Oh My GOD! The School Year Started!

Courtesy Pfaff, Flickr CC

                                          
     Today I got a request from a fellow teacher who had gone through Project Lead the Way training with me this summer.  We are both teaching Introduction to Engineering Design (IED)and Digital Electronics (DE).  We are at schools that are about 20 miles apart but differ in so very many ways.
     Seems he needs some  basic items required in the first 2  to 3 weeks of DE.  And, as far as costs of things for this course, the items he needs are relatively inexpensive.  But his school district shifts fiscal years during the middle of the summer and doesn't address new purchases until after the shift.  So, his order went in about 2 weeks ago.  With a 6 to 8 week return from the supplier that means that supplies he needs now won't be to campus until the 2nd 6-weeks grading period.
     Now this is not a show stopper for my friend.  He's a "professional" and can handle the proverbial curve ball so often thrown at us as teachers.  But still, that school knew he was going to be teaching this course when they sent him to training (with last year's fiscal dollars).  Couldn't someone have thought - "I wonder what equipment he will need for this course?"   Followed by, "We should get some of that equipment now because he'll need to get started in August."  Except that's not a school administrator's forte.  Once the Summer starts there's hiring of new teachers, overseeing of building maintenance, personal vacation, and training/conferences to attend. 
    I feel fortunate in my situation.  As far as I can tell, an early August inventory of equipment revealed that I had just about any and everything required for both of my classes.    And, I have not heard an inordinate amount of complaining from the rest of the staff about not having all of their supplies. 
   This isn't the first time I have heard complaining (or been the one complaining) about having the supplies I need at the beginning of the school year.  Seems that whether I was in Virginia, Rhode Island, Florida, Texas, or with DoDDS overseas, there were times when the administration seemed surprised that school was starting. 
    I guess I was spoiled by incredible Supply Officers in the Navy.   The best of these would always anticipate expenditures and budget changes that might impact our operations.  Seems to me we should require our assistant supes for budget and finance to attend Naval Suppy Officer training so they would do a better job of ensuring our operations aren't impacted by the current fiscal situation.  After all the daily operations we teachers are conducting in our classrooms directly effects our overall mission of student readiness.

A New Road Taken

Photo Courtesy mdmarkus66 flickr cc

   With the end of this school year I will not be teaching high school mathematics any more (at least for a few years).  That's a strange feeling.  It was my wife who said to me "well, you have always wanted to be a math teacher and a baseball coach."  That was around 1989.  I was on active duty in the Navy and was planning on getting out.  But what would I do?
    Since 1994 I have taught in Newport News Virginia; Sasebo, Japan; Portsmouth, Rhode Island; Brunssum, The Netherlands; Gainesville, Florida; Round Rock, Texas and now Manor, Texas.  I have taught math at every level from 6th grade to college and every course in that range except Calculus (including college Statistics and 3 levels of college algebra).   This coming school year I will suddenly find myself teaching in the engineering world.  I have a couple of irons in the fire so I'm not sure exactly what I'll be teaching but it won't look like anything I have taught for the last 16 years.
    As I look back at my time teaching math to students (from age 10 to 60) there is a common thread.  Most students fear math and all students appreciate someone who will try and explain what is going on in as many ways as possible.  So how should math teachers approach these two, important, lessons learned?  First,  and most importantly, show students multiple ways to view a problem.  At the younger ages (through middle school) you might require a certain procedure for working problems, but show them other ways too.  Show them how it can be completed using technology.  Explain to them what is going on graphically.  Draw them pictures.  The more ways you can present the math to a student the better chance we have with them grasping what is going on behind the numbers and symbols.
   We will never totally rid the world of math anxiety.  However, we can (and should) give the students tools that help them become more successful in the math classroom, on a standardized test, and in their lives after they leave formal education.  As I venture forth in the engineering world I intend to ensure all of my students are comfortable with the mathematics that is sitting behind the drawings or is embedded in the CAD program.  Engineering should be fun and having a certain comfort level with mathematics can help that happen.