Chapter Four- Good Old Days

As you can see, I haven't progressed very far in my reading. My new plan is to read a chapter a day...we'll see how that works out. I enjoyed reading Chapter Four and the history of math education from Seeley's perspective. We certainly have been all over the board in our attempt to "improve" math curriculum and I'm not sure we have progressed much beyond the elementary math classrooms of the 40's and 50's. A pretty scary thought, huh? I know we are making progress with SDC and I'm hoping that after 6 years of guidance the SDC teacher leaders will have changed intrinsically and will be making a difference. I am haunted by a comment on page 21 "Yet resistance to change seems to be a natural human quality". Do you think that is true? If so, how can we advocate and implement mathematics changes for the good of our students?

Faster Isn't Easier

I read your post with interest, Marcia, and can relate to your frustration. I believe two barriers to students better understanding of mathematical concepts and teachers teaching in a way that foster that deeper understanding for students are the standardized tests and the textbook. We all know the pressure teachers are under to have students perform well on the standardized tests and some teachers don't trust that students will be able to perform as well or better on standardized tests using an inquiry based program. So, some teachers feel they must go page by page in the text book and if there is time, they will bring in CGI. However, I must say that since SDC I have seen some changes taking place. Those teachers brave enough to jump into the inquiry-base approach are finding that their students are more motivated to do mathematics and are learning to enjoy tackling and solveing complex problems. I believe that is due to the hard work of the SDC team! Yes, change is slow and intrinsic change is even slower, but you are making progress and SD students are the winners!

Okay, I thought I posted a long response this morning and have no idea where it went. I'll try to redo it later. Marcia, I did it before you provided the link.

Okay, I thought I posted a long response this morning and have no idea where it went. I'll try to redo it later. Marcia, I did it before you provided the link.

Faster Isn't Smarter - Math For a Flattening World

Math For A Flattening World
I thought I would start the discussion with the very first chapter, then you can add your comments to this chapter or add a title and post for a new chapter. I hope this sounds okay.
I reflected on the question - "How can we change our day-to-day teaching to reflect the changing (flattening) world?"

• On page 4 the paragraph that jumped out at me was the need to go "beyond teaching the basic skills, beyond requireing students to know how to perform procedures, and beyond offering recipes for solving problems that look alike. To limit our students to such a narrow view of mathematics is to barely equip them for the bottom tier of jobs that United States now outsources. We need to expect much more of all our students if they are to compete for the kinds of jobs that help businesses and societies solve the problems they face every day - problems no one yet knows how to solve; problems that call for the best creataive thinking and problem-solving skills we can bring to the table." I read this after two days of listening to principals say the students need to know their facts and trying to explain to them that Cognitively Guided Instruction and and inquiry approach to mathematics leads students to a deep understanding of numbers and their operations. Thus they will attain automoticity with numbers which is not synonomous with memorization. Memorizing does not mean they will know how to use those numbers and operations. How do we get passed this issue and focus on student understanding? As I begin work with the new teacher leaders this is also one of their major concerns. So, after reading this, I am thinking I need to take the stance of looking at our global community and how our students have faired in the past and how we want them to perform at the top of list as problem solvers and critical, creative thinkers and that takes much more than the basic skills for the future. What are your thoughts?