Bridges Blog Archive for June 2011

Pedagogy in the 21st Century

Cynthia Hockman-Chupp   |   June 30, 2011

On YouTube, a two-minute video, 21st Century Pedagogy, suggests that curricular construct and pedagogy in modern times has been based on a model created in the industrial age. In this top-down model, teachers controlled information; it was their job to pass the information on to students. Through decades of repetition, this model has become "the DNA of teachers" or "pedagogical DNA."

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Summer Exploration: Play Some Online Games

Cynthia Hockman-Chupp   |   June 27, 2011

As you settle into your summer vacation, consider exploring some of the online game suggestions for your grade level. For a quick entry point, go to the "Guide to Online Bridges Resources" and look at the chart under "Family Resources" for Online Games.

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Learning Styles in Mathematics

Cynthia Hockman-Chupp   |   June 25, 2011

In Educational Leadership, June 2011, you'll find a fascinating article, "Let Me Learn My Own Way," describing how students approach mathematics differently, depending on their Jungian learning style.

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Math and Stress

Cynthia Hockman-Chupp   |   June 21, 2011

In teacher workshops I frequently hear adults relate stories about times of intense stress during their own math education. The same is true for myself. I vividly remember. It was fourth grade. Several of us were told to continue at our own pace in the textbook, self-teaching, while the teacher instructed the rest of the class at a slower pace. That was all fine and dandy for me...until I hit a brick wall called "fractions." Completely mystified, I slowed to a halt. Embarrassed about my lack of ability, I was reticent to tell the teacher.

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Growing Patterns: Fibonacci Numbers in Nature

Cynthia Hockman-Chupp   |   June 16, 2011

The Fibonacci pattern of numbers, first written about by mathematician Leonardo of Pisa around 1202, is rather simple. In this pattern's sequence, a number is equal to the sum of the two numbers that precede it: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13...

What's so amazing about Fibonacci numbers? The fascinating places in which the patterns are found, especially throughout nature.

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