Math 170 Project for Autumn, 2010

Project description

In our class, we see adults learning and doing mathematics, but get very little exposure to children doing so (just a few stories and video clips in the texts). The goal of the project is to give you additional exposure to childern learning and doing mathematics, and a chance to reflect on this.

Option A, tutoring, brings you in contact with actual elementary students engaged with mathematics. While this is extremely beneficial, it is time-consuming and may not fit your schedule. So the Option B requires a smaller and more flexible time commitment. Both options have a written component.

Option A, Tutoring

Thanks to the Pipeline Project, which connects UW volunteers with Seattle Public Schools, you may attend an orientation session giving you special training as a tutor and individualized placement with a school school that needs and wants you. For this project option, do the following.

1. Sign up for tutoring through the Pipeline Project. Pipeline with make a short presentation at our second class. Presentation cancelled. To sign up for a Pipeline orientation, click on the Pipeline link above, then on the "Get Involved!" button, then on "Volunteer" and follow the instructions. These orientations are offered frequently during the first weeks of the quarter; attend one as soon as possible. Then Pipeline will help you get in touch with a school and get a tutoring assignment. (If you already attended a Pipeline orientation in a previous quarter, contact the Pipeline office to find out how to sign up for tutoring again.) You should aim to contact the school and start tutoring by the week of October 18.
2. Tutor mathematics once or twice a week through the rest of the quarter. Ideally, you will be assigned to tutor a pair of children, the same pair every week, so you can observe progression and variety in learning. Also ideally, the teacher will assign some work on which you will spend half the session, and for the other half you will plan some enrichment activities, possibly drawing on activities we've done in Math 170, designed to make math more meaningful or more interesting for your two students. (In practice, the two halves may mix, for instance if the teacher's assignment is already quite enriched, or you realize some time with manipulatives or a game would fill in some understanding the student lacks for doing the assignment.) In the real world, the ideal I've just described may not be achieved, but it should give you the idea of what your tutoring should aim for.
3. Keep a Tutoring journal: This may be either handwritten or typed. Write a few paragraphs for each session about what you planned, what you observed, and what you have learned about how your students do or do not learn mathematics. In early November, turn in your journal after at least three tutoring sessions for me to read and comment on. Turn hard copy in directly to me in class, and I will return it the next class. Or turn it in electronically to Math 170.10 Drop Box. After reading my comments, continue keeping your journal through the rest of your tutoring sessions. As a final entry in your journal, please include a short discussion of what you think your student(s) have learned from working with you, and what you have learned from the experience. Did your ideas about mathematics or about teaching change? Also discuss if and how Math 170 influenced your tutoring. Probably many things you did in tutoring are the same as you would have done before taking this class; what (if anything) was different?
4. Your complete journal, including the "final entry" described above, is due on Wednesday, December 1. Turn hard copy in directly to me in class, including my comments from your first journal turn-in and any replies you make to these comments. Or turn it in electronically to Math 170.10 Drop Box. If you need a few more days (for instance, if you need to include another tutoring session), just email me the date you intend to turn your journal in. If it will be later than Monday, December 6, please explain why. All journals must be in by the end of classes.

NOTE 1: If you are already doing math tutoring in a school at the K-8 level through some other organization or on your own, it may be possible to substitute it for placement through the Pipeline project. See me if this applies to you.

NOTE 2: This, clearly, involves the commitment of far more time than it would be dimly reasonable to require in addition to the rest of the work in 170 for a three credit course. I am offering it because as future elementary teachers, many of you would enjoy a chance to get to work with children of the ages you are thinking about teaching, especially in circumstances where you know you are filling a genuine need. Also note that this is definitely the kind of experience that the UW College of Education (and presumably other ed schools) look for in their applicants' portfolios. In addition, this gets your toe in the door of a school, which could be very useful for setting up an observation situation later on.

Option B, Videos

For this option, you will view four videos of elementary classrooms with comments by the teacher, and write a paper. One video is about a half hour long and three are each about 15-17 minutes long, and they are available free on the web. Important note: You need a fairly fast internet connection to watch the videos, and even with a fast connection, they may load slowly, and you may have trouble viewing them at times of high internet traffic (such as weekday afternoons and early evenings). Allow yourself enough lead time to try again, possibly from a different computer, if you have trouble. (More computer viewing tips below.)

Here are some questions to ponder as you watch the videos.

• What mathematical ideas and skills are being taught, learned, and practiced?
• How is the activity well-suited to teaching these skills and ideas?
• Is the activity interesting and beneficial to students at different skill levels?
• What problem solving methods do you see the students using?
• What do the students do that surprises you?
• What difficulties do the students encounter, and how do they deal with them?
• How does the teacher handle questions, and student errors? What are the consequences of how she does so?
• Sometimes the teacher asks for the students' opinions. What purposes does this serve?
• What are the advantages and diadvantages of students working in small groups on this activity instead of individually?
• What questions about teaching and learning mathematics do the videos raise in your mind?

Your paper should be about two or three pages long, single spaced with an empty line between paragraphs, discussing what you observed about how the children in the videos are learning and doing mathematics. If necessary to make your discussion clear, describe the activity the children were doing. You may write about each video separately, or write about all of them together, or write about each separately with some additional comments that apply to or compare two or all three. You do not have to answer all the questions I posed above, but your paper should give your thoughts on some of the issues raised by them. Also discuss how what your thoughts about the videos might influence your future teaching. You are also welcome to discuss the videos with classmates before writing your paper. As a matter of academic integrity, in your paper you should acknowledge anyone with who you have discussed the videos.

Your report on the project is due on Wednesday, December 1. Turn it in to Math 170.10 Drop Box. If you need a few days more, just email me the date you intend to turn your paper in. If it will be later than Monday, December 6, please explain why. All papers must be in by the end of classes.

The videos are all at www.learner.org.

• For the longer video, you have a choice of two in the series "Learning Math: Number and Operations". Choose one of the "Classroom Case Studies" at the K-2 or 3-5 grade level, that is Video 10 or 11.
• Two of the shorter videos are in the series "Teaching Math: A Video Library K-4". Watch both Video 11, "What's the price?" and Video 34, "Arrays and fractions."
• The fourth video is in the series "Teaching Math: A Video Library 5-8": Video 1, "Fraction Tracks."

More computer tips if you have trouble accessing the videos. A dial-up connection probably isn't fast enough. Your internet browser needs to have JavaScript enabled. You may have to disable any pop-up blockers. (This can be done for just the learner.org site, keeping pop-up blocker protection for other sites.) If the picture has poor resolution, freezes, or doesn't show at all, try restarting at the beginning, or try at another time or on another computer.

Note: The shorter video program descriptions mention "NCTM standards." This refers to the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics "Principles and Standards for School Mathematics." The standards include five broad content areas (number and operations, algebra, geometry, measurement, and data analysis and probability) and five "process," or skill, areas (problem solving, reasoning and proof, connections, communication, and representation). For more information, see the NCTM website on the Standards. NCTM also has a page of elementary school resources, including Tips for student teachers.

Return to the Math 170 Homepage.
Most recently updated on November 15, 2010.