<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.5730.11" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY> <DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=171452014-30042009>I'm of the direct instruction camp.  If skills and concepts are not build upon each other correctly, you will get kids that either learn a concept wrong (then they have to unlearn it) or fail and then feel like they are stupid.  Having a kid with autism, I've seen both.  Unfortunately, I've seen both with typical kids or even smart ones under poor teaching practices.  This is especially true for teaching reading - Project Follow Through showed that direct instruction was by far the most effective in teaching period.</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=171452014-30042009></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=171452014-30042009>What I'm suggesting is taking effective practices and putting them in a computer model.  Using short videos or whatever (flash like animation) to teach concepts.  I'd love to see students answer questions from the computer and use open source audio to text to ensure the student is following along and can at least properly use mathematical (or whatever subject) vocabulary.  Verbal feedback also ensures the student is engaged and not just along for the ride.  All this can be fun, and be presented in a systematic and sequencial way so as not to lose the student. </SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=171452014-30042009></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=171452014-30042009>By just throwing some skills at the student, that is not called teaching.  You have to design a program or set of programs that can actually teach many skills and concepts.  In other words, maybe have it to where the teacher actually adds in the curriculum with their sequence into a flat file or database but the program will take care of presentation due to its modularity.  I'm thinking Typing Turtle, here.  With Typing Turtle I can put in a sequence of teaching keys.  I have 30 lessons but have only taught 5 keys.  This is broken down for my son.  Another kid could learn those 5 keys in maybe 10 lessons.  Right now I would have to re-write the lessons for the other kid but you see where I am going with this - an amazing and stupendous program would adjust automatically for each kid - probably via analyzing thousands of kids.</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=171452014-30042009></SPAN><FONT face=Arial><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT size=2>T<SPAN class=171452014-30042009>he books I listed are the "bible" of teaching.  No kidding.  They can be used by just about anyone to sequence teaching to ensure you don't skip steps and lose kids.  It should help nerds (what I loving call you guys) when they program modules.  How do you teach a skill or concept when you are not sure the student has prerequisite skills or knowledge?</SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT size=2><SPAN class=171452014-30042009></SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT size=2><SPAN class=171452014-30042009>-Kathy</SPAN></FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=en-us dir=ltr align=left> <HR tabIndex=-1> <FONT face=Tahoma size=2><B>From:</B> iaep-bounces@lists.sugarlabs.org [mailto:iaep-bounces@lists.sugarlabs.org] <B>On Behalf Of </B>Bill Kerr<BR><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, April 29, 2009 8:21 AM<BR><B>To:</B> Kathy Pusztavari<BR><B>Cc:</B> iaep@lists.sugarlabs.org<BR><B>Subject:</B> [IAEP] maths instruction<BR></FONT><BR></DIV> <DIV></DIV>On Thu, Apr 30, 2009 at 12:16 AM, Kathy Pusztavari <SPAN dir=ltr><<A href="mailto:kathy@kathyandcalvin.com">kathy@kathyandcalvin.com</A>></SPAN> wrote:<BR> <DIV class=gmail_quote> <BLOCKQUOTE class=gmail_quote style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: rgb(204,204,204) 1px solid"> <DIV class=im>"How can this principle of customizable math be applied to framework<BR>development?"<BR><BR></DIV>By showing exemplars that change as you proceed through your teaching<BR>sequence.<BR><BR>See<BR><BR>"Designing Effective Mathematical Instruction: A Direct Instruction<BR>Approach" by Stein, Kinder, Silbert & Carnine<BR><BR>"Theory of Instruction: Principles and Applications" by Engelmann and<BR>Carnine<BR> <DIV class=im></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR>Could you elaborate on this a little more please Kathy?<BR></BODY></HTML>