2. Teaching Math Before Technology Presented by: Niobrara High School Math Teacher -- Robert S. Rail

3. THE AGENDA 1. Tools vs Crutches 2. 3 Rules of Math 3. When a Tool Becomes a Crutch 4. Tools for Math Students 5. Where From Here?

4. Tools Versus Crutches

5. Technology: A Tool or a Crutch?  Tools – –Make A Task Easier –Increase Productivity –Add Efficiency to a Task  Crutches – –Compensate for an Impairment –Awkward to Use, Even with Practice –Decrease Productivity and Efficiency

6. When We Hand a Student a Calculator Before He / She Knows How to Calculate, Did We Give Them a Tool or a Crutch?????

7. FIRST 3 RULES OF MATHEMATICS 1. Simplify … …the Problem 2. Simplify … …the Process 3. Simplify … …the Answer

8. Simplify the Problem  Determine Which Answer Is Wanted  Determine Which Information is Relevant  Discard the Rest  Kansas City, MO is 187 miles south of Omaha, NE. If I leave at 10:00 AM and travel 60 MPH, will I be in time to see a 3:00 PM show at the Crown Center?

9. Simplify the Process 1. Grouping Symbols 2. Exponents and radicals 3. Multiplication 4. Division 5. Addition 6. Subtraction As it occurs from left to right

10. Simplify the Process  Great  Explanations  Make  Doing  Algebra  Simple 60 * [15:00 (3:00 PM) – 10:00 ] > 187 (Y or N)

11. Simplify the Answer  Combine Like Terms  Reduce Fractions  Put Radicals in the Numerator  Convert: –Negative Exponents in Numerator to Positive Exponents in the Denominator –Negative Exponents in Denominator to Positive Exponents in the Numerator  And the Answer is:

12. Simplify the Answer  Barring a Traffic Jam YES!

13. When A Tool Becomes A Crutch  Mental Math Versus the Calculator  Why Do We Defend Students Who: –Can’t / Won’t Do Basic Table Math? –Insist on a Tool When Their Brain is Better?  Why Are There Pictures on Cash Registers? (Okay, Not a Math Teaching Issue, but I Still Wonder)

14. Tools for Math Students  Brain  Fingers & Toes  Arithmetic Tables  Pencil, Paper, Compass, Protractor  Books (Reading is a BIG Plus in Math)  Practice  Slide Rule  Calculators, Cell Phones, iPads, PCs

15. Where from Here?  Teach and Apply the Basics  Assess Them to Until They Drop  No Calculators Before Irrational Numbers

16. I Cannot Say in my Heart That Technology Does Not Belong in any Classroom; I Can Safely Ascertain That Students Who Can’t (or Won’t) do Simple Math Without a Computational Device Are Hurting Their Chances to Competently Apply the Math in the World Around Them. Pick Any Discipline – Math is Required Even When Technology is Not.

17. Questions? Queries? Posers?