(Mass and Volume, above, were the culprits in the case of why the clay boat sank.  Together they determine the density of the clay, and the amount of water displaced by the boat.)

I have been exploring links to tutorials for Science and Mathematics and was reaffirmed to see some of the lessons I try to teach my 8th graders in the lessons of a high school class and a college class.  One was a lesson on how to do your homework so that it impresses your math teacher, and the other was on the expectation for “academic honesty” at MIT.  I wonder if the students really understand why teachers in middle school, high school, and college value academic honesty (not cheating) and homework. 

Here’s your chance to tell me what you think.  Read the links and let us know if you think it is important to learn to do homework well and if you believe students should be disciplined for copying their work from another student. 

I was reminded today that sometimes our attitudes get in the way of our own learning.  For some reason, new things are not always exciting.  Sometimes new things make us feel uncomfortable.  For example, in Algebra I we learned about the rule for an exponent of zero.  It took some convincing for the students to believe that an exponent of zero gives a result equal to one.   Some students seemed genuinely angry that the zero exponent didn’t give a result of zero! 

I’m often the same way.  New ideas or changes can make me feel anxious and uncertain.   I have to laugh at myself when I realize what a crazy attitude that is!  An open mind is always the best approach to learning.  We can’t learn anything new unless we prepare ourselves by understanding just how much we need to learn.  I’ll be the first to admit that!