The "BEAR" Cycle for Success![]() Success in any course comes from continually striving to improve and continually making connections to other courses. More than either of those, though, it also requires a fair bit of self-confidence. One of the best methods I've found for building self-confidence is the "BEAR" cycle.
College and Career ReadinessBefore I was a math teacher, I taught Career and Technical Education in the Engineering and Design (now Engineering and Architecture) and the Energy and Utilities (now Energy, Environment, and Utilities) sectors. Despite my success in high school, I was unable to go to college for a few years after graduation. As I had been in college prep courses my whole life, I had no idea what to do when I entered the workforce right away.
One of my missions is to make sure students are prepared for college and career after high school because we never know what life will throw our way. I try to include elements, not just of my fields, but of artistic, linguistic, and other fields as well. [Look at the highlighted parts on pages 39 and 40 of the Energy, Environment, and Utilities standards for a special surprise. ☺] |
Contextual LearningI am a firm believer in contextual learning, especially for mathematics. Here are ten properties of contextual learning. These standards appear to some degree in almost all texts, but contextual instruction is rich in all ten standards. I'm not always successful at meeting all ten, but I always strive for them.
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