I read the news today. Oh Boy!

That's the subtitle of my latest remix of my Numeracy across the Curriculum workshop. I was invited to speak to the staff of Chris Harbeck's school on Friday morning. The entire presentation (slides, audio, video) is archived on the wiki that supports this workshop. I've included lots of other links and resources for teachers. If you know of anything I should have included or should work in for next time please let me know.

This is one of the most difficult talks I've ever given. How can teachers, in this case k thorough grade 9 (students aged 5 to 14), weave the teaching of numeracy into their regular curriculum; teachers of English, Practical Arts, Social Studies, Art, Music, and Elementary teachers who do it all?

At one point in the slides you'll see The Hidden Problem is highlighted. The hidden problem is two-fold but the aspect of it I find most troublesome is not the one that was talked about in the research I read. (Links embedded in the slides.) Listen to the bit where I talk about the dinner party in the second half of this excerpt from Chris' Ustream:

14 minutes 5 seconds

Stop the Presses! Numeracy Across the Curriculum

I had the hardest time preparing for the workshop I gave at Elmwood High School last Friday. It was about numeracy across the curriculum. The questions I asked myself were: "How do I talk to a bunch on non-math teachers about weaving numeracy into their daily teaching? Not as something extra or an add-on; they already have enough to do. How can I make a "scary" subject like math accessible and palatable to a bunch of non-math folks? And, how can busy teachers integrate numeracy into their regular curriculum?"

Oy! How do I get into these things? (A friend asked and I said yes.)

About two weeks ago I posted about it and asked if anyone had any suggestions, or examples to share, of how they had integrated numeracy into the teaching of non-math subjects. Six people contributed some content to the numeracy wiki or shared resources with me. I want to thank Sarah Chauncey (Library Media Specialist, Grandview Elementary School), Kelly Christopherson (administrator, Eston composite School), Chris Harbeck (Teacher, Sargent Park School), Terry Freedman (ICT Consultant, UK) and Ian Dixon (Mathematics and Psychology teacher) and Laurie May (English teacher, Daniel McIntyre Collegiate Institute).

Here is the presentation I gave as a series of videos ... some of the content comes from YouTube. I've remixed the audio recording of the workshop with my PowerPoint slides into videos I hosted at google video. YouTube has a 10 minute time limit for videos that are uploaded unless you are a "Director." I'm not sure I would have been accepted as a YouTube director and google video doesn't have the same restrictions. The quality of the video is best viewed at google video. Select "original size" from the pop-up menu that you will find there in the bottom right hand corner of the video window.

I've already got a number of ideas about how to make this a better workshop next time around. Nonetheless, as always, your comments, questions, compliments, complaints, confusions, anxieties and other inquiries are welcomed and encouraged ...


The Introduction ... (4 min 28 sec)

You Need Math ... (3 min 9 sec)

First half of workshop (50 min 50 sec) ....

We took a 15 minute break ... then ... (2 min 41 sec)

1 Billion is Big ... (3 min 13 sec)

This is the end ... (22 min 20 sec)

Update December 13, 2006
PowerPoint Slides
Audio: Part 1 (30.6 Mb, 63 min. 43 sec.) Part 2 (15.2 Mb, 31 min. 42 sec.)