We are celebrating this week!
It’s just past the midpoint of #notabookstudy and we are so excited about how we are reaching math educators throughout the region and beyond.
Nearly 400 educators are participating, and we have had over 1000 downloads of the podcasts related to the work.
Examples of the learning…
There are several conversations happening on our collaborative blog site. Here are a few excerpts of the writing.
What are Educators Wondering?
From Heather Theijsmeijer:
…Can students understand where the math comes from AND become procedurally efficient?
I’d like to think so, but we as teachers need to work on that balance. With respect to automaticity, Fosnot says “The issue here is not whether facts should eventually be memorized, but how this memorization is achieved: by rote drill and practice, or by fostering on relationships?” (page 86).
The former is shallow but “quick;” the latter is deep but takes time. And if “It is not up to us to decide which pathways out students will use [as they move toward constructing understanding]” (page 18), how can we ensure each student has the time to properly develop their thinking AND their automaticity?
Wherein lies the balance?
From Lisa Corbett
… I feel like my goal today was accomplished, and then some! The students discovered the array. I felt like I was scaffolding, not rescuing them. (A personal pursuit of mine.) And I think there was a healthy bit of discovering things that can lead to other things for us. (Division, for example.)
I have an idea for my lesson tomorrow. Two of my grade 3s were away today, and should be back tomorrow. They will need to be in on this discovery. And I want to really solidify what we did today. BUT…instead of sharing my idea, I’d love to hear ideas from others.
What are Educators Discovering?
From Stephanie Ranger
This week in our daily number talk, I have been mixing up some subtraction and addition equations with the hope that the students would see that some of their strategies from solving one operation could be used to solve another operation. It wasn’t until I made an equation that said 89 + 63, that I didn’t realize the effect of using our hundreds chart was having on the students. A number of students immediately said that it was impossible to solve the equation because they couldn’t use the hundreds chart to help them solve it.
This had me immediately reflecting what students see in a math tool and their own ability to solve a problem that looks or finished in a way that is unexpected for them. I also reflected on what the magnitude of numbers means for students who may or may not have been exposed to them before.
From Catherine Hoven
… We need to know our learners , be open to the possibilities around us, and gently lead students to their next step.
As Fosnot wrote, “ No matter how clearly it is explained, the ideas cannot be directly transmitted with language – the learner must construct them. My son’s last words tonight were, “Let’s do this tomorrow night with the largest Lego flat that we own – the big gray one!” This one, by the way, is 48 x 48!
Tomorrow will be a busy day!
What are educators saying?
Melanie Courchesne and Melissa Peddie have shared their learning through podcasts. These are quick (~10 min) conversations worth a listen!
We’d love to capture your thinking in this way. Contact notabookstudy@gmail.com to set up a recording time.
What’s new this week?
Last week we began quad blogging with educators who are interested in learning to blog. New blogs can be found here, and anyone can submit a post using the form at the bottom of the page.
We continue to welcome your thinking as part of our collaborative blog. Email your reflections to notabookstudy@gmail.com
This week, we have a special challenge!
We’ve been asking our Tweeters to find images from their context and compose math problems around the image, posting with the hashtag #mathematizethis
This week, we will randomly select participants to WIN a copy of Dr. Cathy Fosnot’s latest book! So get out there and mathematize your world and share it on Twitter!
What continues this week?
Live with Dr. Cathy Fosnot – 8 p.m. EDT May 16 – Listen live here
Answering Cathy’s questions – Twitter chat #notabookstudy May 18 8 p.m. EDT (Last week’s responses are here)
Facebook – Join our private group here.
We look forward to continuing to learn together over the next 4 weeks!
It's Not a Book Study - It's So Much More! 