Solar Eclipse 2017 – Resources and Links to View (and Use in Math/Science class….)

I think by now most American’s are aware that there is a full solar eclipse coming on August 21. I have friends traveling to different parts of the country (Wyoming, South Carolina) just so they can see the complete eclipse instead of just a partial. It’s big deal. There has been a lot of talk about how to view the eclipse safely – yes people, you can damage your eyes and/or go blind if you look at the eclipse without some type of protective eye wear unless it is in complete totality (i.e. the sun is completely covered by the moon). If there is even a sliver of sun showing, eye damage is possible, so why risk it? Apparently there is a shortage of eclipse glasses – and regular sun glasses don’t cut it. Later in this post I will provide a way to make a device to see the eclipse without looking directly at it for those of you who did not jump on the eclipse glass ordering craze!

This is a rare occurrence and there are many sites and resources out there to help collect data, track the eclipse, watch it live streamed. I’ve compiled a list of sites and resources that provide lots of options that you can use personally or use with students. Lot of math and science questions and connections that can be made!

1. Space.Com – lots of links here to where to see the eclipse, how to track it, how to livestream, safety, etc.
2. State-by-State Map – also Space.Com but the slide show focuses on time and where to see the eclipse by state
3. NASA.gov Also shows where, when and how, with some great visuals and suggestions for safety
4. Eclipse2017.org A great resource – click on the different links to prepare, find maps, discussions on what an eclipse is, etc.
5. Science Space Institute – they have an app that will allow you to explore real-time images of the solar eclipse
6. Astronomy Magazine – 25 facts about the solar eclipse – (good resource to use with students!)
7. TimeandDate.com – very cool map that if you click on it (path of eclipse) it will show date, time, location
8. USA Today – lots of resources here, with an important one – the FAKE eclipse glasses that have gone on the market – beware!
9. The Washington Post – some fun facts about the sun, moon, eclipse – great for students
10. Sky & Telescope – lots of links to where, when, education resources all connected to the eclipse
11. Eclipsophile – interesting facts about each state in the path of totality – great math/science stuff here!

As you can see, there is a plethora of information on the solar eclipse out there to explore, much of which for you teachers out there, can become some really interesting math and science exploration and discussion.

Let’s end with some links to making your own SAFE eclipse viewer, because again, you do NOT want to look directly at the eclipse, especially partial, with the naked eye. Indirect viewing (or watch it livestream via some of the links above). Here are a few different links that show different ways to create your own eclipse viewers, and I have included a video at the end as well.

1. NASA – using things from around your house (well, only if you have binoculars)
2. National Geographic – uses stiff pieces of white cardboard. This is designed for use with students.
3. TimeandDate.com – pinhole box (so need a box, duct tape, scissors, white paper…)
4. Wikihow.com – this involves carboard and a camera (those of you wanting to take pictures)
5. USA Today – this involves a cereal box, aluminum foil, scissors, white paper – simplified pinhole box
6. Exploratorium – this has several methods, and even has the same scientist from the NASA as one option
7. Youtube – lots of videos on youtube on how to make an eclipse viewer.  I liked this one because it was simple and efficient.

Below is a video on making your own eclipse viewer. I chose this one because it was simple and uses items easily found around the house:

The Access Formula – (Equity, Equality, and Access to Quality Education – Part 2)

In last weeks’ part 1 of this series on equity, equality, and access to quality education, I defined access to quality education as “the ways in which educational institutions and policies ensure—or at least strive to ensure—that students have equal and equitable opportunities to take full advantage of their education. Increasing access generally requires schools to provide additional services or remove any actual or potential barriers that might prevent some students from equitable participation in certain courses or academic programs.” Access then encompasses many aspects of education, from funding, to resources, to programs and services that help ensure that all students are getting an equitable education (what they need to support learning).

Obviously, all school districts and schools strive to provide access to needed services and supports for their students. There are federal laws in place designed to ensure that all students are getting access to equitable education and getting supports they need. The Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) is a law that all public schools must adhere to, which ensures that students with disabilities (including learning disabilities) have access to the least restrictive educational setting, have rights to ensure they get the services they need to support their learning, and parents can have a say in the educational decisions made regarding their students. An example of this from my own teaching is having an interpreter in my math classes that signed for the deaf students in my classes, or a student with an IEP (individual education plan) who needed copies of my notes because they had a learning disability that interfered with their ability to take their own notes. There is also Title I Laws and Funding, specifically designed to address low-income and disadvantaged students and ensure that schools that serve these students are getting the funds they need to support achievement, through things like extra academic supports for reading and writing, pre-school and after-school programs, with the goal to improve achievement on state standardized testing. I won’t go into all the details (link provided gives more information), but the idea here is to provide additional academic supports to low-income& disadvantaged students who are struggling academically. There are no federal laws that pertain to gifted students needs, though there are individual states and local schools that provide resources and supports for gifted education, but it varies by state.

As you might surmise, there is definitely an attempt to provide access to equitable education. But what’s the reality?

From my own experiences, access is NOT equitable. I would wager in most school districts, there is a huge disparity between what resources are available and the quality of education received at various schools within the same district and between districts within the same state. I have worked in many urban school districts where one middle school has low-achieving students at computers every day in math class, working on computer programs designed to support their mathematical skill development, and the other middle school down the street barely has enough rulers for the 42 students in the class, with a teacher who just has one computer and projector and a room full of ELL students speaking 5 different languages. Same school district. Not equitable access to resources. Not equitable learning environments or supports.

This is NOT an isolated situation, as I am sure many of you have experienced similar situations personally, whether as an educator or as a parent. Why is there such disparity when there are laws designed to ensure access to equitable resources and education opportunities?

The obvious answer is funding, which is a huge factor in access discrepancies. While everyone thinks funding for schools comes from federal money, federal funding makes up only 8% of public schools funding, so those TitleI funds and IDEA funds only accounting for a very small portion of education funding overall.  92% of funding for public schools comes from the states themselves, from taxes, lottery receipts and other sources, and a large portion from local property taxes. This means two school districts next to each other, one with a lower-economic base and less property tax, and one with a higher-economic base and more property tax, are going to have vastly different educational funding and resources. High-poverty schools spend less per student, and often have a more difficult time keeping quality teachers because of the disparity in available resources and services. It’s a vicious cycle. Many of the problems come from the way states/school districts apportion school funding, using different funding formulas that from the outset are ‘unfair and unequal’:

In a separate report, “Is School Funding Fair? A National Report Card,” the Education Law Center answered its own question with a resounding “No.”  Among the findings:

• Fourteen states, including Texas, Pennsylvania and Illinois, have “regressive” school funding, defined as providing less money to schools with higher concentrations of students from low-income families.
• In 19 states—including California, Florida, Colorado and Washington—the funding systems are defined as “flat,” meaning they “fail to provide any appreciable increase in funding to address the needs of students in high poverty districts.”
• Only four states have school-funding systems that earned “fair” ratings: Minnesota, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Delaware. But “these states have a sufficient overall level of funding and provide significantly higher amounts of funding to high poverty school districts,” according to the report. (from https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/06/how-funding-inequalities-push-poor-students-further-behind/395348/)

If we go back to what equitable education means – students should be getting the resources, supports and instruction that supports their individual needs. With the type of funding described above, this is clearly not what is happening (nice graphic here by state showing the difference by state in funding for poor school districts vs. wealthy school districts). Poverty and all that it entails, seems to be a huge factor in the access to equitable quality education. It impacts parental support (hard to be there to help with homework or pay for tutors if you are working two jobs to make ends meet), access to educators and schools support personnel such as school counselors and nurses, access to technology, education supplies (paper, manipulatives, textbooks, calculators, etc.), school safety, and all the myriad of other components that make up quality education.

When thinking about education and how to provide access to the resources every student needs, we need to restructure how states and school districts distribute school funding and resources. Districts need to do a true evaluation of what each school in their district has in terms of education resources (materials, technology, personnel), and most importantly, what they need to support those students in those specific schools. If the two schools down the street from each other in the same school district have math classes in one school of 20, with students at computers, and the other school with math classes of 42 and no computers and not even enough seats or rulers for students, there is clearly a problem. The first step is to really do an inventory of what schools have, what class rooms and sizes look like, what personnel resources are and really identify the glaring discrepancies. You can’t fix something if you don’t even know where it’s broken – once we see the vast difference in access within school districts, then we can take that next step of thinking about ways to reapportion some of those resources in a more equitable way.

 

 

Equity, Equality, and Access to Quality Education – Part 1

Back-to-school is already upon some, and for many will be starting up in the next few weeks. With that in mind, and especially with the very public conversation around school choice and ESSA and accountability for schools, I’ve decided to do a 3-part series on equity, equality, access and quality education. These are ‘buzz’ words that are thrown about in news stories and education settings, but I think often times these words or terms are used incorrectly, or interchangeably, with many people not really understanding what is really being said or what the meaning behind these terms actually might be. With that said, this first part in my series is going to focus on defining these three terms so that we are all on the same page and have a common understanding in which to move forward.

Quality Education

This term is loaded. Everyone wants a quality education for their child and schools and states strive to provide quality education for all their students. But what does this mean? What does this look like? I am going to define it here and in later follow-up posts we will dive more deeply into this.

There are many definitions out there for what quality education means. I actually had a hard time finding an ‘official’ definition, but found the term ‘quality education’ used frequently in vision/mission statements from many education organizations and school districts. Which is interesting – we use the term, yet we don’t define it, so how are we ensuring that students are indeed getting a quality education?

Here is a definition of Quality Education from ASCD (Association of Supervisors of Curriculum Development) and EI (Education International) which I think provides a strong common understanding that will connect to equity, equality and access.

A quality education is one that focuses on the whole child—the social, emotional, mental, physical, and cognitive development of each student regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, or geographic location. It prepares the child for life, not just for testing.

A quality education provides resources and directs policy to ensure that each child enters school healthy and learns about and practices a healthy lifestyle; learns in an environment that is physically and emotionally safe for students and adults; is actively engaged in learning and is connected to the school and broader community; has access to personalized learning and is supported by qualified, caring adults; and is challenged academically and prepared for success in college or further study and for employment and participation in a global environment.

A quality education provides the outcomes needed for individuals, communities, and societies to prosper. It allows schools to align and integrate fully with their communities and access a range of services across sectors designed to support the educational development of their students.

A quality education is supported by three key pillars: ensuring access to quality teachers; providing use of quality learning tools and professional development; and the establishment of safe and supportive quality learning environments. (retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sean-slade/what-do-we-mean-by-a-qual_b_9284130.html)

Equity and Equality

The definition of equity in the dictionary is “the state or quality of being just or fair”. The definition of equality is “the state of being equal, especially in status, rights and opportunities”. So what does this mean in terms of education, especially as these two terms are often used interchangeably, when they are very different when it comes to education? Let’s look at each separately in terms of education.

Equality in education would mean that all students are treated the same and are exposed to the same opportunities and experiences and resources. This is deemed as fair because everyone is getting the same instruction, the same assessments, the same resources, the same access to teachers. However, if students are coming into a classroom with different capabilities and different backgrounds – which is the reality no matter where you are – (this means educational knowledge, socio-economic status, family support, etc.), then treating them equally is going to disadvantage most students. No one will get what they truly need to learn – most will not get the appropriate supports and opportunities they need to be successful and to learn to their full potential (as examples, those with special needs would not get the additional supports needed and ‘gifted’ students would not be exposed to more challenging learning experiences they might need).  Everyone gets the same and so everyone suffers to some extent.

Equity in education means that all students get what they need from education, meaning instruction, assessments, resources are distributed so that every students individual needs are met in a fair way so all students can be successful. This relates to the statement above, under quality education, that students have access to personalized learning so that their educational needs are supported, allowing them to be prepared for future success, whether that be a career, college or some other aspiration. So unlike equality in education, equity in education is not the same for everyone, rather it supports everyone with what they need. A students socio-economic status, gender, race, or ability level do not prevent their access to education resources and opportunities. Equity does NOT mean equal. Equity implies an education for each child that meets their specific needs,  both pedagogically and developmentally, so they can be successful in their future endeavors no matter where they live or what their economic status might be.

Access

Access to education is closely tied to equity and equality. I almost didn’t separate it out, but I do think it is a key component behind why many students do NOT get equitable education opportunities. The goal of providing quality education to all students means we are providing them with equitable access to resources and learning opportunities – i.e. students with learning disabilities are getting the extra services and supports they need to be able to learn; students from low-income areas are getting the technology and materials and qualified teachers needed to address their instructional needs; students who excel at math or science are provided with technology and resources that allow them to explore and expand their understandings; students who are artistically or musically inclined are provided with teachers and courses that let them learn and create.

It was hard to find a ‘definition’ for access, because it’s really a process of ensuring students get what they need. I found this nice summation of access on the Glossary of Education Reform that I am going to use to inform our discussion going forward:

 “The term access typically refers to the ways in which educational institutions and policies ensure—or at least strive to ensure—that students have equal and equitable opportunities to take full advantage of their education. Increasing access generally requires schools to provide additional services or remove any actual or potential barriers that might prevent some students from equitable participation in certain courses or academic programs”.

As you can see, all these terms and ideas are related, and it is often hard to think of them in isolation. Hopefully now you have a better understanding of each, and in our follow-up posts, we will explore issues surrounding these using our common understanding.

Pee In the Pool and Other Summer Problems – Problem Solving Resources

As part of my daily brush-up-on education news, I read over my Twitter feed to see what interesting articles or problems the many great educators and educational resource companies I follow might have shared. I laughed so hard when I saw the Tweet from @YummyMath asking how much pee was in the water, with a picture of a large pool and many people in it. Come on – let’s admit it, we have all asked that question at one time or another (especially if you are a parent!!)  It’s a great question. And now I am curious. Where to start? My thoughts are I’d probably need to do some research on the average amount of pee found in a pool and then go from there. The great thing here – Brian Marks from @YummyMath has done that work for me, and even has an engaging ‘lesson starter’ video to go along with the lesson (link to the lesson). So – this would be a really fun problem to start out with that first day of school – funny, lots to notice and wonder about, getting ideas from students on where to begin, what information they might need, etc.

In an early post this summer, Summer Vacation – Use Your Experiences to Create Engaging Lesson Ideas, I talked about how your own summer experiences could raise questions and interesting problem-solving experiences to bring back to the classroom. But – as the tweet from Brian Marks @yummyMath reminded me, there are other amazing educators and resources out there who are already thinking of these questions and even creating the lessons for you. No need to reinvent the wheel, as they say – if there are some interesting questions and resources already being posed and shared, then use them. Saves time, maybe provides some ideas you hadn’t thought of before, or maybe it takes something you did think of and provides some questions or links that you hadn’t found yourself. As educators, we need to really learn to collaborate and share our expertise so that we are not individuals trying to support just our students, but we are educators trying to work together to improve instructional practices and student achievement. Isn’t that what we try to stress within our own classrooms – i.e. working together, communicating, and sharing ideas because this leads to better understandings and new approaches? Same goes for our teaching practices and strategies.

Here are some fun problem-solving resources, with lots of different types of problems, but definitely some ‘summer-related’ things already started for you!

1. YummyMath – (check out the ‘costco-size’ beach towel activity….that’s funny!)
2. Mathalicious – (Check out the ‘License to Ill’ lesson – relevant to todays’ debate on Health Care & Insurance)
3. Tuva|Data Literacy (Check out their lessons and their technology for graphing and analyzing data, and their data sets – so much here!)
4. RealWorldMath
5. TheMathForum
6. Illuminations 
7. Center of Math
8. MakeMathMore.com
9. MashUpMath

 

Learning from Webinars

Online learning takes many forms, of which webinars are one. For teachers, webinars are nice because they are usually content or instructional strategy focused and they are relatively short in length, so you can fit them into your busy schedule. Webinars are often live – meaning happening in real time, and you register and sign on at the designated date & time and can interact with the presenter (usually via a chat forum).  This is nice because if you have questions, you can ask them right away. But – the disadvantage here is you have to have the time to sit in on the webinar, which is often not the case, considering our crowded school and personal schedules. If you can participate ‘live’, I highly recommend it. When I worked at Key Curriculum and hosted our weekly webinars, I know the live interaction was a very positive aspect of the learning.

Let’s face it – the reality is it is not always easy to get to a scheduled ‘webinar’, even if it is the most interesting topic in the world. Which is where the beauty of technology helps out – because most webinars are recorded and archived for on-demand viewing (much like our on-demand television binge watching craze!). Most education companies or organizations that host webinars will have them archived somewhere because they WANT you to log on and watch – it’s good for business. There are a couple of good sites listed below that have some educational archived webinars that might spark your interest:

• Education Week Upcoming and On-Demand Webinars
• ASCD Webinars
• EdWeb Webinars (these do require a sign-up to view)
• PBS Learning Webinars
• NCTM Webinars (you do have to be an NCTM member to access these for free)
• Scientific Learning (these require a sign up to view)
• NSTA Webinars (current and archived)

There are more out there, but this should be a great start. And – not to let Casio be outdone, we have many archived webinars as well that focus on integrating Casio technology and math content. These are free and accessible on our Casio YouTube site  We have short how-to videos on this site as well, so the way to determine a longer, content focused (and/or technology focused) video is to look at the time stamps – those that are 20 minutes or longer tend to be the webinars. I’ve included one below on Proportional Reasoning, since this is such a huge issue with students of all ages, and the presenter, Jennifer N. Morris is one of my favorite people and math teachers. Enjoy!!

Failure is Key to Learning & Perseverance – ISTE Keynotes

I was unable to attend one of my favorite conferences this year, the International Society for Technology in Education Annual Conference (ISTE), which was held in San Antonio, TX June 25-27 a couple weeks ago. I was doing some training in Austin, TX so could not make it. But – because it is a technology conference, they video many of the presentations, especially the keynotes, and make them available on their ISTE Youtube Channel

This years completed videos are not up yet, but there are some ‘teasers’ of the three keynote presentations. I particularly like the closing Keynote speaker, Reshma Saujani, the CEO and founder of Girls Who Code, on coding and how coding is all about the iterative process and failure – i.e. learning from failure and doing things over and over until you get things to work. This is how we develop that creative thinking, that problem-solving, and that critical thinking in students – letting them fail, learn from that failure, and try again. It speaks to the mathematical practice of making sense of problems and perseverance. Here is the excerpt that is currently posted on the ISTE website – short but worth a listen:

This is the excerpt from the opening keynote, Jad Abumrad, the founder of RadioLab, also about learning from failure.

Both of these speak to something I have been focused on this summer in a course I am teaching – how to get students to persevere in problem-solving and be okay with ‘failure’. Instead of giving up, to have that drive to find another path or look for another solution. I am sorry I missed the conference, but it’s nice to get a peek into some of what was focused on, and I think it’s something educators really need to think about as we use the summer to plan for next year – how can you support productive struggle and learning from failure and perseverance in students?

The Numbers Behind Fireworks – Math Could Save A Finger or Two

I certainly hope everyone enjoyed their 4th of July celebrations. I know I had a lovely time at the beach with my husband and friends. And, as we were at the shore, naturally we, along with hundreds of our ‘closest’ beach-going celebrants, headed down to the oceanfront with our chairs to enjoy a multitude of firework displays put on by five different beach cities. It was actually really nice because you can see all these shows, with some closer than others depending on where you are, and they are timed so you can see the end of one as another is beginning – about an hours worth of city-sponsored fireworks. At one point in time, I saw our cities show and in the background, with 3 other shows at varying distances away (due to the curve of the shore). I did try to capture it on film, but it was night – with a phone – so not the best of pictures!

While we were waiting, again with hundreds of others on the beach for a good many miles, there were those folks who brought along their own fireworks – sparklers for the children, high-grade fireworks firing off – all in all, very impressive and very scary. Especially as the bangs went off, and the ones on the ground smoked away with children running all around – and then there was the falling ‘sparks’ and debris from those larger ones set off by the water landing on folks all around (setting off some screams). The city firework displays are all set off on barges out on the water, done by professionals. Not so much the ones being set off on the shore – right around hundreds of people. While it was all good and fun, and everyone was celebrating the birth of our nation, it was actually a little frightening as well – considering how many of the ‘fireworks’ almost exploded right by us or went towards the houses instead of out to the water….

Naturally, as is my way, I felt the need to look up some numbers. The National Fire Protection Agency has research numbers specific to fireworks. And it’s kind of frightening really. Perhaps the most frightening one is the sparklers, which all the children were running around with and what I believe most people feel are fairly harmless. This little temperature graph might make you feel a bit differently. We are afraid to let children near pots of boiling water or get too close to a fire, yet we let them run around with sparklers in their hands that are burning at 1200 degrees, almost 6 times hotter than boiling water.  WOW!  That’s an eye opener.  And, as a result, according to the NFPA, sparklers account for more than 1/4 of emergency room fireworks injuries – and who is it that is usually walking around with those sparklers – young children. Just to frighten you a little more with the numbers, the circle graph to the right shows the types of injuries that occur – notice, hand & fingers have the highest chance of injuries, with head and eyes tied for second. Again – think of those kids running around with the sparklers……

If we explore the data a little more, we find some interesting statistics:

So – makes sense, if we look at the graph on the right and the graph in the middle, that because sparkler related injuries are the most prevalent, that kids 5-9 have the highest risk for injury since they tend to be the ones running around with those sparklers. But notice in the circle graph to the left that ages 25-44 actually had more reported injuries, which, based on my own experiences and observations, also makes sense when you look at the type of fireworks that are causing the injuries (graph to the right) after sparklers – illegal firecrackers, small firecrackers, those with re-loadable shells. In other words, this is what ‘the dads’ are doing or the ‘adults’ or, as evidenced last night, the large group of college-age kids. They are the ones setting off the big, scary fireworks on the beach – and getting injured more.

Obviously, not many people think about statistics when planning for some fun on the 4th of July (or New Years or other firework-worthy celebrations). It’s about the fun. But – my guess, especially with parents of younger kids who don’t see the harm of those little sparklers – if you showed them some statistics, especially that temperature graph with sparklers at the top, there might be some reconsidering of the ‘playing with fireworks’ mentality. Math could save a couple of fingers…..