Today

To approach my teacher, to start hearing from her, I had to lower myself. I had to put aside the notion that we are peers or colleagues. I had to view her as the teacher and me as the student. And then conversations started to come forth and actual learning. There is really a big gulf between us. I have one of the best teachers with the most to teach, but then I have so much further to climb and learn. I have a lot of brain activity right now. My mind is trying to cope with my environment and make sense of things. It's a sign of actual learning, but it's uncomfortable.

I coasted through Practicum 1 with straight 3's. I had some problems, but they were resolved by my personality and not from me learning anything. My teacher now is the REAL DEAL.

I am not someone who likes challenge, but now I do have a challenge and I stand to gain so much from her. Read More......

Math Language

When I taught my lesson on Introducing Area (Envisions 16.5), one of the things that my PSMT kept telling the kids as she helped them later is: You know this, it's like an array....array....array. So I probably raised my eyebrows, but brought it up yesterday and asked about it and happened to mention that it's not really a standard vocabulary word. She responded something like oh but it is! (For them). They had learned mulltiplication by studying arrays.

What is an array? When I think of "an array", I think of an array of abilities or an array of numbers or a satellite array, so things which are linked and connected. A satellite or computer array is a series of connected computers that work together. In video games your character has an array of attributes that decide how well you shoot or jump. When I asked Debbie what an array is, she couldn't tell me. I'm certain she could do the multiplication that an array suggests to my 3rd grade classroom.

On the Daily Spiral Review my students will do today for my unit on volume, there is a question about lines of symmetry, prompting me to ask my teacher if her kids would know that. She said they'd been studying it since first grade. Other questions will ask about congruence or vertices, irregular vs. regular polygons.

Two or three years ago the Review-Journal published an article about failing math scores and included some of the test questions being given to our students. They had a similar sort of vocabulary. My mother's then-boyfriend and she, both college graduates, couldn't understand what the problems were asking. His degree was in physics and he helped to design the early programming of ICBMs during the Cold War for Boeing.

So.... our kids must be learning a lot, right? I don't think so. Maybe the NCTM would be thrilled by kids learning (or not really learning) what math terms mean, but it creates a disconnect for other generations trying to help students with problems they could actually help them with. Read More......

Teaching Area tomorrow

So I resisted talking about the disappointing LOST finale last night in class, but a Math blog is the perfect place to mention the absence of the "numbers". Quite a let down.

Ok, here is something I'm working on for teaching area to the third graders tomorrow in my practicum. I am using the Legos to brace and keep the plaster squares at right angles with one another as I glue them down. I'm going to ask the class how many squares I'll need to fill in the inside of the rectangle I'm creating.

I enjoyed class today. It was fun figuring out how to arrange the layout. When I first saw the grid, I thought of comic book panels.


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