C4T #3

Motivation by David Wees

David Wees is a technology teacher at Stratford Hall in Vancouver, Canada. He posted a summary of the book Drive by Daniel Pink stating that cognitive thinking and performance in the workplace were not enhanced by a monetary reward. Instead, only tasks that involved labor would see an increase in performance with a monetary reward. You can David Wees's summary of the article here. Daniel Pink I owned a mortgage company for the past 13 years before I closed the company and started back to school to acquire a degree in education. In the past, I always paid my employees based on a percentage of their performance. You can only imagine how this piece of information would have reshaped my thinking if I would have read it while I was still in business.

However, a lot of the concepts Daniel Pink spoke about were the exact reasons we were in the mortgage business. Our jobs had a lot of flexibility and even employees were very much their own boss. We paid senior employees more money because they had mastered their craft. However, the mastery of the craft is exactly what has kept several of the mortgage veterans in the business. It could even be argued, maybe to their detriment. The market is sputtering and it is not exciting and fun anymore. Everyone comes to work with serious faces and on edge. With that being said, I agree wholeheartedly that we all desire to master our craft and be looked up to as the expert in our field. It makes us feel valuable and important. Sometimes that seems to be the only thing that keeps us going, even when the going gets tough.

What Should Be on a High School Exit Exam in Mathematics?

David Wees answers,"An exit exam is not necessarily the best way to determine if a student has been prepared by their school." He is speaking in regard to twelfth graders. I do tend to agree. I do not necessarily think giving a math exit exam with a pass/fail scenario to a student who is about to walk out the doors for good is doing him or her any favors. I believe if the test is a necessity, then it should be administered earlier in the students career. However, if the test is only for data assessment for the school, then the exit exam may be a good idea to give at the senior level.

Wees, like myself, is also for math education with a purpose. He states most adults are "mathphobic". In my classroom, I want to give math lessons based on spending budgets, grocery lists, better buy scenarios, etc. Why? Because our finances affect us in every way, every day. Students need to be taught being good at math is not just for the smart kids, or the "business minded". Math is for people who need food, shelter and a car!