So here we are 2 days into Topic number 1 and my section has already made 112 posts so it looks as though we are off to the races. I am really trying to keep my posting down and dialogue with colleagues who share similiar thoughts because the number of unread posts can be daunting after a long day of work...
I have learned a lot from reading the chapter as well as engaging in dialogue with my discussion group. I am even inticing some of my colleagues to read Marion Small's work on good questioning techniques in Math classrooms. My on-the-side PD in the hopes of bringing math to the forefront since I have worked so hard in my district to build teacher's math capacity and now I have a brand new audience! I will let you know how it works but you know me Catherine wherever I can get people "wondering" I am bound to do it.
One of the biggest things I have gleaned from the discussions in my group is that I need to do some further digging into the "source" of the research. Where is it coming from? Who holds a vested interest in the data? Does the research come from a reliable/valid source? Can the data be skewed and manipulated? I am sure there are more questions and I look forward to future discussions about the background.
Catherine how are the discussions in your group so far? What is one thing you have learned? I am wondering if you found your students liked collecting data as part of Statistics and Probability strand in math class?
As always I am interested in your perspective and I should go as my dog Bella is pawing at the computer in the hopes I might be able to snuggle her:)
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Sheila, you and Catherine are off to a good start here. I'm glad you introduced Marion Small's work to the group. I've always admired her contributions.
ReplyDeleteThanks Dr. Cranton...it is really interesting working with teachers in my district because many of them had to take courses in their BEd with Dr. Small and from the accounts I have heard, she was very challenging. I did not complete my degree in NB so my experience with Dr. Small has been through reading and providing PD to teachers on her ideas and theories with respect to Canadian math students. I am impressed with her research in differentiation and her work with diagnostic tasks. Now maybe Catherine has a different perspective to bring to the table...
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I did take a number of Math courses from Dr. Small. She definitely had high expectations for her students but she had much to share. She, her ideas, were well ahead of the times, the way Math was taught in schools at the time. She believed strongly in the use of manipulatives and these were seldom, if ever, used when I first went into a classroom. It was at least 10 years after I graduated that they became more common place. She is a very knowledgeable woman.
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