#70Days Vacation!

Day 13

It is Day 5 on the beach ... this is our view from the balcony:

I woke up today with a queasy  tummy so I've chosen to rest, read,  and now blog.  I've spent most of today in the shade of the balcony.  Finished one book, read another short one (novella) and started the third. The rest of the family have played on the sand, by the pool, and several of them are at the movie house this afternoon!

About an hour ago the lump in my stomach eased up so I took a walk on the beach.  My devotional thought today comes from that walk ... the song in my heart ... "How Great Thou Art."  Hopefully my voice didn't carry too far down the beach as I sang the words to the Father.

O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.
When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur
And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.

And when I think of God, His Son not sparing;
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.

When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.
Then I shall bow, in humble adoration,
And then proclaim: "My God, how great Thou art!"

Chorus
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

I've spent little time online this week - enjoying long breaks from technology.  I did check email this morning.  Was excited to receive email from Jo Boaler and the youcubed organization.  Her video on the reasons why we need the common core math standards is great!  I live and work in a non-common core state but the points she makes in her video are applicable no matter the standards.  Math must be a learning subject, not just a performance subject.  And students need rich, worthwhile tasks that are open enough to explore math - not just seek a one right answer.  If you have seen her video check it out here!

And now back to vacating ... 

How to Learn Math #5: Number Sense!

I worked on Session 5 of How to Learn Math yesterday.  This course both affirms my knowledge and practice ... AND it challenges me to grow and learn!  I have long believed that building number sense is huge and that we don't do enough of it in schools.  I have been tutoring young students this summer - students going into grades 2, 3, and 5.  These students in particular needed help with composing and decomposing numbers and in using "friendly" numbers to assist in problem solving.



As I thought about number sense I was remembered that I posted about that topic several months ago.  I am repeating the post below because it has some useful links in it!

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Usually when I think of building number sense, I think about primary math education.  I know, though, number sense is something we all must work on all the time!  So I did some Internet research to find resources and ideas for middle and high school.

1. Knowing how precisely a high school freshman can estimate the number of objects in a group gives you a good idea how well he has done in math as far back as kindergarten, researchers at The Johns Hopkins University found.  This Science Daily article is quite interesting.


2. One of my first "hits" in my search revealed this book, Building Powerful Numeracy for Middle and High School Students written by Harris, published by Heinemann.  The Heinemann website has a brief description.  I plan to put this book on my summer reading list!


3. If you are looking for number sense strategies and tricks, this website looks awesome!


4. The state of Texas has a well-developed academic competition developed by the University of Texas - one of which is number sense.  Practice tests are available online here.


5. NCTM has published several number sense tasks - with explanation in their Reasoning and Sense Making Task Library


6. The state of Washington has posted sample number sense writing prompts for all grade levels.


7. San Diego school system has posted ideas for number sense routines.


8. University of California also published a workbook on number sense.


9. Minnesota has published an interesting paper showing the progession of number sense through primary years to high school.

I enjoyed this research ... now ... how shall I build the recommendations and examples into my daily practice?  My students would definitely benefit!

I'm working on a plan for warm-ups ... for when students first enter.  I know I want to incorporate number sense activities, as well as problem solving and review of the daily curriculum topics.  Once a week I want to use Math Munch in some way.  There are so many ways to go ... so much to do ... How do you structure those first 5 - 10 minutes of your class?

I look forward to hearing about what others do to build number sense!

How to Learn Math #1

This week I jumped into a MOOC out of Stanford entitled, How to Learn Math. 

The premise for this course began out of a course that was offered to students last year that helped students overcome their anxiety about math and to develop appreciation for the study of math.  The professor, researcher, author, Jo Boaler, decided to offer the course to parents and teachers  to provide background on why students struggle in math and to help adults find ways to “powerfully impact students’ learning experiences.”

I took the course because last year I met way too many students in grade 9 totally turned off to math!

A few key facts …

•     50% of college students are in 2-year schools, only 1/10 of those students complete the required math courses
•     Stories abound of students disconnected in their math class
•     Still there is a pervasive belief that girls don’t do well in math
•     Racial stereotyping is alive and well in math classes
•     Studies show that students excel when teachers express their belief in them

Assigned reading this first week included Paul Lockhart’s: A Mathematician’s Lament.  I read just the first five pages and was totally captivated!  Lockhart says, “By concentrating on what, and leaving out why, mathematics is reduced to an empty shell.  The art is not in the “truth” but in the explanation, the argument. It is the argument itself which gives the truth its context, and determines what is really being said and meant. Mathematics is the art of explanation. If you deny students the opportunity to engage in this activity— to pose their own problems, make their own conjectures and discoveries, to be wrong, to be creatively frustrated, to have an inspiration, and to cobble together their own explanations and proofs—you deny them mathematics itself.”

The challenge from the first session is to create an activity to let students know how much you support their goals, to help them connect in math class.  How do you build connections in the first days of math class?  How do students know you care?  Why do students love to come to your class???

I have a first day questionnaire to gather information and feelings from students. Check it out here .  

On our first day, I plan to ask students to make a list of 2 - 3 things they like about math; and 2 - 3 things they don't like.  Students will crumple up that paper and we will have a short snowball fight.  Then students will pick up a random snowball as we return to our seats ... and we'll share aloud the items, one at a time.  I'll make a list on chart paper.  My goal is that we'll see that we share many of the same concerns.  

If you have feedback, please share!