Whole New World

I haven't posted for a long time - been too busy and haven't been very busy at all.

The combination leads to little time for writing. I just spent the day with a group of teachers who are beginning their work with the Common Core mathematics standards. They were exceptionally positive as they looked at their practice and their content. It is bittersweet for me to have the Common Core standards coming into practice just as I am phasing out my work in the area of mathematics education. I just discovered a world of bloggers who share ideas on content and pedagogy. I would have LOVED to have had that world of support when I was in the classroom. I am constantly amazed at the level of professionalism and creativity these teachers exhibit. I'm still reading their blogs and copying out some of their good activities. Who knows - maybe I'll need them in the future if I'm asked to teach a class . . . or maybe I won't and I'll just enjoy the camaraderie of the math ed community and the exploration of mathematical ideas.

Word Cloud

Word Cloud II

Math Wars

I was watching 60 minutes last weekend. They did a whole segment on - what they called - Fuzzy Math. It's so discouraging when people knock the standards-based movement. Most of us who are encouraging mathematics to be taught in a thinking manner agree that people STILL need to find answers to mathematics problems. We even think that if there is a specific answer to a question - then people actually need to get that answer when they finish solving the problem. We may find that people don't always solve problems the same way, but if they are doing it in a way that is mathematically correct, then we think that is fine. It seems as though there's a right and a wrong way to teach mathematics. I think that there are as many ways to teach mathematics as there are people who are to learn mathematics. The bottom line is that we (at least I) would like people to know more than how to plug numbers into formulas. I want them to know when to use formulas; what it means; how to interpret the answers they get.

The Tipping Point

I am writing this blog without total understanding of how everything is working. My sister just attended some classes on technology and called with all the excitement of her new learning. Then my brother sent a link to his blog that he created to use with his students. In his email connection, there was a place to create a blog. I thought, "Why not?" Now I'm just a little beyond my understanding. I do understand how a blog works - I read several on a regular basis. I have figured out how to post - and have actually received a response (from previously mentioned brother.) I then received a link to a humorous video about technology that tells me that all the things my sibs have been talking about have reached "the tipping point" in our society. http://www.jibjab.com/view/227044
I suppose that means that my sibs and I are way behind the times. : )

It occurs to me that one characteristic of people who do well in math is persistence and a willingness to jump in and try things without being 100% sure this path will take them to a solution. It's a willingness to accept the uncomfortable feeling of being just a little adrift. I think many times students only see teachers work problems that are not really "problems" for the teacher. The teacher quickly knows the direction to go and completes the problem with ease and little thought. The student thinks it should be that simple for them. They don't realize that even adults spend some time struggling if they are working a real problem. At least the little girl in my profile didn't realize that. She thought either you got math or you didn't. She didn't "get math" until she entered geometry class. That gave me a lot of empathy for people who struggle with mathematics. Throughout my career I have worked with many children and adults who find mathematics a puzzle. Developing a confidence in them even though the struggle may be long is one thing I tried to inspire in my students. Hopefully I found some little bit of success in that quest.

Retirement life

As a recent retiree who lived in the world of mathematics for over 30 years and then ended up spending the last few years working with professional development (especially in the area of reading!), I am thrilled to find in my retirement an opportunity to reenter the world of mathematics education. I have been working as a consultant with leaders in mathematics education across the state on implementing effective teaching strategies in mathematics classrooms K - 12. It is interesting to me to look back on the work we did 20 years ago and compare it with our efforts today. I really feel that while we were doing excellent work in teaching teachers good methods and approaches, once the professional development was over, teachers went back to the tried and true methods they had always used. My work in professional development has shown me that what we were missing was the follow-through. We weren't providing enough support to the teachers when they were back in the classroom dealing with all the stresses of today's world of education. My question now is how do we provide that help this time. Where do we find the people and the time to support individual teachers in their quest for quality instruction? How do we overcome the systemic problems that fly in the face of good instruction - schedules that limit mathematics instruction to unreasonably short periods of time; environments that encourage teachers to teach rote learning so children can score well on tests instead of teaching conceptual understanding tied to procedural learning so students can do well on tests AND understand the concepts they are being tested on.
Looking back over my career in mathematics education, I can see we have made mistakes in preparing people to teach mathematics. It often appeared as though mathematics was an either/or situation - know the facts or know the concepts. The "Math Wars" that continue to rage appear to me to be a needless waste of time for all parties concerned. We need to combine forces and find ways to engage all students in critial thinking with appropriate skill-based results.