The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of couch-surfing, and catching up with various friends and projects in Toronto before heading off to PEI for the summer. I haven't been real good at keeping up with the blogging during this time, but now, as I sit in Pearson's terminal 3, awaiting my flight to CYYG, let me take a few moments on the mercifully free but painfully slow wifi to write a bit about the 3-day math workshop for teachers which I attended last week.
Tempting as it was to skip the session and instead spend the day at Canada's Wonderland, which was literally a stone's throw from the High School where the workshops were being held, I was a good little teacher, and went to learn about setting up an effective math program in the intermediate grades.
Tempting as it was to skip the session and instead spend the day at Canada's Wonderland, which was literally a stone's throw from the High School where the workshops were being held, I was a good little teacher, and went to learn about setting up an effective math program in the intermediate grades.
Do you see them? Do you SEE the roller coasters in the background???!!! :D
Melissa and Shahana from Durham Board offered up lots of laughs and also several practical, engaging strategies for organizing, assessing and teaching math to Grades 7 & 8 students. Before this session, I had been more than a little worried about how I was going to manage in this latest challenge: I'm heading into an intermediate school this September to teach Grade 7&8 Math and Science!
Those who know me will be peeling themselves off the floor after a fit of guffaws at this point in order to keep reading and find out how such a miracle could possibly occur; You see, as a rule, I don't do Science. (No, really, it's a deal breaker: In the past, I simply wouldn't accept any jobs where Science was a major component, and in those rare instances where I was responsible for teaching my own Science, I would farm this "great curriculum unit planning and teaching opportunity" out to my student teachers.) Furthermore, as the long road to my finally-completed pilot license shows, Math is also not my forte. And, although I did teacher Grade 7 my first two years of teaching, and even have some VP experience in a school with intermediate students, it's been a long time since I've worked with this strange beast that is the intermediate learner, and when I did, it was always in a K-8 integrated model, where I had my own class, and developed a strong relationship with the students, teaching them most if not all subjects.
So how did I end up teaching rotary Math and Science for Grade 7 and 8? Well, I knew I wanted to go back to my intermediate "roots" (having started my career in intermediate, I've been keen to go back and try it again now nearly 20 years later...), and when an opportunity came up that was relatively close to home, I decided to go for it, realizing it was time to meet this final challenge vis-a-vis the math and science.
Those who know me will be peeling themselves off the floor after a fit of guffaws at this point in order to keep reading and find out how such a miracle could possibly occur; You see, as a rule, I don't do Science. (No, really, it's a deal breaker: In the past, I simply wouldn't accept any jobs where Science was a major component, and in those rare instances where I was responsible for teaching my own Science, I would farm this "great curriculum unit planning and teaching opportunity" out to my student teachers.) Furthermore, as the long road to my finally-completed pilot license shows, Math is also not my forte. And, although I did teacher Grade 7 my first two years of teaching, and even have some VP experience in a school with intermediate students, it's been a long time since I've worked with this strange beast that is the intermediate learner, and when I did, it was always in a K-8 integrated model, where I had my own class, and developed a strong relationship with the students, teaching them most if not all subjects.
So how did I end up teaching rotary Math and Science for Grade 7 and 8? Well, I knew I wanted to go back to my intermediate "roots" (having started my career in intermediate, I've been keen to go back and try it again now nearly 20 years later...), and when an opportunity came up that was relatively close to home, I decided to go for it, realizing it was time to meet this final challenge vis-a-vis the math and science.
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We began our three days with a frank conversation about math phobia (both teachers' and students'), and the impact of this reality on many students' mathematical abilities and confidence by the time they reach the intermediate years. Making "math monsters" (or "creatures" -- a little less insinuating of math phobia) was suggested as a first day of school activity, so that students could share their personal feelings about math in a creative way -- stop cringing, all you non-arts people; alternate activities were suggested, too! ;-P
I loved this "easing in" to the program, and was grateful for the patience and encouragement of the teachers around me, many of whom were in fact quite comfortable teaching math, and who spent some time throughout the three days teaching me a little bit about integers and other horrible mathy things!!
A number of NCTM resources were shared (I so have to get my hands on some of those to read over the summer!!!), and we spent considerable time actually DOING some math as well as talking about it. We also spent some time exploring D2L, which I will definitely be using next year!
I loved this "easing in" to the program, and was grateful for the patience and encouragement of the teachers around me, many of whom were in fact quite comfortable teaching math, and who spent some time throughout the three days teaching me a little bit about integers and other horrible mathy things!!
A number of NCTM resources were shared (I so have to get my hands on some of those to read over the summer!!!), and we spent considerable time actually DOING some math as well as talking about it. We also spent some time exploring D2L, which I will definitely be using next year!
Two things I will definitely take away from this session are the Problem Solving Folders (a 3-panel folder students make, which includes the 4-step PS process, some criteria for effective thinking, problem solving and communication, and a space for feedback and self assessment), and the Bubble Experiment, where students research "superbubble" recipes, then make said bubble recipe, and see what is the largest object they can ensconce within a bubble.
| With the right guiding questions, it's a great blend of Science and Math (measurement strand). Add in the story about the bubble artist who wanted to en-bubble and elephant, and you have some excellent fodder for Language Arts as well! I'm super excited to try out some of these ideas with my students this year... After five hours a day of "Math Magic", I spent my evening's at a friend's and mentor's house. | |
My former supt (now retired) lives in Maple, and was kind enough to let me stay with her. I got to meet her totally sweet, ancient mother (who rides one of those cool little elevator chairs up and down the stairs), and meet some really neat families she was interviewing for a life-changing project she is involved in the Jane and Finch area. AND, we did a little shopping at the teacher store in Richmond Hill; on the way home, we saw an amazingly brilliant rainbow!
I'm glad I went to the Math workshop: Canada's Wonderland has cool rollercoasters and other rides, but the best ride of all will be when I return to the classroom in September, and Melissa and Shahana equipped me with the confidence and more than a few practical tools to prepare for said ride!
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