Years ago, attention to Ruth Charney's book, Teaching Children to Care, improved my practice significantly. Essentially Charney cautioned us against expecting students to know our expectations without teaching those expectations. In other words, if you expect an attitude or behavior, then teach it.
I will apply this knowledge to teaching math as I teach students how to use the many tools we have to learn math well.
Pencils, Sharpies, Colored Pencils, Markers
We'll practice using these writing tools this week as students make birthday cakes for a our class graph. I'll teach students how and why to use each tool for precise math models.
Folding
We'll learn math a lot by simply folding paper. Folding requires teaching and practice too.
Graph Paper
Students will have graph paper notebooks and we have lots of graph paper in the classroom. We'll discuss the many ways we can use graph paper to forward math learning and communication.
Rulers/Trundle Wheels
We'll play with rulers and trundle wheels early on as we review our collective knowledge about number lines and measurement.
Chromebooks
We'll learn about the many ways that the chromebook is a "guide on the side," teacher, and interactive learning tool throughout the year.
Math Manipulatives
We have a large collection of hands-on tools to use for math modeling, teaching, and learning. Each time we begin using a new tool, students will have time to explicitly learn about that tool and try it out. Then we'll apply the tool to a specific lesson.
