I really like this article because of how relatable it is. I want my students to ask questions but getting them to ask them is the tricky part. Encouraging them constantly that they can do it and to ask questions can be exhausting but that's what I want so that they will become confident and improve.
I also love the end of the article were she talks about giving credit for showing work even if the answer is wrong. I do this in my classroom as well because if I see that the student is trying then I can hopefully help them in he future move toward the correct answer.
This is a great article. I run into adults today who when I say I am going to teach math they say "ooh why? Math was alway so hard." And I can admit at times my response it "but it's so easy." Which obviously isn't the greatest response to that. However, they react the same way the article describes, by claiming they aren't "math people" and didn't get it. But every one can learn math (can learn anything for that matter).
"An assistant professor at the University of California, Riverside Graduate School of Education has shown that a reading comprehension technique helps non-native English speakers in elementary school learn math."
Jo Boaler's research on how children learn math is called into question and her response ""When Academic Disagreement Becomes Harassment and Persecution" is discussed in this article, which also features support from her colleagues and a video explaining her ideas.
"PBS LearningMedia is a free digital media resource designed to support curriculum-based teaching and learning from for Pre-K through 12th grade. The service offers video clips, audio recordings, photographs, interactive games, primary source documents, and more. For access to PBS LearningMedia's library, register today - it's free!"
"A consortium of education organizations will be developing an online repository of classroom videos to help new teachers learn from master instructors how to teach math and science topics in third through sixth grades. The video repository is part of a project funded by a $3 million grant from the United States Department of Education and includes participants from Stanford University and the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE), as well as the Teacher Performance Assessment Consortium (TPAC), which AACTE helps to operate."
A college institutional researcher reveals some data concerning math placement tests and the pressures impacting students to opt for more difficult math courses without adequate preparation and unsatisfactory results. He writes: "In my mind, this disconnect exemplifies the degree to which incoming students and families don't grasp the difference between going to college to acquire content knowledge and going to college to develop skills and dispositions. ... [I]f students understand that college is about developing skills and dispositions, I think that they might be more likely to appreciate the chance to start at the beginning that is appropriate for them, savoring each experience like a slow cooked, seven course meal because they know that the culmination of college is made exponentially better by the particular ordering and integrating of the flavors that have come before."
Abstract: "In spite of the efficacy of Operations Research (OR), its tools are still
underused, due to the difficulties that people experience when describing a
problem through a mathematical model. For this reason, teaching how to approach
and model complex problems is still an open issue. A strong relation exists
between (video) games and learning: for this reason we explore to which
extent (real time) simulation video games could be envisaged to be an innovative,
stimulating and compelling approach to teach OR techniques."
Abstract: "Australian pre-service teachers have to acquire layers of knowledge as school classrooms are
multicultural in composition. To what extent does the experience of an overseas professional
experience tour contribute to the development of pre-service teachers in meeting recognised
professional teaching standards? This paper describes the perceptions of Australian preservice
mathematics teachers who participated in educational and cultural activities during
planned tours to Malaysia. The data set was collected through the use of questionnaires,
interviews and focus group discussions."
Abstract: "A simulated academic career was combined with inquiry-based learning in an upper-division
undergraduate mathematics course. Concepts such as tenure, professional conferences and
journals were simulated. Simulation procedures were combined with student-led, inquirybased
classroom formats. A qualitative analysis (ethnography) describes the culture that
emerged within the simulation during a pilot test. A discussion follows evaluating the
potential for career simulations to invite students to consider graduate studies and academic
careers in the STEM disciplines."
From the abstract: "Studies on creative mathematics conducted in the past decades revealed that the importance of
creation of learning and teaching environment favourable to the identification and nurturing
creativity in mathematics. Based on psychological, methodological and didactical models created
by Krutetskii (2006), Shchedrovtiskii (2008), Brousseau (2007) and Sierpinska (2004), we have
developed our challenging situation approach. During 5 years of field study in the elementary
grade VII classroom, we collected sufficient amount of data that demonstrate how these
challenging situations help to discover and to boost mathematical creativity in very young
children, keeping and increasing their interest towards more advanced mathematics curriculum.
This article is an humble attempt to present our model and illustrate how it works in the mixedability
classroom. We will also discuss different roles that teachers and students might play in
this kind of environment and how each side could benefit from it."
Video featuring Abby Brown, Math Teacher, Torrey Pines High School : ""Mathematica has changed how I think about teaching and how my students learn mathematics. The conversations in our classes focus so much more on concepts and ideas and understanding the mathematics rather than how do I solve the problem."
Among the awardees, "The Monterey Institute of Technology and Education for NROC Developmental Math, a program to help financially disadvantaged students pass developmental math courses before starting college math courses;"