Author Tom Robinson
Welcome to my author blog! I write on education topics and occasionally publish math and science books for kids.
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Wednesday, November 2, 2016
Golden Ratio vs. Rule of Thirds
I have to confess that I am not much of a photographer. But I am familiar with 'The Rule of Thirds' for composing photos and I found this article interesting in that it suggests that instead of using the Rule of Thirds, photographers might be better served by using the Golden Ratio and the Fibonacci Spiral. Hm...it's so crazy it just might work!
Monday, October 10, 2016
A New School - Part 3
A New School For A New Generation of
Learners
Rethinking a system designed by an agricultural society, implemented by
an industrial society, and being used to educate a technological society.
Part III - A New School
In my previous installment, I considered the true purpose of
school. Is it to impart knowledge about specific subjects? Is it a means for
teaching children soft skills such as perseverance, integrity, and grit and how
to set goals? Or perhaps, it is simply a place where children learn the
critical social skills necessary for living a productive life in society. A
survey taken on social media suggested that the main purpose of school is for
children to learn those soft skills, the skills everyone uses in life
regardless of their choice of vocation. And yet, according to the new national
math standards, Common Core - adopted by 46 states, and since rejected by eight
of those, the real purpose of school, at least in mathematics, is to impart
knowledge, most of which is highly useful only to those pursuing higher levels
of study in mathematics. A troublingly small percentage of the Common Core math
standards are focused on the skills all students truly need in order to live
their lives.
Thus we find ourselves in an educational predicament. In too
many classrooms all across America, high-achieving, college-bound, goal-driven
students sit side by side with peers who have little ambition to continue their
schooling past high school, who desperately need critical job and life skills
in order to strike out on their own after graduation, but instead are being
taught as if they, too, aspire to earn a four-year college degree.
I think there is a solution to this predicament, however,
and to find it, we have to travel across the Atlantic to the land of pizza,
pasta, and out of this world gelato: Italy. A land with more history in its
little finger than the US has in its whole body, Italy is renowned for its
culture and its traditions. Change comes slowly in a place where certain tasks
have been done the same way for thousands of years, and education is no
exception.
Every three years, 15-year-old students across the globe
take part in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). The
results of this exam are used as one of the most common measures of a country's
educational system. Sponsored by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD), the test covers topics in mathematics, reading and science.
According to the OECD web site,
"The Pisa mathematics test is designed
to measure how effectively countries are preparing students to use mathematics in every aspect of their
personal, civic, and professional lives, as part
of their constructive, engaged, and reflective citizenship."
The mathematics test consists of three broad categories,
with sub-categories of questions within each:
Mathematics Content:
Space & shape; Change & relationships; Quantity; Uncertainty & data
Mathematics Contexts:
Personal; Occupational; Societal; Scientific
Mathematical
Processes: Formulating situations
mathematically; Employing mathematical concepts, facts, procedures, and
reasoning; Interpreting, applying and evaluating mathematical outcomes
Not your typical run of the mill list of facts to know and be
able to spit back out on demand, is it? In 2012, Italian students scored an
average of 485 on the mathematics portion, a year in which the worldwide
average score was 494. This ranks them 32nd in the world - not a very
impressive result. For comparison, however, the US scored an average of 481,
putting us at 36th in the world. China had the highest average score at 613.
So why would I choose Italy as a model of educational
excellence, when perhaps its strongest claim to fame is that its students,
while below average, at least outperformed American students? In this case,
it's less about the concept of excellence, and more about providing the right
kind of education to each student. You see, Italy structures its school system
differently than the US does (as do many other nations, let's be clear), at
least for the high school-equivalent years. And in that difference lies what I believe is
a key to teaching all students the exact skills they need in order to best live
out their best future.
Through the eighth grade, Italian schools operate more or
less like most American schools do. Children are required to begin attending
school when they turn six years old, and generally progress through elementary
and middle schools from the age of six through the age of fourteen. However, upon
completion of their eighth grade, Italian children are required to make an
important decision about their futures. That decision, for many, will determine
their future career, earning potential, and the opportunities that await them
following completion of their high school studies.
High school in Italy looks nothing like it does in the US.
For starters, there is little of what we would consider 'school spirit.' There
are no sports teams to cheer for - no football under the lights on Friday
nights; no packed gymnasiums in the winter for basketball. All sports take
place through clubs and have no affiliation with schools. The buildings
themselves are typically nondescript. You could drive right by one and unless
you happened to notice the sign on the wall telling you it was a school, you
would likely drive right by it, never knowing you had passed a school.
To a certain degree, Italian high schools are localized,
similar to how American schools are. But unlike US schools, where except in
larger cities or regions with open enrollment regulations in place, students
attend the school within whose boundaries they live, Italian students select
their school first, and then worry about how they will get to wherever that
school happens to be. If that means commuting to the next town over or even
several towns over, using public transportation, a scooter, or in rare cases,
the family car, so be it. Indeed, it's not your address that determines which
high school you attend - it's your ambition, your potential, and your drive.
In general, there are two types of high schools Italian
students can choose from, with a variety of options within those two
categories. Here is a brief listing:
Liceo - This is
generally a five-year program (students typically graduate at age 19) and the
focus is on theoretical studies, in preparation for university attendance.
Liceos (in Italian, 'licei') come in three main 'flavors':
- Liceo Scientifico : for students wishing to pursue a career in the sciences, such as biology, chemistry, and physics. Future engineers may find themselves here as well.
Istituto - These
schools typically offer three- to five-year programs and upon completion, some
students may opt to continue their studies at a university, but may also simply
transition to the workplace. These schools are broken further into two
classifications: technical and professional. The line generally lies between
those students moving directly into the workforce and those seeking
- Istituto Tecnico : this would be similar to American technical colleges, offering training in agriculture, industry, business, finance, marketing, hospitality, etc. Most students, upon completion, will enter the workforce directly, but only after completing a capstone internship of some sort. They will tend to have more opportunities professionally.
- Istituo Professionale: these schools provide three to five years of vocational training, allowing graduates to enter the workforce directly or become eligible for apprenticeships. Fields include transportation, logistics, electronics and some engineering, computer technician, graphic arts, fashion, agriculture, construction, tourism and many more.
In 2000, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation committed
more than $2 billion to schools across the United States to help them create
smaller schools within large schools, the so-called 'school within a school'
movement. By and large, it failed. This is not that model. In fact, to the
outside observer, it may appear that nothing has changed within the school
walls. But I believe such a change could radically alter the educational path
of millions of students for the better.
My plan involves identifying two primary pathways to a high
school diploma within each high school. The first pathway would be for those
students who have little or no interest in continuing on to higher education. Notice
that I’m not suggesting these students aren't capable of studying at a higher
level, rather they would opt not to pursue that pathway. These students seek a
high school diploma and ideally in the process of earning that diploma they
would acquire the kinds of skills that they would need to transfer directly
into the workforce or to a trade school (i.e. into life) where they could
pursue whatever their passions happen to be.
The second pathway would be for the college-bound students.
Two-year or four-year, it wouldn't matter. These students would be seeking the
coursework that will prepare them for their future studies. All the mathematics
foundations that lead to higher level work, Advanced Placement, International
Baccalaureate, College in the High School courses would all be a part of this
pathway. Even honors coursework, and courses often taken as remediation in the
first year of college would be completed during high school.
More critical is that in the courses potentially leading up
to high caliber courses, courses such as Algebra I/Geometry, English I/ II, US
History, etc., separate sections would be made available to each pathway. This
way, students seeking a foundation for eventual work in Calculus, for example,
would be in Algebra classes in their early years with other students seeking
that same foundation. Students in the
career pathway would also take Algebra, many at the same time (but not in the
same classroom) as the other students. But here's the key - the courses would
be taught differently, with different standards, expectations, and content.
College-bound students would get more of the theoretical side of algebra, akin
to the training Italy's liceo
students receive, while career-bound students would receive the parts of
algebra that they need in order to be successful in their future endeavors.
I recognize that some will shudder at the thought of
'tracking' students in high school. It risks conjuring up a caste system at an
age when cliques already test the self-esteem of even the most successful
students. Does this plan suggest a line of demarcation between what some might label
the 'haves' and the 'have-nots'? I don't think it does. If I am going to take
an algebra course, why wouldn't I want it to teach me the things I need to learn from it? If that means a
set of theoretical skills, skills that don't necessarily translate directly to
the work I will eventually do, but yet lie at the foundation of the higher
levels of mathematics I will eventually study, then so be it. That's what I
need to learn.
But if instead it means that I receive from my algebra
course a more practical set of math tools, tools I can use on the job, in my
home, when I make car payments, or decide whether to invest in a house or a
retirement plan, then that's what I should be learning. Geometry can be taught
as a tool for building the idea argument and proof in upper level math, or as a
tool for forming a coherent argument for a raise, or making a proposal to an
investor, or to the city council for a project I'm trying to pitch. This plan
allows teachers to teach students what they need, when they need it, and at an
appropriate level for where they are learning.
Now, could a school really pull this off? Let me introduce
you to Wilson High School in Washington state. Wilson is in a rural town of
about 5,000 permanent residents. In the summer, tourists flock there and the
weekend population rises to around 15,000 on average. It is a small school. Its
teams compete in the third smallest school classification of the six in the
state. Student enrollment is steady at around 400 students in grades 9-12.
Poverty is a very real problem in the community, and a very small number of
graduating seniors each year go on to study at four-year universities. Many
graduates enter the workforce immediately after school lets out or struggle to
find their passions in the years that follow high school.
In an attempt to discover the feasibility of a school model
such as the one I propose, I looked at Wilson's master schedule for the 2015-16
school year. From the list of courses the school offered, I identified three
categories of courses:
1.
Courses that might be taken solely by college-bound students
2.
Courses which could be open to all students regardless of the pathway they choose,
such as PE or band.
3.
Courses that might be taken solely by career-bound students
I listed each course under its appropriate heading, and I
noted courses (such as Algebra I, with an asterisk) which could easily be
offered to students in either
pathway, with the caveat that they would be taught differently, according to
the particular needs of students on that pathway. I wanted to see if this
school, which has a definite lean toward career-bound students, could manage to
offer a dual-pathway educational program and still operate as a regular high
school. Here is what I found:
I was pleasantly surprised to find that the lists were
generally equal in length. As you consider the list of courses a career-bound
student might take, it's extensive. In addition, it offers those students who
don't want to take a course that prepares them for college-level work options
and opportunities to pursue their own passions.
Then, when taking courses such as US History or Geometry, students could
learn those subjects the way they need to learn them, and take from those
courses the really critical life-relevant lessons they impart without being
overwhelmed by the 'college prep' atmosphere often associated with those
courses.
Similarly, college-bound students would be able to learn
with peers who share their level of motivation. In those foundational courses,
teachers could take them to more interesting places without worrying about
losing students who aren't as interested in the subject.
And as far as electives go, there are still many
opportunities for students on different pathways to meet up, interact, and
share the critical social experiences high school affords. Such a
re-envisioning of a school would take little more than recoding a few courses,
and perhaps preparing a new course catalog.
Oh, but what about the students who decide, after eighth
grade, to pursue a college-bound pathway, then discover that they really aren't
as motivated as they thought they would be? Are we setting those students up
for failure by placing them into a pathway for which they are not adequately
prepared? Absolutely not. A school would set some minimal criterion for
maintaining status in the college-bound pathway. For example, after one failing
grade (because "life happens"), a student might be placed on academic
probation. A second failing grade and that student would be transitioned to the
career-bound pathway, still on track to graduate, but now challenged to rethink
their motivation and workload. For highly motivated students, this isn't a
punitive policy, but rather a daily motivator and a reminder of the commitment
they made to themselves.
Similarly, one could envision a student at fourteen years of
age choosing a career-bound pathway, then waking up as a tenth grader thinking,
'I want to go to college!' That's fine. That student, given a set of qualifying
standards, including attendance, performance in key courses (identified at the
beginning of the program), and even an application process, could appeal to be
allowed to transition to the college-bound pathway. Upon approval, the change
is made and off the student goes.
Here is what I think will happen. First off, even struggling
students, given the opportunity and having made a conscious decision to strive
for the college-bound pathway, will rise
to the challenge. By removing the distractions, the friends who try to hold
them back, and surrounding themselves with like-motivated students (even if
those students are higher achievers), those struggling students will find they
are more capable than they even imagined. And in the rare case that a student
is unable to keep up, they have a soft landing spot in the career-bound
pathway.
Similarly, what of the late bloomer? The student with little
encouragement or support at home, who never considered college as an option?
Initially in the career-bound pathway, this student realizes that s/he is ready
and capable of more. Checking the criteria for a transition, the student
appeals, is admitted, and off they go into their future.
For the sake of all students and the teachers who agonize
over them, searching for the magic formula to light a fire inside of each one,
it's time to consider a new model for our schools. Allowing students to choose
their pathway, with critical input from parents, teachers, and counselors, will
allow schools to teach all students what they need, when they need it, and in
the manner they need to learn it. It offers students the chance to blossom
where they are, to discover their passions in a safe and encouraging
environment, and to acquire and develop the skills they truly need in order to
live a long and productive life.
Wednesday, October 5, 2016
A New School - Part 2
A New School For A New Generation of
Learners
Rethinking a system designed by an agricultural society, implemented by
an industrial society, and being used to educate a technological society.
Part II: What is the purpose of school?
In the last installment, I noted a curious fact. Each state
determines for itself when its students must start and when they are legally
allowed to stop attending school. The federal government has no say in that
matter. And yet, in those 46 states that have adopted the Common Core
standards, minus the eight that have since withdrawn from them (Academic
Benchmarks: Common Core State Standards Adoption Map), the federal government
dictates what those students should be learning. And after reviewing the math
standards for algebra and geometry and comparing them to those for grades 6-8,
I posed the question of whether we are teaching the most critical skills for
college and career readiness before students reach high school. And if we are,
then when they reach high school are students being asked to learn skills that,
at least for many, have little or no bearing on their futures?
I recently conducted a very non-scientific opinion poll on
social media. By no means were these responses from a representative or random
sample. And yet, the variety of responses was fascinating. Most respondents
were young parents, whose children had either already started on their journey
through the K-12 school system, or were about to. Some were grandparents and
spoke with three generations of perspective (theirs, their children's and now
their grandchildren's.)
I posed a simple, yet apparently loaded question: what is
the purpose of school? I tried to make it clear that I wasn't asking from a
cynical or fatalistic perspective. I wasn't throwing my hands in the air
existentially, claiming that life has no meaning and that all is futile.
Instead, I really wanted to know whether, in light of whatever they deemed the
purpose of school to be, the traditional model of school that generation after
generation had experienced - students arrive at a building, gather in rooms in
some sort of homogeneous manner, listen to a teacher teach, practice on that
teaching, then test on that teaching - was the best, or even the only model
that could possibly accomplish that purpose?
The responses, fifty in total, surprised me. I broke them
into three broad categories:
- to develop soft skills - skills that are associated with personal growth and a vision of how those skills might be applied to one's future life;
- to develop hard skills - content knowledge which can (and is) easily tested;
- to develop social skills - learning how to relate, interact, and function with others in society.
I didn't expect the result to be this one-sided. To think
that upon reflection on their own school experiences, and in concert with the
professional life they had chosen upon its completion, so many would say that
the main purpose of school is to build and develop skills that are rarely found
in a course syllabus, tested even less often, and generally considered by-products
of the 'real' work of schools - that is, the delivery, reception and retention
of content.
As I sifted through the responses, a further delineation
emerged. Among the responses that favored 'soft' skills, there were two main
camps. The first focused on skills an individual would use to better interact
with the adult world. Skills such as preparing for life situations, increasing
personal productivity, learning to do the daily work of life, and even making a
difference in the lives of others (which some might argue would also fall into
the category of social skills.) Forty percent of the soft skills responses fell
into this category. That means the other sixty percent fell into the second
category.
This group included skills that were more internally focused,
skills that would lead to betterment as a person, independent of the job or
life situation one might find oneself in. Examples included igniting personal
passions, learning how to fail without having heavy consequences for that
failure, finding out what motivates you, and learning how to find the
information you need to solve a problem.
I don't think most people would argue that these are
unimportant skills. And yet, in general they seem to be byproducts of
education, not its main focus. As an experienced educator with more than two
decades spent in the classroom working with teenagers, I'm not sure what to
make of this. On one hand, we have the Common Core Initiative telling us that
the overwhelming majority of what high school math students need to learn is
content-based.
On the other hand, the very students served by our school
system, many of whom are now raising their own children and sending them into
that same system, are telling me that what's really important in school are the
non-content pieces - developing the personal skills and attributes that lead to
being a productive citizen regardless of the depth of one's content knowledge.
After many years teaching high school mathematics in a
traditional school building, I have stepped away from that setting, now for the
second time. I currently teach for an online school, serving students across
the United States, all of whom bring a unique story of how they came to enroll
in an online course or fully attend an online school. I can't help but wonder
if part of my story is this dichotomy illustrated above. How many students have
I tried to force-feed algebra, perhaps in the same metaphorical way that ducks
are force-fed in order to produce foie
gras? And for how many of them did I take the time to understand that what
they really wanted and needed was not more formulas and theorems, no matter how
engaging I was in front of the room? Not more functions, more graphs, more
proofs, or more complex equations.
Perhaps all they needed was someone to teach them the soft
skills their predecessors identified as being the real purpose of school. And
yes, along the way, surely they picked some of them up regardless. Undoubtedly,
several learned how to fail and bounce back. But as I think back on some of the
most challenging students, students who had no interest in learning how to
factor quadratic polynomials, to prove two triangles congruent, or to find the
sine of an angle, I now see many of them crying out for someone to teach them
what they really needed - skills that would lead them to a better life than
they thought they deserved.
But I couldn't. I had to teach every student the same
material. The college-bound future engineer who sat next to the student whose
only dream in life was to hold a high school diploma. The future biologist who
passed papers to the student who was working two jobs after school, and could
barely stay awake in my class. I taught them all the same content, and I
assessed them in the same manner on that same material. Truly, the skills I
taught in math class were compulsory,
designed so that everyone could be evaluated fairly and equitably.
But is this equity? I submit that it is not. Further, I want
to propose a radical new approach to education that allows students to learn
the right skills at the right time, for the right reasons, and with the right
group of peers. To me, that, more than common standards, common assessments,
and common instructional strategies, represents true educational equity.
Thursday, September 29, 2016
A New School - Part 1
A New School For A New Generation of
Learners
Rethinking a system designed by an agricultural society, implemented by
an industrial society, and being used to educate a technological society.
Part 1 - Making students learn
Compulsory education has been a part of American schools
since colonial times. While it was still part of the British Empire, the
Massachusetts Bay Colony enacted a law requiring its children to attend formal
schools. In the mid-1800s, the US state of Massachusetts became the first of
now fifty states to require towns to offer nominal schooling to young children.
This schooling amounted to what we now know as 'The Three Rs:' reading,
writing, and 'rithmetic.
In his 1976 article written for The Phi Delta Kappa
Educational Foundation, Michael S. Katz explained that in its initial form,
mandatory schooling applied only to children ages eight through fourteen and
required them to attend school for a mere twelve weeks a year. This law
effectively forced parents to 'raise up their children' in the acceptable
Puritan (Christian) way, and was enacted due to documented failings of many to
do so, thereby "transforming a moral obligation into a legal one."
During the Industrial Revolution, factories often took
advantage of children, forcing them to work long hours while earning pennies on
the dollar compared to their adult counterparts. In an effort to protect
children from hard labor, states lined up to pass similar laws making education
compulsory for all children, but only up to a certain age. In many cases, that
age was sixteen, the age at which it was deemed that children were capable of
working as adults.
To some, the word compulsory brings to mind images of
Olympic figure skaters, all performing in the first stage of their final competition.
The compulsory part means they all have to perform the same tasks in their
routines, in order to be fairly and equitably judged compared to their peers.
Hm…that sounds familiar.
Today all fifty states have some form of required schooling
on their books, and the mandatory ages typically start between the ages of five
and seven, and end between sixteen and eighteen (National Center for Education
Statistics.) What's interesting is that while each state has its own law for
compulsory education, there is no federal standard in place. Despite the fact
that the United States spends in excess of $200 billion dollars on education - admittedly,
around 5% of the overall budget - (US Department of Education 2016 Budget Fact
Sheet) , the federal government does not have the authority to tell states when
their children need to be in school.
What it DOES tell them, however, is what their children need
to know and be able to demonstrate before they leave school. Each state can
decide when children must start and when they may choose to stop attending
school, but while they are in there, much of what they learn is dictated to
them by the federal government in the form of the Common Core State Standards
Initiative.
In the fall of 2007 I was invited to join a team of K-12
educators, post-secondary professors, and mathematicians to once and for all
rewrite the expectations for all Washington state students in mathematics. It
remains to this day one of the most challenging, interesting, and ultimately
rewarding experiences of my professional life - one of which I am still
immensely proud to have been a part.
Over the course of several months, we brainstormed, argued,
pled our cases, talked, listened, and eventually wrote a set of standards for
all mathematics students in our state in introductory algebra and geometry.
When we published our work, we did so with great fanfare, as we believed we had
designed a collection of skills and processes that would ably serve all
students in our state for many years to come. Little did we know that 'many
years' actually meant 'one year', as in 2009, Washington joined the Common Core
Standards Initiative, and all our work was put into the archives. By 2010, the state had provisionally adopted
the Common Core standards, and in 2011, they were formally adopted - Washington
had joined now 46 states in offering and assessing a set of standards that for
the first time represented a national
curriculum.
While working on the Washington state standards team, I
still vividly recall numerous occasions during which I heard some version of
the following, usually from a professor of mathematics or a mathematician: "We can't let kids leave high school
without knowing how to …." And each time someone said this, they were able
to back their claim up. Yes, the Pythagorean Theorem is important in geometry.
Yes, factoring skills are crucial in algebra. Of course students have to be
able to write proofs. And obviously, they need to be able to make a graph and
interpret it… right?
After more than 20 years in the classroom, most of them as a
National Board Certified teacher, I have begun to wonder just what students
'must' know mathematically in order to be successful in their lives. And the
more I think about it, the shorter the list becomes. I pored over the Common
Core standards (Common Core State Standards Initiative) for algebra and
geometry and identified those skills at which every living, working, thriving
adult really must be skilled, laying aside those skills that register as
'critical' to a mathematician, but to a typical adult, are likely never to be
explored again once they close their algebra book for the last time.
In the former category, for example, I include skills such
as the ability to solve an equation (finding an unknown value in a simple or
complex situation), understanding the concept of a function (a construct that
takes an input and returns - spits out - an output), and being able to understand fundamental
one-variable statistics such as mean, median, variation, etc.
The latter group includes skills such as understanding the
difference between rational and irrational numbers, working with vectors and
matrices, trigonometry, congruence theorems, and conditional probability to
name just a very few.
In total, I counted a total of 156 math skills the Common
Core standards expect students to master before graduating high school or at
least fulfilling their legal requirement of compulsory schooling. Of those, I
identified 46 that truly resonated as critical to success after high school. Don't
get me wrong. I love math, and I love teaching math. Therefore, I find the
remaining 110 skills fascinating, and most are intensely useful for further
studies in mathematics. For those students continuing on beyond the most basic
of math instruction, clearly they will need and want to explore many if not all
of those 110 skills. But as a baseline set of required skills, I counted 46. That
amounts to a ratio of 2.5:1, non-critical skills to critical skills. And to
break it down further, nineteen of those forty-six skills came in the final set
of standards: Probability and Statistics. Take that last section out and the
ratio of non-critical skills to critical skills is 100:25, or 4:1.
Perhaps most telling, beyond one person's opinion about
which skill is critical to success in life and which is not, is the following
statement, found in the final note for the standards, a note that summarizes
the role of individual courses and the importance of transitions between them:
"Indeed, some of the highest priority content for college and career readiness comes from Grades 6-8."
I find this comment to be an indicator of the level of skills
expected of high school students and supportive of my assessment of the high
school standards. If indeed, such a priority for both college and career
readiness falls in the Grade 6-8 band, what are we asking of our high school
students? Is it possible we are teaching them too much?
Friday, March 4, 2016
It's great to be alive, it's great to be a Puddle Jumper!
In Forks, everyone is a Puddle Jumper at some point, but these are the official ones! |
Leaving the town of Chelan, in central Washington state, if
you drive west until you reach a large body of water, then ride a ferry across
that body of water and keep driving west until you reach the ocean, you will
find yourself in the tiny, quaint town of Forks. Made famous by the Twilight
series, set in its city limits, and still featuring Vampire tours, Music night
with Edward and Bella, and Jacob Black's Rentals, Forks is also the home of my
new friends, the Puddle Jumpers.
Such is the nickname carried by all students at Forks
Elementary, where, I learned on my first day there, "It's Great To Be
Alive, It's Great To Be A Puddle Jumper!" Forks is situated in the Olympic
Rainforest, and they receive over 100 inches of rain (that more than 8 feet, by
the way) a year. I can attest to that during my short 36 hour stay!
Time to kick off a Reading Program! |
I was there at the invitation of the Forks Elementary
principal, Rob Shadle, who also happens to be a childhood friend of mine. He
has done great things there, and there is a spirit not only of learning, but
excitement of learning that permeates the building. You sense it in the
teachers, and it flows out of them into their students. March 2 was the day
they kicked off their Spring Reading Program and I was asked to come and share
my love of reading through my book Fibonacci Zoo.
Bring in those Puddle Jumpers! |
I gave nine presentations that day, as I welcomed all
ages, from the sweet Pre-Ks through the academically strong 3rd graders. The energy
was palpable, and summed up best by one of the 2nd grade teachers, Mrs. Haag,
who said "anyone who can keep 40 second graders quiet and on the edge of
their seats for half an hour must be doing something right!"
The gorgeous Second Beach in La Push |
After a short break in the afternoon, spent exploring the
rough and rugged Washington coast in "Jacob Black" territory on the
Quileute Reservation, I was back for an evening presentation open to the
public. It was so exciting to see so many familiar student faces from earlier
in the day (who by now knew all the answers!) along with their parents
and family members and even community members who came for the curiosity (and delicious
cookies from JT's Sweet Stuffs)
Thanks Laura and the Pacific Inn! |
After the presentation, I did a book signing and was
overwhelmed by the manner in which parents in Forks support and encourage their
kids' love of reading. The town struggles with poverty. While the Twilight mania
brought (and still brings) much needed tourism money to town, the elementary,
for example, struggles with over 70% of their students qualifying for free and
reduced lunch from the government. And yet, parents were quick to buy books,
often multiple copies in multiple languages, in order to foster a love of
learning in their children.
I sold out of almost everything I brought, including science
books and Spanish language versions of Fibonacci. As I drove out of town the
next morning on my long journey back home, I was filled with hope for our
future. Hope that was evident in the face of every little Puddle Jumper I met
there in Forks.
The site of my evening presentation - a beautiful facility! |
Thursday, January 21, 2016
The Weather Channel
Just casually running through my Facebook feed and came upon this little gem. Fibonacci strikes again!!
Fibonaci Spiral In Weather
Fibonaci Spiral In Weather
Headed to Forks...and Vampires?
Photo credit: TripAdvisor.com |
If you happen to be on that side of the state, please come by and say hello!
Photo credit: TheAwl.com |
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