NIU Math Education Students - great news for schools

This week I had the privilege of working with Northern Illinois University Math Education pre-service students. As has been my experience with students in past seminars, these students were attentive and excited about learning to integrate SMART Boards and calculator technology into classroom instruction and activities. I could work with them for hours and hours.

Altitude on the Hypotenuse Theorem

I must say again, what an outstanding bunch of energetic and enthusiastic young adults! We had good discussions about how to accomplish certain tasks with SMART Notebook Collaborative Learning software and the best practices for integrating this great tool into the math classroom. With each activity, we must remember to ask ourselves "Why and when do we do this?" You can know how to do something with the technology, but you need to ask how using it in the classroom helps students learn? How can I show the visual side of what I am trying to teach? How can I get students more involved in their own learning?

It is worth repeating, keeping students excited about learning requires good teaching. Their NIU teachers/coordinators are Mrs. Renee Olsen and Mrs. Bonnie Kersten. You could not ask for two more dedicated and excellent instructors. Having worked with both of them in my tenure at DeKalb High School, I always admired their passion for teaching and their skill at getting the best from their high school students. Renee and Bonnie, thank you for sharing your expertise with tomorrow's teachers!

Change is always happening in education. These students will enter schools that are working hard on implementing Common Core Curriculum Standards. They may have to teach differently than they were taught. What an opportunity awaits these new teachers and their students in the classroom. Technology in students' hands can do so much to make learning relevant and powerful, while giving teachers responsibility to address that power and make it productive.

Here are some web sites that might help you get started.

http://www.symbaloo.com/mix/mathresources97 

http://www.tinyurl.com/janetteachessmart

http://www.pinterest.com/janetteaches/for-the-love-of-learning/

With so many paths to learning today and so many ways to collaborate and share, it is an exciting time to be a teacher.

Good luck to all of you - Jeremy, Scott, Joy, Stephanie, Brian, Allison, Abby, Ethan, Ashley and Don!!! Have a fabulous student teaching adventure.

Common Core State Standards Initiative

The Common Core State Standards Initiative defines what students should understand and be able to do in mathematic and English language. It determines what you will teach, but not how you should teach it. There is still a lot you need to think about in your teaching.

The key shifts called for in mathematics education are
1) greater focus on fewer topics,
2) coherence, linking topics and thinking across grades and
3) rigor, pursuing conceptual understanding, procedural skills and fluency, and application with equal intensity.

Illinois adopted the Common Core in 2010, beginning full implementation during the 2013-2014 school year. These standards are high and emphasize depth over breadth to improve student success and preparedness for college and careers. For example, according to the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics, "some of the highest priority content for college and career readiness comes from Grades 6-8". [p. 84]

There are many consequences to these changes. Number 3 above is a great shift. I remember when I took an undergraduate stats class in college - a long time ago - before there were hand-held calculators in general use. There was much emphasis on computation and not much opportunity for real application. It is different now with the tools of computation. Teaching the important application of probability and statistics is now possible, allowing the calculator to crunch the data. Having the opportunity to discuss and analyze results is important.

This past year I tutored two students in college-level elementary statistics. Both colleges required purchase of a TI-84 graphics calculator which has powerful statistics and probability tools. These two students, however, experienced very different situations.

One teacher embraced the tools of the calculator. He showed the mathematics and how to use the calculator tools. With the calculator he was able to use real applications which led to more discussion and better understanding. The other teacher never got past the computations. After students had already purchased it, she told them they didn't really need that calculator. Any calculator that would do the arithmetic would do. She was unwilling or unable to exploit the tools of the calculator. I showed the student how to use the calculator to build the tables that she had to copy to her paper and how to use the calculator functions to check her computation answers. That student had to worry more about memorizing formulas and writing a lot of intermediate arithmetic steps. I don't think most students in that class really understood why stats was valuable for them to learn.

There are great resources for learning about and applying Common Core standards to your teaching.

The official site of Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI) includes standards adopted state by state and information for parents. http://www.corestandards.org/

Illinois State Board of Education Common Core: http://www.isbe.net/common_core/default.htm

Illinois Common Core Standards Resources: http://www.isbe.net/common_core/htmls/resources.htm

At the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics site enter  free common core in the search box to find online resources without cost. You can also go to the their Core Math Tools homepage for downloadable pdf documents of sample lessons and Java-based tools. http://www.nctm.org and http://www.nctm.org/resources/content.aspx?id=32702

The Mathematics Common Core Toolbox site is "a resource designed to support districts working to meet the challenge and the opportunity of the new standards. It includes tools and instructional materials that help you to better understand and to implement the CCSSM [Common Core State Standards for Mathematics]. http://www.ccsstoolbox.org/

Happy Teaching!