Group items tagged

Reflections on the Common Core in Math...

This is a blog about math apps and the author has done a fantastic job of reviewing different apps and giving ideas on how to use them within the classroom. Worth looking at.

Interesting article about chicago teachers and math for the youngest students

Andrew shared this interesting article. It doesn't need to be about play vs. learning. It's learning through play-like activities. When children work in groups to explore math concepts, they're also developing social interaction and communication skills. It's a win-win situation. I have certainly seen this in our Kindergarten classrooms.

You are right on Lisa. There really should be no debate concerning academic skills vs. Social/emotional learning in the early childhood classroom setting. They both affect each other and should go hand in hand. I feel we do this well at STAB. I found it interesting that Duncan's research discovered math stood out as serving students the best in promoting later achievement with reading a close second.

So true! We learn best when it is fun and engaging!

Mentioned during November Learning. Great ideas for student created tutorials.

Great advice: "Just let the kids touch the computers!" we're going to do that!

yes, the idea of explaining a math concept and recording it is great! I plan to use Show Me to try this- I can start this right away to explain math games for game night.

Wouldn't it be fun to have our students make a few of these videos and post them on this page? It looks like they have videos from a variety of places. Check out the math addition videos for ideas.

There is something simple yet profound in the "You, Ya'll, We" that we can implement across subjects. Jugyokenkyu, as described, is a lot like the Tuning Protocol we will all engage in with our CFG's this year.

Too often teachers are not supported, given time or training when implementing new programs and methods. Without teacher understanding, student understanding and performance won't improve. As we reflect on some of the curricular changes we have made in the last few years, math being perhaps the most significant, we should note the time and training we've had to support us as we improve instruction.

The idea of persistence has been helping many of my students with math facts, which is really memorization. The comment about the "Western attitude towards struggling" is interesting - and that we shouldn't jump in to help right away.

Thank you sharing this post. I was dismayed to read the comments from teachers about the Kindergarten program, however, Their responses reflected my worries: They said that the challenges included: "1st half of the year was way too easy", they "had to use a lot of supplemental material", "purchased a lot of new materials", and that there was "no differenciation." I am hoping to hear a more positive plug for the Kindergarten program from another source.

This is an ad for a book on PBL in the Elementary Grades. Scroll down to download the PDF of the intro. It provides a great overview and addresses some myths about PBL.

To echo what Mary stated, our moon unit is a great example of project based learning in kindergarten. The framework is set but each year it changes quite a bit with each new group of students. The students and their specific interests in the moon and space guide our instruction. I think we will definitely use the ipads to enhance what we already do for this unit. I would like to try project based learning with more units of study.

Great ideas! Love to learn more about PBL projects Jill

Youtube videos about ST Math.

A Michael Gorman piece. Perhaps he can help us too?

Responsive Classroom article ... What makes Academic Choice different from the daily choices children make in the classroom?

Thinking about this from the point of view of our "Assessment" CFG, I would be interested in how one could tie together these ideas for academic choice with self differentiation. I love the idea of choice being a motivator, especially when the choice being made is one that is challenging to the individual. However, sometime I worry that the choices being made are the "easy" option rather than the one that would be best suited for the chooser. On a completely different note, I liked the idea of having a set of math problems and giving students choices for the ways of solving. This could support those who are not sure what to do (especially with the option of manipulatives) but also gives those more able students the opportunity to be creative in their solving. I think setting an activity like this would also encourage students to really think about their methods of solving, and prepare them to vocalize their thought processes.

I agree with Karen- I think the reflection portion of this article is so important! Think of how much students can grow by participating in academic choice and following up with the metacognition piece. With this, each time we introduce a new set of academic choices to our students, the process should feel smoother and more beneficial for everyone involved!

This is where the game Kick Box came from that I shared with the students during our TAC classes.