[math4] Teachers and developers: "Finding the 44"

[Greg Dekoenigsberg]

Lest anyone think I don't want teachers around, which is perhaps what some 
may have construed from my comments, I want to make it VERY clear:

THIS WON'T WORK IF WE CAN'T FIND 4TH GRADE MATH TEACHERS TO HELP US.

The way forward, ultimately, is to pair teachers and developers together 
to build activities that map *directly* to clear objectives, as defined 
by the curriculum framework:

http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Math4Team/Resources/CurriculumChart

The nice thing about the open source model is that these activities don't 
have to be perfect.  In fact, they *shouldn't* be perfect.  They should be 
experimental.  They should be moving targets.  They should come together 
quickly.  They should be simple, and numerous.  Over time, it will become 
clear which ones have the most momentum, because people will actually be 
using them, and ultimately we will polish those gems that our community 
find most useful.

What we're really doing here is establishing a framework that will allow 
us to get started -- because it tells us *what we should be working on*. 
Too frequently, we've had developers decide to write a cool activity, 
without having a clear goal.  The result is a bunch of cool activities, 
but with not nearly enough coverage.

Hence Math4.  44 objectives, 44 activities.  Which means that we need 44 
developers, and 44 teachers to guide them.  :)

If you look again at the Curriculum Chart:

http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Math4Team/Resources/CurriculumChart

...you see the 44 objectives, and next to them, slots for people and 
activities.  As we recruit developers and teachers, we should be pairing 
them up by objective.

As an example, I've added myself and Mongo to the following objective:

"4.P.3: Determine values of variables in simple equations, e.g., 4106 – x 
= 37, 5 = y + 3, and s – y = 3."

Note: Mongo, in the short term, will really just be a drill tool that can 
handle any content.  However, I am picking a single objective anyway, even 
though it could conceivably handle multiple objectives.

So now we need 43 developers and 44 teachers.  I'm doing what I can to 
bring developers to the table.

Who can bring the teachers?  We need your help.

--g

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