I keep going back to the pressures I feel from covering our immense curriculum and preparing my students to perform on the MEAs, and how I might balance the pressure with good math teaching. I know what good teaching looks like, and I want my students to understand the concepts. However, I confess that I fall into the "Trap of the Algorithm" (insert scary music here) just so my students don't get stumped when the MEAs roll around. I feel that there needs to be a larger and more fundamental change in education that supports our good teaching and student understanding of mathematical concepts, not their ability to manipulate naked numbers.
How do we balance the "hurry up" pressures of curriculum and testing with our students' needs for deeper understanding?
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I think that even though we may have to slow down from time to time it pays off and translates to better understanding and improved performance on standardized tests.
I would agree, Don.
I would agree, Don.
Continuing with Don's idea, if an entire school system buys into this approach, we can give the students an early foundation that can be built upon in successive years. Too often it seems that programs such as this are only adopted by certain grades, leading to a disjointed learning experience.
The question is how to sell a program to the entire system...
Hi.
Maybe it would help to consider that you're not alone... and you're not solely responsible for the education of your students. They've all been in other classrooms with other teachers before you....
So, start conversations: share ideas, strategies, successes, and discuss experiences that were not so successful. Help each other help students make better sense of math... from the ground up.
Within just a few years... you could see a real difference in understanding and achievement.
CindyN
PS I just saw Marianne's comment... sounds like we're headed in the same direction!
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