Exit Interviews, MUN class cancellation, and your final blog post topic

Hi folks. Well, my plan for our exit interviews scheduled for today has been thwarted by the weather and the university closure. Are you upset or elated? I don't need to know your answer. :)

I've been trying to decide what our options are, and most of the options are not actually possible given the timing.  I do not think it is fair to ask you to do something else in lieu of the interview at this point as you are in the process of finishing up your other courses too.

The interviews were originally worth 15% so I will just spread that over the four other assignments (assessments) this semester.

For your final blog entry, please answer the last question I had listed for you to consider in preparation for your interview:

What was your greatest 'learning' this semester with regard to teaching children mathematics? How has your thinking shifted?

If you can edit your blog to the way you want and get your final posts completed by April 7th that would be best.

I am disappointed that I won't be able to see you again as a group before the end of the semester. It really was a pleasure for me to meet you all and to get to know you a little bit. I feel hopeful that such a considerate group of young teachers will soon be making a difference in the lives of students. Please be sure to stay connected with me and let me know how your internships go, and how your teaching career goes. If I can help you in any way, I'd be pleased to try.

If you still have any of my math journals, can you drop them down to the mail room to be left in my mail box?

Stay safe on the roads if you venture out today. Best wishes, 3940 Winter 2014 class!! You rock. :)

Mary

Tuesday's Interviews

Hi everyone! I cannot believe it is coming up to our last week of classes.

On Tuesday at 10:30 I am going to begin short 'interviews' with you in groups of two (but you can do individual interviews if you request that). I will have a sign up sheet made available at the start of class so you can chose the order in which you will go. As I said today in class, we will run into the lunch period, and will just continue until everyone has had a turn!

To help you focus, I would like for you to consider the following questions/topics that come from the chapters we read, and from class discussions:

1. a) Boaler (key international math education scholar) created a short document with 5 research results that can transform math learning. It was part of the site (you cubed.org) you all spent time with (had a full class to work through it too). Please be able to speak to these research results and explain how they will impact you as a future teacher of K-6 mathematics.

1.b) From above, be ready to be able to explain 'fixed mindset' vs 'growth mindset' when it comes to your own learning of math, and when it comes to teaching mathematics. If you want to know a little more about this (I discussed this in class) you should check out this article about mindset. It is a really significant finding and has huge implications for mathematics learning as well as other areas of our lives.

2. Describe what your dream mathematics classroom would look and sound like. What would the students be doing? What would you be doing? and why? What would assessment for and of student learning be?

3. What makes a great problem?

4. What is the difference between a problem that requires problem solving and one that does not?

5. What is your philosophy of teaching mathematics? (Base your answer on educational research, not just on what you are familiar with or have experienced).

6. What are five frames for? Why are they important? What are ten frames for? Why are they important?

7. You are in the line up inside Tim Hortons on a Saturday morning. Someone you know is ahead of you in the line up. They know you are close to completion of your education degree and they say, "Why can't kids just do math the way we learned it 20 years ago, by rote memorization?" How do you respond? What are the key points you would want to make?

8. Why is it important that you have a whole class conversation during every math lesson after students have had time to work individually or in small groups?

9. Talk about the various cognitive capacities one would need in learning to count.

10. In class right after the reading break we did the activity,  "if five is the answer, what  could the question be?" ... Tell me about that particular activity and why it is an important thing to do with children.

11. What was your greatest 'learning' this semester with regard to teaching children mathematics? How has your thinking shifted (if it has)?

See you Tuesday. :-)

Team Teaching and Interviews and the last of our classes

Hi everyone,

Really looking forward to seeing your lessons! If the storm that is supposed to be severe closes MUN on Thursday, then team teaching will move to next class, Tuesday, and I will need to make a decision about what to do about our end of term interview. But I won't worry about that until we have to on Thursday.

On Thursday I will post some specific questions for you to consider in preparation for the short interview. For now you can review everything we read this year, and that will be extremely beneficial.

Team Teaching Details

On March 25th and 27th you will participate in team teaching. In groups of 2 and 3 you will lead a problem-solving activity for your classmates and this can be a lot of fun! No, really!

Thank you for arranging your own groups of two/three. (We need 12 groups in total,so you need to figure out the right combination of groups of two and three) On Tuesday (March 18th) we will draw numbers to decide which groups will go on which day as the fairest solution. 

The key is for you to find a really good task or problem. The quality of your team teaching activity is directly related to the quality of the task you bring to the class. I will not be giving groups feedback on the quality of your topic/task before you teach so please do not ask (sorry!). Choosing a good topic is part of this assignment.

What is your responsibility?

You and your group will provide the class with an example of great math teaching through a 15-20 minute problem-solving mathematical activity that is a strong example of what to do with children.

Your lesson / task / activity is to be an open-ended problem solving activity /task taught according to the NCTM Principles and Standards.

Please review the process standards HERE if you are in need of a refresher.

Please get your "students" involved in the task/activity right away. Please do not spend time reviewing or refreshing a topic. The biggest challenge with this assignment is finding a great task/activity.

I will be looking for evidence of interesting mathematics and your understanding of that mathematics. I will wish to see activities that are worthy of children’s time and attention. 

I will be interested in your ability to hold a whole class conversation where your students are talking about the math they are doing and defending their mathematical ideas.

I will be looking for evidence of your growing understanding of how to manage time, materials, groups, diverse students, whole group conversation, and technology if appropriate.

Remember, please, do not use your valuable time making pretty things for your lesson. It is not necessary or important for this assignment. I am looking for a thoughtful approach and evidence of your growing understanding of mathematics education.

When you are not teaching a lesson you will be participating as a learner. You may be asked to provide feedback at the end of teaching activities each day.

What’s this about having a conversation as part of the lesson?

When it comes to your teaching activity, part of the lesson will include a mathematical conversation facilitated by you, the teachers, with the "students" after they have had some time to experience the activity, since we know that whole group conversation is a significant part of any good mathematics lesson. Getting students to communicate their thinking and their ideas is key and takes practice.

You may need to stop students as they work (because of time constraints) so you can fit in a conversation about the mathematics they are doing. Just a reminder: This is not a conversation about teaching with your colleagues. It is a conversation about the math you are doing with your  "students." You will still be ‘in’ your teaching activity.

You will need to keep track of the time and to use the 15-20 minutes well. You will be stopped when you reach twenty minutes.

Having a good sense of your own strengths and weaknesses is crucial for reflective practice as a teacher and personal growth as a learner. You will be called to reflect on your own team-teaching experience during a conversation with me immediately following your lesson. Be ready to reflect on your team teaching. Think about what it is that worked well, and what you would change or improve or focus on if there were to be ‘a next time.’ During this conversation I will want to know what you know about the mathematics, and about how the topic is connected to the curriculum. You do not need to recite back specific outcomes. You do need to know the big ideas where your task is connected. 

What do you pass in to me?

At the beginning of class on the day you are scheduled to team-teach, please submit a one-page ‘plan.’ This means your group has to pass in a concise one page explanation of your activity in paper form. This one page should explain in clear language
a) exactly what it is that you will be doing,
b) the important mathematics that the lesson takes up,
c) how you will assess understanding,
d) how it is connected to the written curriculum -not specific outcomes but generally
e)  how it might be extended for diversity as an open-ended problem,
f) and reference from where the idea came.

This one page is not the place for detailed descriptions or listing of curriculum outcomes and objectives. There should be enough detail to be useful, but your descriptions should be brief enough for browsing. Please do not submit a cover sheet or accessorize with clip art. 

What manipulatives do you use?

You are welcome and encouraged to use any of the class manipulatives but you will need to make certain that the manipulatives you need actually exist and are available. Please have the materials you need organized and your teaching space (chairs, tables, materials, computer, ELMO) ready. That is your responsibility.

How will you share lessons with each other?

You should consider providing copies of the one page lesson for your classmates but it is not mandatory for the assignment. I suggest providing an electronic version to everyone.

What is the reason for this assignment?

One reason for stagnancy of the curriculum is that practising teachers often don’t have access to teaching ideas that support emerging conceptions of mathematics teaching. This assignment has a very pragmatic purpose: to compel you to assemble what should (collectively) be a valuable teaching resource.

This summative assessment has many other pedagogic purposes, including:

• To expose you to a variety of potentially solid mathematical ideas that are connected to curriculum and are developmentally appropriate.

• To provide you with the chance to teach and lead a lesson.

• To allow for collaborative teaching and planning.

• To demonstrate your growing understanding of problem solving and worthwhile tasks.

• To demonstrate your ability to reflect on teaching and to articulate strengths and areas of improvement.

Try to enjoy this experience. It is a chance for you to try some teaching in a safe environment and to get some constructive feedback. It should also be fun! 

Good luck! I am looking forward to seeing you all in action.

Blogs (gentle nudge)

Hi all. Today we will be counting! Ah ah ah! Something that seems so easy is rather complex as we shall soon discuss.

I wanted to put in writing what I had discussed in class earlier about our blogs.

I notice some people are a little behind so I just wanted to give you a gentle nudge to try to get on top of this assignment as it does count more than our other assignments.



Your personal math blog is where you are documenting your emerging understanding of the topics and ideas from Ed 3940.

Remember, it is the quality of your ideas that matter most, and not the digital bells and whistles. 

Here are questions for you to consider when thinking about the quality of your blog. I will be using these questions to guide my assessment of your work as well:



• Is my blog free of grammatical/spelling errors?


• Is it easy to read?


• Have I been careful to avoid statements that make sweeping generalizations?


• Have I used appropriate examples to explain my ideas?


• Have I come up with good questions that are interesting, important, or provocative?


• Have I gone further than simply retelling events to trying to unpack and understand events?


• Have I shown evidence of growth of understanding through my reflections?


• Have I been careful to avoid identifying teachers, students, and schools?


• Have I been clear in my writing and choice of words?


• Have I satisfied 4.8.3 MUN University Regulations on Good Writing?

The nice thing about blogger is that it is easy to revise and edit posts and fix up anything that does not satisfy you now, upon looking back. So when you have some time, take a look back at your earlier posts and revise anything you think you might need to revise/edit. If anyone needs to discuss their blogging with me, please email and we will meet face to face and look at your blog together.

Math Fair

On March 6th we will be having our math fair, as we discussed today in class. I want to expose you to the SNAP Math Fair that comes from the University of Alberta.

On the SNAP Math Fair website there is the following brief overview:

"SNAP Math fair is not like a traditional science fair. Although there is a superficial resemblance, it differs in its structure and its scope. Like a science fair, the math fair has tabletop displays presided over by students, but the similarity does not extend much beyond this.

A SNAP math fair is:

Student-centred,

Non-competitive, 

All-inclusive, and 

Problem-based.

The purpose of a SNAP math fair is to provide a meaningful problem-solving experience for all students. These four guidelines make the math fair appeal to all students at all levels. We believe that once you have tried a SNAP math fair, you will incorporate it as part of your regular math curriculum."

You and your partner will choose one problem from the following problems on the Galileo Network Math Fair Problems Page. You will be responsible for learning as much as you can about this one problem, and then during the math fair you will provide others in our class with the opportunity to solve the problem.

In the comments section below this post, you will need to type:

1. Both people's names (First and Last names)
2. The name of the problem you will be responsible for,
3. It will be first come, first choice with the problems. We do not want any problems repeated as it limits our exposure.

You will also need to check the teacher's page for the Math Fair problems, because some of the problems are more geared for secondary, and for the purposes of our class, I only want you to provide problems geared towards K-6. It will also help you see what area of mathematics your problem takes up and you may notice your problem listed in a few mathematical categories since the problem may encompass more than one area of mathematics.

Here is a rubric courtesy of the Galileo Educational Network that you can use to guide your work, and to use with your own students when YOU do math fairs at your school in the near future.

Click here to see a few images from our Math Fairs a few years ago.

You will have time from 10:30 - 11:45 on Thursday February 27th to work with your partner on this assignment.

If you missed class today, be sure to check with someone who was there if you have further questions...FYI, before I got to class I had received only one courtesy email regarding missing class today....so just wondering about the other 16 people who did not come?

Feisty February Weather

Hopefully you have managed to get shovelled out and to campus today!

I hope everyone had a good few days for your mid term 'break' and are feeling a little recharged? :)

For Tuesday, I would like for you to read two things. We will be spending time with a variety of resources available to you in Newfoundland and Labrador on Tuesday but in order to be able to look at the resources with a thoughtful eye, you have some prep work to do.

Two things:

1.  Please read the short chapter 4 in our text, Planning in the Problem-Solving Classroom. It takes up textbooks as just one resource for teachers (not the only source);

2. Choose a grade level from K-6 that interests you the most, and read the Math Curriculum guide for that grade, paying most attention to the first 15 or so pages (the Front Matter)  and then make yourself somewhat familiar with the rest of the guide for that grade.

By doing this you will put yourself in a good position to be able to answer the kinds of questions I am going to be asking of you as you review the resources.

See you shortly! (and no...I do not expect anyone to have read this before class today).