Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Everyday Math Program
Many of the things we've been discussing in class, and the ideas set forth in the article are inherent aspects of the Everyday Math Program. Falmouth adopted the program about five years ago and it really changed the way I taught math. It allows the students to use multiple strategies for solving problems and it provides many opportunities for students to understand a concept, not just memorize answers. I'm wondering how many people in this class use the Everyday Math Program.
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3 comments:
Hmmm
actually I found EM to be contrary to the ideas we're talking about in this class - the unbelievable pace the students are expected to keep (not to mention all of those journal pages!) and the one way they teach many of the intermediate concepts such subtraction with borrowing (trade first) to mention only one. I found very little opportunity for the students to explore and discover or for the teacher to stop and use other good teaching opportunities. I know it is a very popular program in districts right now, but I think one problem with math instruction is the "cellophane syndrome" where districts buy a program rather than spend time and money on staff dev. to improve teaching practices in math. This is great that districts represented here are committed to improving math understanding.
I was making connections frequently yesterday between what we were talking about and our Everyday Math curriculum. When Maggie introduced the card game, I expected it to be Top It! Cape Elizabeth does use EM, and in my experience, the program does a good job teaching mathematical thinking.
In 6th grade in Falmouth many students start the year in Everyday Math, but they then transition to Connected Math. The transition time meets two purposes, it continues our curriculum goals and moves the students to the more problem solving-based Connected Math Program (CMP). CMP is also very language focused and this allows students to adjust prior to the use of the program in 7th and 8th grade.
I have found our transition to EM helpful because all students have had access to the same content and a greater number of students seem to have a stronger grasp of concepts.
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