Oprah's School Report

When I got home from class today I flipped on the tube and happened upon Oprah's special report, in conjunction with Bill Gates, on just how bad off our schools are compared to other countries, even poor countries!! (Did anyone else see this?) Then I read tonight's article. I feel a little pressure?? :-)))) I thought the article brought up many great points! I can see how using these key "reading" strategies would be very effective in teaching math. I always had (and still have) difficulty explaining my reasoning. I sympathize with my kiddos who have the same difficulty, and my nurturing instinct tends to kick in and "help" them out a bit too much. One of the things I'm getting out of this class is some great role modeling from the instructors (Maggie, Sean, and Peg) on just how to do this. That is, how to elicit students' answers with reasoning. I can hear Sean or Maggie saying, "Really? How do you know? Prove it! Who can say this another way? Cut the language down. Are you sure? .... etc." That "active questioning and dialogue " is critical, and I'm motivated to do more of it!