iPads, MakerEd and More in Education

A D minus…

I made sure that I saw that “minus” after the D. Not saying I wouldn’t have written this article without it, but the inclusion of that seemed petty, filled with an almost cartoonish malice a la some dark authoritarian figure in Pink Floyd’s nightmarish state of education.

The real gatekeeper in math education is not algebra. The real gatekeeper of math education is fractions. It’s where alienation begins…

So, like with Newton’s Third Law of Motion — for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction — this article is my reaction."

Math is a subject that brings out anxiety in kids and adults. Talking through math's usefulness and being clear about why a math concept matters could help students enjoy the subject.

Danish toymaker LEGO has revealed a new set aimed at helping adults improve their mental wellbeing. Titled "Forma," the set uses LEGO pieces to create the skeleton of a fish, which is then finished with customizable skins. The idea behind the project comes from the view that combining organic forms and mechanical work could help reduce stress and anxiety.

Several years ago, former fourth-grade teacher Tracy Johnston Zager took an informal survey of two groups of people to find out how they feel about math: mathematicians and teachers who teach math. She discovered that while mathematicians used words like “beauty” and “wonder” to describe math, teachers recalled “dread” and “fear.” These words aligned with what Zager had observed in her job mentoring student teachers who expressed similar reservations about math. Teachers’ sentiment toward math is noteworthy because research has shown that adults can transfer anxiety to kids.

As teachers try to improve how they teach math by applying numeracy, inquiry-based learning, productive failure and complex instruction, the idea of how to become better math teachers is gaining a wider audience. But Zager writes in her book, “We moved right into a new way to teach math, without addressing teachers’ personal histories with and understanding of mathematics.”

Mathematics is a fundamentally logical and beautiful subject, but one that universally invokes a sense of anxiety and fear in students and adults. However, mathematics is in everything around us and it is more than just a subject, it is an essential life skill.

I met Brianna Sedillo when she pitched my radio station a personal perspective on anxiety, a topic that comes up over and over as teachers and parents try to support young people.

"Everything kind of started with the anxiety and depression after the passing of my grandfather," Brianna said. "He was kinda my safe space. And losing that was really big."

Brianna missed her grandfather's supportive presence acutely during her middle school years, which were difficult. Middle school can be a difficult time for anyone, but for Brianna it was particularly hard socially because her family moved several times. She had trouble making new friends and felt each change of school acutely. Despite all that, she was a good student; she made the honor roll all three years in middle school.

But everything got worse when she started at El Cerrito High School, just outside San Francisco. Brianna's feelings of isolation intensified, and her depression and anxiety kicked into high gear. She knew that she should be doing her homework, participating in class, and trying to be more social, but she couldn’t bring herself to do any of it. By sophomore year, Brianna was barely passing.

Danish toymaker LEGO has revealed a new set aimed at helping adults improve their mental wellbeing. Titled "Forma," the set uses LEGO pieces to create the skeleton of a fish, which is then finished with customizable skins. The idea behind the project comes from the view that combining organic forms and mechanical work could help reduce stress and anxiety.

“How was skiing?” I asked my 14-year old daughter as she hauled her boot bag into the car. “Well, the ratio of snow to ground was definitely low,” she replied, adding that she had tried to figure the ratio of snow-to-ground during practice but had received only mystified looks. “Stop the math!” demanded a coach. “You are confusing us!”

Why do smart people enjoy saying that they are bad at math? Few people would consider proudly announcing that they are bad at writing or reading. Our country’s communal math hatred may seem rather innocuous, but a more critical factor is at stake: we are passing on from generation to generation the phobia for mathematics and with that are priming our children for mathematical anxiety. As a result, too many of us have lost the ability to examine a real-world problem, translate it into numbers, solve the problem and interpret the solution.

Anxiety is one of the biggest day-to-day challenges that my Autistic daughter faces. It’s one of those dark sides of Autism that many Autistic people struggle with. From coping with change to sensory needs to difficulty understanding emotions and black and white thinking, anxiety likes to creep in and roar…loudly. This list of 15 Apps for Kids with Anxiety has done wonders for helping us navigate the negative thinking, difficult social situations, and anxiety.