Creating Patient Problem Solvers

This is a link to an interesting talk about math curriculum.  The teacher giving the talk argues that teachers should "be less helpful" to encourage "patient problem solvers."  The video is about 12 minutes long and well worth that time. I hope you enjoy it.

http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_meyer_math_curriculum_makeover.html?utm_source=newsletter_weekly_2010-05-18&utm_campaign=newsletter_weekly&utm_medium=email



At the beginning, I honestly was not sure what the teacher was getting at. However, a little more time and reflection allowed me to appreciate his discussion about learning from the students' experiences with challenging their critical thinking and problem solving skills. This is a very engaging and interesting process indeed.


One of my colleagues from Harvard, who also enjoyed the film, is a life, career, and social service agency coach.  At the moment, she is coaching five middle school kids from the inner city who have been expelled from school.  The critical thinking and problem solving aspect of the talk went way beyond math for her and certainly for me as well. Please visit her website and read about the incredible work she is doing with her students at www.SageCoach-cac.com.