This Week (Accommodating the Storm Day)

Happy first day of your last week of classes for 2011!

Normally when a class is cancelled due to weather, all activities get pushed to the next day. Therefore, tomorrow (Tuesday, November 29th) our team teaching will be done by the people who were to teach for us on Thursday, November 24th.

People scheduled to teach on Tuesday November 29th will now be teaching on December 1st.

Of course this means that we won't have any time now for our math party :( and we have to have our course evaluation on December 1st too, so we need to allow time for that.

You were supposed to get your exam results last week too (dang storm!), so you will receive those tomorrow.

Hope you were able to take advantage of the gift of time on Thursday! Remember, keep it all in perspective.... you are almost done!

Next Week

Well we have day one of team teaching activities under our belt! Thank you to the 6 groups from both classes who taught their lessons today.

Tuesday November 22nd at noon will be the time for the make-up exam for any students who missed on exam day. I tend to wait until all make-ups are completed before giving back exams (you will get to see your exam, where you did well or in some cases, not as well, and pass back to me). If you are very anxious about your exam result I ask that you email me before 5 p.m.  Friday (November 18th) and we can discuss it. Please include your first and last name, as emails tend to come as "f56rfv@mun.ca." (This means it will not be acceptable to email me on Sat, Sun, or Mon. about this).

Enjoy your time with your students tomorrow!

Team Teaching Details

On March 25 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. 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.

October 27th Class

Hi folks.

Tomorrow we will be discussing assessment and then focusing on early number sense. To get you ready for the cognition needed for counting, I want you to watch this very serious educational video:

Reading for Tuesday October 18th

Please make your way through the next chapter (4) for Tuesday. We will be discussing the myths that surround problem solving and we will go over what it is that we will be doing and reading during the rest of the semester for those of you wanting to get on top of your reading. I have placed a copy of the third edition of our text on reserve in the CMC.

Have a great time tomorrow at the schools, and see if you can find a 10 x 10 multiplication array in the classroom.

Math Fair Self Reflections

Hi all. Thank you to all students who completed their self-assessments during class today. I will do my best to have your marks for the math fair ready for Tuesday's class.

For students who did not complete the math fair self assessment, I will need you to do this before receiving your mark. Please be prepared to write it after class on Tuesday and hopefully I will be able to give you your mark for Thursday's class.

Good luck to everyone writing their Exceptionalities exam tomorrow!

One Grain of Rice

Hi everyone. Today we read the lovely mathematical folk tale One Grain of Rice by Demi. I urge you to follow and read the following link that contains a systems based review of this book.

The author of the review gives a very nice account about exponential growth and the power of this mathematics.

Here are some details from Amazon about the book:

• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Press (April 1 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 059093998X
• ISBN-13: 978-0590939980
•