Sean Donovan’s Innovative Math Strategies for Post-Pandemic Learning

Brewer High School's Sean Donovan tackles declining math scores post-pandemic using inquiry-based digital projects, fun-tivities, and real-world applications to improve student engagement, verbal communication, and measurable outcomes.

As students prepare their digital projects for presentation, Donovan has the assumption that they will verbally clarify in their own words the project’s purpose and outcomes. “That’s something I do not believe most mathematics teachers have done,” he claimed.

Hands-On ‘Fun-tivities’ for Engagement

One more effort Donovan has actually undertaken is making use of “fun-tivities,” in which he teaches mathematics much more like a science class. “They’re doing an experiment, or they’re doing something with hands-on tools,” Donovan claimed. “It’s a great deal of job, a lot of hands-on preparation. However as one teacher at a workshop said, ‘We don’t desire scientific research educators to have all the enjoyable.'”.

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Inquiry-Based Digital Projects

Donovan stated that a combination of specialist advancement sessions via the College of Maine and the Maine Math and Science Alliance, as well as graduate pursue an educational technology degree, prompted him to turn out inquiry-based electronic tasks. These give students “possession on what the subject is, just how they offer it, what digital platform they make use of, and exactly how it pertains to them,” he stated.

Addressing Declining Math Scores

With government information continuing to show that trainee math ratings are less than pre-pandemic, math educators like Sean Donovan of Brewer High School in Maine are refusing to accept that this is a “brand-new normal.” In his classroom, Donovan has actually embraced a variety of real-world techniques made to improve the relevance of mathematics lessons for his trainees.

“We provide examinations theoretically. However a lot of real-world tasks, or tasks, you have actually got to be able to interact vocally,” Donovan stated. “Having [pupils] assess their understanding, it’s been truly helpful for them.”.

Measurable Improvement & Teacher Commitment

While Donovan suches as to assume his direct direction is sensibly engaging, and he was fairly satisfied with ball games generally. “They were greater when we were doing group work and hands-on tasks,” he claimed. “There was quantifiable improvement.”.

Another initiative Donovan has actually taken on is the usage of “fun-tivities,” in which he shows math more like a science class. “They’re doing an experiment, or they’re doing something with hands-on devices,” Donovan claimed. A lot of real-world jobs, or tasks, you have actually obtained to be able to communicate vocally,” Donovan claimed. While Donovan likes to think his direct guideline is sensibly engaging, and he was sensibly pleased with the scores on the whole.

When it comes to the hands-on “fun-tivities,” one example might be discovering how to do architectural evaluating job by leveraging trigonometry to estimate the height of the college’s athletic building towers, Donovan stated. Others could consist of utilizing spectrometers to gauge light intensity or an auditory device to do the same with sound.

“Make it convenient for yourself, and make a commitment to it,” he stated– especially if you’ve drawn up your plans and are questioning, “Just how am I mosting likely to squeeze a brand-new thing in there without taking something out?”.