for widespread educational use at this moment. I discovered quickly that there are two highly outspoken groups…those that firmly believe that the iPad is a waste of time and those that believe that it is the answer to a lone educator’s prayers (if only it could do parent-teacher conferences). Thank you to all that chose to enter the discussion and weigh in on this exciting topic. I was delighted to find such passionate educators on both sides of the iPad divide…if only we could get this excited about differentiated instruction and communicating with parents, perhaps we wouldn’t need large, unwieldy government standardized testing programs (you know who you are, Nickleby!)
So unless you live under a rock, you will know that Apple launched its much trumpeted new tablet product, the iPad. Almost immediately Twitter, Facebook and the blogsphere lit up with discussions about how this will change the face of education and publishing. So as not to appear behind the curve, I will add my $.02 about the product, but more importantly discuss how I believe it will (or will not) impact the classroom. I will resume our “Ready to Read” series on a day not so fraught with technological breakthroughs.
I am always fascinated when researchers discover something new about the way humans learn. I was especially interested in an article published in the New York Times yesterday, outlining new insights into math development in preschoolers. The research shows that humans are born with a simple “number instinct”–that is even at a young age, children can distinguish between “more and less” concepts easily. Infants can even distinguish between one and two, even to three in some cases. What research is showing is that with experiences in linking physical quantities with higher abstract symbolic representation “7″ and the word (seven), the brain of preschooler can master these concepts. This numeric “trinity” is critical for mathematics success in kindergarten. Furthermore, students must cement these concepts so that they become automatic in order to find rapid success with addition and subtraction. Imagine the frustration of a 5-6 year old in trying to figure out a simple addition/subtraction problem without this type of rapid connection. When you think about it, is actually not that surprising that preschoolers can deal with larger numbers. After all, Sesame Street has spent thirty years building sound/letter relationship understanding in preschoolers. It is not a leap to see how a sound and abstract letter representation is close to a number/quantity relationship outlined above.
