Finale

With 99% of this project complete I am still unhappy with the final project. Anti-climactic is the word, but falls woefully short.I was unable to find sufficient reviews, or reviews to my liking for my journal submissions, which happen to be OWL, Scholastic Math, Muse, Math Horizons, and a professional resource. I can't say that I like any of them, but they fulfill the requirements. I hate that it just fulfills the requirements, because to truly move forward we must do more than what is required. I did add 21st Century Learning Standards to my presentation, but not to the overall project. Not only did I run out of time for such an endeavor, it would have made the physical document stretch into the triple digits, and it's already at about 50 pages. Impressive, I know, or not. I have to ask myself did I accomplish what I set out to? Somewhat. Did I do everything that I wanted to? No. Is the work worth of an "A"? Absolutely.

The work is accurate and thorough and aesthetically pleasing. Now, I need to ask myself did I receive what I needed from the class. Do I feel like I've learned how to select print or non-print materials? No. But, here is why. There was no real explanation about how to use the standards to select materials. There is a structure to the Georgia Performance Standards that I had no idea about, which I'm getting an education about from my teacher-husband. These are things that should be taught in class. I hear a lot about learning on the job, but if that's the case why is there a need for a degree at all, and why are we lobbying so hard for certified media specialists if everything that you really need to know can be learned on the job? It can be frustrating. Or maybe that was the class I missed. C'est la vie.

Magazine Mania

This is really becoming a big issue. When you're trying to find reviewed resources for math it becomes a chore, but trying to find journal or magazine resources are especially hard to find. This is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Is there nothing out there for kids (I hesitate to call them children in 7th grade) who like math? Or could be convinced that math can be fun?

Scholastic Math seems to be the only game in town. I'm almost out of ideas. Almost.

Math, the neglected subject in collection development

I've made a terrible mistake. It is one of those mistakes that doesn't make it's true nature known until it is far too late, like realizing that you've left your passport in the hotel room right before you run up to counter at the airport - 10 minutes before the plane is to take off.
I chose math as my subject for this collection development project, mostly because it is the most neglected subject in collection development, but what I hadn't considered is that it is neglected because there just aren't that many resources to choose from, especially resources that have been reviewed. I've had to stretch my imagination to tie learning standards to some of the selections I've made and this process is not at all timely. I've tied my geometry standards to books on agriculture and design, and there are a few items are especially interesting that can be tied to algebra, but statistics and probability are terribly wanting and the search does not seem to be drawing to a happy close. I have another week to figure it out, but you would really think that the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) would have some suggestions. Not so.

What does a girl have to do to get fun, easy-to-read, age appropriate math-related texts?