WEBVTT 00:00:09.056 --> 00:00:14.706 We're encouraging teachers to think about big and small changes 00:00:14.706 --> 00:00:19.396 in their practice they might consider that can encourage students 00:00:19.476 --> 00:00:21.686 to be interested in math and science. 00:00:22.476 --> 00:00:28.416 Finding the things that students are curious about, whether they're context or real world events 00:00:28.416 --> 00:00:31.826 or historical events, or things that are going on in their town, 00:00:31.826 --> 00:00:35.096 or things in youth culture that are interesting to students. 00:00:35.096 --> 00:00:38.746 Or using things like cooperative grouping or technology, 00:00:39.636 --> 00:00:42.936 or thinking about the word problem context and students' names, 00:00:43.446 --> 00:00:47.546 we could make a long list of little things that, again, teachers will think are good practices. 00:00:47.546 --> 00:00:50.076 But they're good practices because they get students interested, 00:00:50.626 --> 00:00:54.036 and we know that that short-term interest-that situational interest 00:00:54.036 --> 00:00:56.566 or curiosity is linked to long-term interest. 00:00:56.566 --> 00:01:01.256 The research is mostly geared with the older students in this area about long-term interest, 00:01:01.336 --> 00:01:05.135 because that's when it's most-that's when it's closest to being fully formed. 00:01:05.706 --> 00:01:07.766 At earlier ages it's still in development. 00:01:07.926 --> 00:01:12.956 What that means in practice is that the younger students might need a little more support 00:01:12.956 --> 00:01:15.476 and encouragement to keep that interest going. 00:01:15.736 --> 00:01:19.646 We imagine long-term interest as something-again, it's something that's from within 00:01:19.946 --> 00:01:22.036 and something that's-it's sort of self directed. 00:01:22.036 --> 00:01:24.456 "I pursue things, I choose to pursue things myself. 00:01:24.846 --> 00:01:27.666 I seek out, I'm not frustrated by challenges." 00:01:27.666 --> 00:01:31.296 But for a younger student-if they're just beginning to think they might be interested 00:01:31.296 --> 00:01:35.096 in something-if they experience some sort of set back or frustration, 00:01:35.296 --> 00:01:37.436 they need a little extra support and encouragement 00:01:37.716 --> 00:01:41.756 to keep them going along those lines and not be turned off by that. 00:01:42.376 --> 00:01:44.456 So it's sort of a-it's a nurturing role 00:01:44.456 --> 00:01:49.476 that teachers play once a student's interests are just starting to emerge, 00:01:49.666 --> 00:01:51.486 particularly in math and science. 00:01:51.646 --> 00:01:55.986 There are a lot of reasons why, say, a girl who is just discovering that she might be interested 00:01:55.986 --> 00:02:00.076 in math and science could get turned off by that. 00:02:00.506 --> 00:02:03.726 She could believe that there aren't not many women who pursue 00:02:03.726 --> 00:02:05.546 that career and, "Why should I do that?" 00:02:05.546 --> 00:02:08.526 And she might think that the only people who pursue that career are people 00:02:08.526 --> 00:02:11.446 who are naturally gifted in math, "And I'm not. 00:02:11.616 --> 00:02:13.806 So I shouldn't go on that path. 00:02:13.906 --> 00:02:16.696 I just did my homework last night, and I thought I was good at math. 00:02:16.696 --> 00:02:18.856 And it was really hard, and I must be bad in math." 00:02:19.166 --> 00:02:22.946 So there's a lot that teachers need to do to nurture once students are starting 00:02:22.946 --> 00:02:26.706 to develop senses of their own abilities about a subject area 00:02:26.706 --> 00:02:28.686 and realizing that they might be interested in it as well. 00:02:29.516 --> 00:02:35.686 What role models can help do-and what teachers can do themselves even-is try to make connections 00:02:35.686 --> 00:02:40.436 between the math and science that's going on in class and the way math and science is used 00:02:40.436 --> 00:02:44.056 out in the world, especially in math and science fields. 00:02:44.276 --> 00:02:49.626 So, for example, if I'm in a science class in middle school and I have my students doing a lab 00:02:49.626 --> 00:02:55.166 about a particular activity, and a student is very curious about this lab- I've designed it well 00:02:55.166 --> 00:02:58.846 so that it's something that sparks students' initial curiosity-then 00:02:58.846 --> 00:03:04.016 if subsequently a student realizes that, "Hey, that thing I just did is what people actually do 00:03:04.206 --> 00:03:09.236 when they pursue a science career," then that becomes a really important link 00:03:09.236 --> 00:03:12.186 in furthering their long-term interest and making them think differently 00:03:12.186 --> 00:03:14.346 about possible career trajectories. 00:03:14.576 --> 00:03:19.746 So making those linkages between what you do in class in the math and science classes 00:03:19.796 --> 00:03:24.636 and the ways that math and science are used in different kinds of careers seems critical. 00:03:25.136 --> 00:03:27.666 In the practice guide we make a recommendation that one way 00:03:27.666 --> 00:03:31.386 that teachers can spark students' initial curiosity is by making activities 00:03:31.386 --> 00:03:36.916 and context for problems that we're working on to be relevant or meaningful to students' lives. 00:03:36.956 --> 00:03:42.606 And one concern that some teachers might have is teachers may feel like they're just not 00:03:42.956 --> 00:03:46.406 in touch with what students are interested in. 00:03:46.406 --> 00:03:48.646 What's-who's the latest pop star? 00:03:48.796 --> 00:03:50.786 What's the latest sort of cultural fad? 00:03:52.056 --> 00:03:55.466 It's impossible for teachers to keep up with that. 00:03:55.466 --> 00:03:59.806 It's hard enough with your own kids, much lese the 30 kids in your class, times six. 00:04:00.866 --> 00:04:02.496 So our recommendation is not suggesting 00:04:02.496 --> 00:04:07.506 that that's what teachers should do-that you should start buying all the teeny bopper magazines 00:04:07.696 --> 00:04:10.546 and learn about what's going on with all the cultural stuff for teens. 00:04:10.546 --> 00:04:13.786 But rather that it's just one tool in your arsenal. 00:04:13.786 --> 00:04:15.366 It's just one thing that you should think about. 00:04:15.366 --> 00:04:16.565 It's one possibility. 00:04:17.375 --> 00:04:21.636 Teachers know what students are interested in beyond those fads. 00:04:21.706 --> 00:04:26.476 You know what kind of puzzling situations or what sort of current events 00:04:26.476 --> 00:04:30.016 or historical events students have found interesting in the past. 00:04:30.296 --> 00:04:34.546 Expert teachers have a wealth of knowledge to draw on about what's interesting to students. 00:04:34.756 --> 00:04:37.146 So this isn't just about the latest movie. 00:04:37.886 --> 00:04:39.646 It's about much more than that. 00:04:39.646 --> 00:04:42.196 It's about relevance to kids' lives. 00:04:42.746 --> 00:04:46.176 And certainly there's a lot about kids' lives that has changed over time, 00:04:46.356 --> 00:04:51.556 but there's also a lot that has stayed the same-that teachers with experience can draw upon 00:04:51.556 --> 00:04:54.186 to make classroom activities relevant and interesting to kids. 00:04:54.476 --> 00:04:57.796 Another concern that teachers might have about these recommendations 00:04:57.796 --> 00:05:00.326 about making activities interesting for students, 00:05:00.356 --> 00:05:04.416 is that creating interesting activities is very time consuming. 00:05:05.096 --> 00:05:10.476 It's very hard for teachers to find time in their busy days to come up with a brand new, 00:05:10.786 --> 00:05:17.206 interesting exploration or activity that pursues some content area in math and science. 00:05:17.256 --> 00:05:18.386 It's very, very challenging. 00:05:18.716 --> 00:05:23.256 So we're not suggesting that teachers turn over their lives to that kind of planning, 00:05:23.656 --> 00:05:29.526 just that teachers can look for existing activities that they can use 00:05:29.526 --> 00:05:31.006 and adapt for their own purposes. 00:05:31.326 --> 00:05:36.626 There are a ton of activities available from a variety of resources that teachers have developed 00:05:37.156 --> 00:05:42.026 that pursue different content areas, different aspects of math and science that are interesting. 00:05:42.156 --> 00:05:46.386 There are labs you can download lesson plans from, 00:05:46.386 --> 00:05:49.566 there are a lot of materials in both math and science. 00:05:49.566 --> 00:05:52.116 So we're not suggesting that teachers reinvent the wheel. 00:05:52.336 --> 00:05:56.476 We're merely suggesting that teachers should become convinced that the importance 00:05:56.476 --> 00:06:02.286 of such activities in stimulating students' interest-that it might be worth the extra few 00:06:02.286 --> 00:06:07.976 minutes to go looking around for those lesson plans that might be useful 00:06:07.976 --> 00:06:10.226 as a different way to teach this. 00:06:10.826 --> 00:06:14.836 And this is an area that school administrators can help as well in. 00:06:15.096 --> 00:06:20.206 Given all the resources that are out there about different kinds of lesson plans 00:06:20.206 --> 00:06:23.576 on the internet, it's really overwhelming for teachers to say, 00:06:23.576 --> 00:06:26.636 "Go out and try to find an activity that does X or Y." 00:06:27.036 --> 00:06:32.606 So district administrators, principals, can try to help synthesize that information. 00:06:32.776 --> 00:06:35.846 What are some of the best websites that teachers should go to? 00:06:36.376 --> 00:06:41.116 What are some of the different ways that other teachers have taught this activity 00:06:41.116 --> 00:06:42.606 that have proved to be very effective? 00:06:43.516 --> 00:06:49.556 So that's an area where teachers need some help and that administrators can really support them 00:06:49.716 --> 00:06:51.656 and help them implement these recommendations. 00:06:52.026 --> 00:06:54.996 In terms of what districts and principals and administrators can do 00:06:54.996 --> 00:06:59.396 to help teachers implement these recommendations, no matter what the recommendation is, 00:06:59.516 --> 00:07:03.186 the two things that teachers need more of-ask any teacher-it's time and money. 00:07:03.936 --> 00:07:06.746 And this is no different for the recommendations we're making, 00:07:07.246 --> 00:07:09.956 but I think there are ways that we can think about what that means-time 00:07:09.956 --> 00:07:11.866 and money-a little more concretely. 00:07:12.226 --> 00:07:15.006 In terms of time, what teachers need 00:07:15.006 --> 00:07:18.006 to implement these recommendations is really about planning time. 00:07:18.716 --> 00:07:23.376 And planning time might mean that teachers have common prep periods so that 00:07:23.586 --> 00:07:27.856 when one teacher is not teaching a class, there are other teachers not teaching at the same time 00:07:28.156 --> 00:07:32.326 so they can get together and talk, not only about what they're teaching, 00:07:32.906 --> 00:07:34.926 which teachers talk about anyway. 00:07:34.926 --> 00:07:39.276 What they're teaching, where you're at, when's your test-but also how you're teaching. 00:07:39.526 --> 00:07:42.046 What activities are you using to get at this idea? 00:07:42.316 --> 00:07:44.246 Did students find it interesting or not? 00:07:44.806 --> 00:07:49.356 So those common prep periods really give teachers time for those kind 00:07:49.356 --> 00:07:50.846 of conversations, which are critical. 00:07:51.416 --> 00:07:55.706 A complementary thing that comes along with time is 00:07:55.706 --> 00:07:59.976 that teachers need the opportunity to watch other teachers teach. 00:08:00.686 --> 00:08:03.286 It's sort of an irony in our educational system 00:08:03.286 --> 00:08:06.536 that the only time you ever watch anyone else teach is 00:08:06.536 --> 00:08:09.136 when you're learning how to teach in the first year. 00:08:09.136 --> 00:08:10.656 And after that, you're on your own. 00:08:10.866 --> 00:08:12.416 You never see anybody else teach. 00:08:12.416 --> 00:08:18.466 I'm often in high school math classrooms for veteran teachers of 30 or 35 years experience 00:08:18.466 --> 00:08:23.176 and I say, "When was the last time you ever watched anyone teach, other than yourself?" 00:08:23.636 --> 00:08:28.116 And many of them say it was when they student taught, 30 years ago. 00:08:28.596 --> 00:08:31.296 We need to have opportunities for teachers to watch each other teach 00:08:31.596 --> 00:08:35.876 and learn about other teachers' strategies, other activities that teachers are doing, 00:08:35.936 --> 00:08:37.356 how those activities are implemented. 00:08:37.826 --> 00:08:41.676 That seems a critical part of learning to teach and implement these activities. 00:08:41.676 --> 00:08:45.226 When I was learning to teach and in my first years of teaching, 00:08:45.446 --> 00:08:47.176 that turned out to be particularly critical for me. 00:08:47.176 --> 00:08:51.456 I was in a school where all the math teachers had a shared office. 00:08:51.806 --> 00:08:56.146 And so we didn't have an assigned classroom, we had a shared office that we actually used. 00:08:56.146 --> 00:09:00.186 So we would go teach our class, come back and stay at the office together. 00:09:00.186 --> 00:09:04.736 And during our off periods, there were always teachers around and we would talk. 00:09:04.826 --> 00:09:08.666 And not just sort of small talk, we would have substantive conversations 00:09:08.666 --> 00:09:11.576 about how I taught this lesson, how it went. 00:09:11.896 --> 00:09:13.156 "How did you teach that lesson? 00:09:13.346 --> 00:09:14.616 What worked, what didn't work? 00:09:14.976 --> 00:09:16.576 Is there a particular problem here that you used 00:09:16.576 --> 00:09:19.226 to get students interested and engaged in this topic?" 00:09:19.536 --> 00:09:22.466 So in my learning to be a teacher, that was absolutely critical. 00:09:23.036 --> 00:09:29.556 And we would encourage administrators to think about ways to get teachers to be 00:09:29.556 --> 00:09:31.566 in an office together and to use that time. 00:09:31.706 --> 00:09:34.516 It's not just a space, it's about using the time 00:09:34.516 --> 00:09:37.076 that they're given for productive conversations. 00:09:37.326 --> 00:09:38.296 That seems very important. 00:09:38.696 --> 00:09:42.736 There's a lot that teachers of math and science can learn from other content areas as well. 00:09:43.066 --> 00:09:46.376 It's a way that we can, again, make math and science interesting. 00:09:46.376 --> 00:09:50.756 If we know that some students are particularly interested in music, for example, 00:09:51.046 --> 00:09:54.116 as a context-then there is a lot of mathematics in music, 00:09:54.296 --> 00:09:57.316 and music also can be linked to many topics in science. 00:09:57.316 --> 00:10:02.806 So that's a great example of ways that we can build on students' curiosity. 00:10:02.806 --> 00:10:06.296 Students may be knowledgeable, interested in or curious about music. 00:10:06.296 --> 00:10:08.896 Music might be relevant to their own personal life. 00:10:09.266 --> 00:10:12.946 So I'm going to make use of music in the way that I teach math. 00:10:13.356 --> 00:10:20.446 Now again, we're not suggesting that I design a whole six-week unit on music and math 00:10:20.536 --> 00:10:23.236 and don't cover the other stuff I was supposed to cover. 00:10:23.776 --> 00:10:28.696 It's rather thinking about, "How can I integrate the mathematics in music 00:10:28.696 --> 00:10:30.686 with the content I have to cover anyway?" 00:10:30.686 --> 00:10:33.066 And that's-there's a lot of resources out there that do 00:10:33.066 --> 00:10:35.506 so in this particular example and in other examples. 00:10:35.806 --> 00:10:38.126 That's what we're asking teachers to think more carefully about. 00:10:38.376 --> 00:10:43.716 "How can I build on what students find relevant and interesting already and connect that to math 00:10:43.716 --> 00:10:47.286 and science to spark their initial interest in math and science?" 00:10:47.416 --> 00:10:49.326 Teachers may feel like, "Oh, that's just good teaching." 00:10:49.706 --> 00:10:50.506 And it is. 00:10:50.586 --> 00:10:54.386 That's just good teaching-making contacts relevant to students' lives, 00:10:54.386 --> 00:10:57.546 introducing things that students find interesting and they want to explore. 00:10:58.186 --> 00:11:03.236 But what some teachers may not realize is that that can have a big impact on students' later, 00:11:03.556 --> 00:11:08.366 full-blown individual interest or long-term interest in math and science. 00:11:08.916 --> 00:11:13.556 Math and science become something that students have positive memories of doing tasks 00:11:13.556 --> 00:11:16.186 and problems that they found interesting, that they were curious about, 00:11:16.436 --> 00:11:20.916 that they enjoyed working with, and it- the subject becomes something that is meaningful 00:11:20.986 --> 00:11:23.436 and interesting and fun for them.