Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Never Say Anything a Kid Can Say


Ever had one of these days?
After a great deal of planning, I presented a masterpiece of a lesson.  The next day, it became obvious: my students were totally confused.
If so, check out this article by Steve Reinhart (2000): “Never Say Anything a Kid Can Say!”.


My definition of a good teacher changed from "one who explains things so well that students understand" to "one who gets students to explain things so well that they can be understood."

For any fellow teacher-educators who view this, here's the home workshop I used to scaffold the discussion of this article, plus a few highlights from my students' post-workshop reflections.

Friday, September 12, 2014

Mr. Aion's Pledge to Improved Mathematics

I had to share this little gem I found on Year 2, Day 12, Justin Aion's blog, Relearning to Teach:

 Starting yesterday, I'm beginning each class by having a student read the 8 Standards of Mathematical Practice. Eventually, I have the class recite it as a group. We make them stand and say the Pledge of Allegiance every day, so why not these?  I consider the 8 SMPs to be the Pledge to Improved Mathematics.

And so on his behalf and in his honor, I proudly present, "The Pledge to Improved Mathematics"! (also available in .png, .docx, and .pdf formats)


Image credit: Justin Aion, http://whiteboardmath.blogspot.com/