I was totally awed by Dan Meyer in this video. I, like many many others in the U.S and around the world, have never been a fan of math. I was good at it for a period of time but once it started getting complicated I exited the conversation as soon as possible. In this video Meyer shows how he thinks math needs to be taught. He showed how he takes the math problems from the textbook provided to him for his class and takes out all of the clutter that the textbook includes and makes real world math problems out of them. One of the examples he showed involved a question about how long it would take a container to fill with water. Instead of just thinking about the container of water as something that is imaginary, he went out and got one, and videotaped it being filled with water. I was amazing to me how much more interested I was in the math problem when I could actually see real world objects and think about the numbers and equations on the paper as a real thing. Once his students solved the problem they then went to the end of the video and were actually able to see if what they came up with was correct. I have certainly never attended an advanced math class that actually puts the math problems into a real world context. This is exactly what I think every subject needs to start doing in every school in our country. The days of textbooks as the only tool to use in the classroom are long gone and this future of teacher and student creativity must take its place. This video made me think about what I can do in the future to make my class more authentic and more exciting. Students need to become engaged and interested in their learning and I think the new generation of teachers that are being trained and entering the workforce have the will and the ability to change our education system to meet the needs of 21st century learners.
To watch this video click HERE.
Meyer, D. (2012, April 12). Dan Meyer at TEDxNYED. Retrieved November 18, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlvKWEvKSi8&list=PLbRLdW37G3oMquOaC-HeUIt6CWk-FzaGp&index=13