That leaves me with about 36 fifth graders to teach in an approximately 20-minute period without our usual access to technology.
What's a teacher to do?
I decided to make those Wednesday TED Wednesdays. On TED Wednesdays we'll watch a TED talk, and explore the mathematical idea relayed during that talk with discussion and hands-on activities.
Today we started with making origami cats and dogs and then we watched the Lang talk below. Next week we'll focus on mathematical thinking, and then after that we'll examine math puzzles.
I had heard a long time ago that Gates favored a type of professional development for educators where experts educate many through the use of video and other online vehicles. Last week when I attended a Mahesh Sharma's math workshop, I thought that he'd be a good candidate for that kind of professional development. In a similar fashion, sometimes a TED Talk is a terrific vehicle for students learning.
There's never one way or medium for all share and growth, but online learning is definitely a positive path for some of the teaching/learning we want to do.
