Math
“When we turn to the school, we find that one of the most striking tendencies
at present is toward the introduction of so called manual training, shop work,
and the household arts-sewing and cooking” (Dewey p.12). I believe that
I could incorporate that idea into a math class. I would do a unit on surveying.
That is a job where people find the elevation of the land. I would start off the
class by dividing the class into groups. These groups would be their working groups.
Each person would be assigned a role within the group. The students would switch
around their jobs to give everyone a fair chance as each person.
“The unity of all the sciences is found in geography.”(Dewey 18).
Geography in their area is very important for students to learn according to Dewey.
As the teacher you would assign them different areas in the neighborhood. This
gives the student the opportunity to see the real world. It gives the student
a real feel on how elevation changes in their own community. The teacher would
need to ask someone in the surveying business for equipment and maybe a starting
elevation to get the students started. Each group would go into a different direction
to find out more about their area. For the community helping out the students
could do something for the community. Dewey believes that it is important for
the school and community to feed into each other. The community helps the school,
and the school helps the community. The students then would find out the elevations
of the area. They would go so far and then the assignment would be complete. When
they get back to the classroom you can give an assignment on finding out about
what use to be in their community. You would give them a questionnaire to go out
and ask in the community to find out about the history.
This assignment would give the students an opportunity to learn about their community
as well as the area around them. The students would also learn many math skills
as well. The student may end up really enjoying this job, and may lead them into
this job field.
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