Comments on: NCSM 2010 â€” Day Two

By: dy/dan » Blog Archive » CMC-North: Session Line-Up!

dy/dan » Blog Archive » CMC-North: Session Line-Up! — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 21:17:33 +0000

[…] yeah, I can't freaking believe they counter-programmed me against Steve Leinwand, who has never disappointed whenever he's turned up on my conference schedule. If you're flipping a coin between the two of us, […]

By: Silvia

Silvia — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 15:52:00 +0000

Now I’ve read the comments and they pose very good questions, it’s not about a formula of finding real scenarios for math, but more about being able to see the math in the world, which is very difficult and in the meantime there are the tests and district requirements teachers need to meet.
One person said that you get better at teaching things with time. That’s true. Another (or you) said that at times you just work the problem straight and that’s fine.
I’ll give you a different example with reading. There is a new and deplorable collection that intends to use difficult vocabulary words in stories that supposedly will make the children laugh. It’s so fictitious, and they still believe that’s how children gain and increase vocabulary…WRONG. You just have to talk using proper words, read the best without watering it down to them, but using age appropriate books, which are many more than many think. And if you have to face a spelling test, or a test that will ask you for definitions, look, just cram it, do it, and then one day you’ll hear the word in something you read, or a conversation, and you’ll learn it for real.

By: Silvia

Silvia — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 15:38:51 +0000

Hello Dan,
I read your blog from time to time. Thanks for making us laugh, think, and for your passion for math.
I’m recovering from my traumatized math childhood. Now I teach two daughters at home, and they don’t have math shivers or preconceptions. They are fresh, eager to learn, and a joy to get reacquainted with math at almost forty.
My oldest thinks that the last number is something around 40 40 40 40 40 40 40 …anyway, God knows that number for sure.

My comment is about the famous Greta problem…that gives me shivers. My daughter after we do mental math, comes with the same nonsensical problems on her own. Her point it’s to make it difficult. She senses those problems are totally ad hoc. A different thing is when we asked her about her sister age when she is X age, or vice-versa. That she knows very well, it’s very valuable to children to know they will always be older and you can’t catch up with age. And it’s fun (for them) to know how older or younger others and themselves will be and at what years. (You were talking about a real scenario to use or how mathematicians started to investigate this area of knowledge. History and estimating ages in the future and past as well as scales for maps and drawings may have been one area to practice this.

Thanks for your blog and your spirit. I enjoyed specially your worksheet post, as a former public school teacher and homeschooler mom now I related to it. And your humor is very appreciated.

By: Sue VanHattum

Sue VanHattum — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 11:17:33 +0000

Mathsemantics, by Edward MacNeal, has a great chapter on this. He says you need to have a web of basic numbers in your head, and then estimate often, do something to commit to your estimate (say it out loud), and then confirm the true value afterward. Doing that often improves your estimation ability.

The students have to take responsibility for doing that, of course. So a first step would be a very cool problem.

By: Dan Meyer

Dan Meyer — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 23:17:09 +0000

how do you TEACH reasonable approximations?

Great question. My sense is that one calibrates reasonable approximations through trial and error, that every time you find out you’ve over- or undershot an approximation, you’ll approximate the same measurement better the next time. That’s just a guess, though.

By: Mimi

Mimi — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 20:52:27 +0000

In the Measurement Unit that I drafted up and taught to my 9th-graders a few months back, I had included discussing with kids (and subsequently, quizzing them) on what were some reasonable estimates for various lengths of real-world objects. But, obviously, assessing them with worthwhile questions is not the problem — how do you TEACH reasonable approximations? I found, even after the discussions (and quite a few hands-on measurement activities), that the only kids consistently choosing the correct approximations were the ones who already had great number/measurement sense.

Any thoughts??

By: Annie Fetter

Annie Fetter — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 04:58:18 +0000

I’m glad you’re glad you stayed for the rest of my talk :-) You’re exactly right that Greta’s Garden is not the best problem choice to use in modeling our “Noticing and Wondering” strategy. All the problems mentioned in the talk were picked with the goal of helping the kids at this particular school get better at the Guess and Check strategy. Since we wanted kids practicing guess and check, we didn’t want them practicing a lot of noticing and deciphering and whatnot, or else they may have never gotten to the guess and check.

Here’s a “scenario” (our name for problems without questions) we used in our booth in the exhibit hall as a starter for Noticing and Wondering: A regular hexagon and an equilateral triangle have the same perimeter.

Paul, I like your addition of the destination to my idea about listening to kids, not for answers. I would add that a teacher who is really listening to their kids will also be willing to occasionally change the destination if it becomes clear that the kids are really interested in something the teacher didn’t anticipate!

By: Cynthia

Cynthia — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 02:56:47 +0000

I find the info on China interesting. We were there in May–visited a school and spent the afternoon in a 5th grade class. The first thing I noted was the LARGE class size…more than 50 students in the class. That appeared to be typical. I didn’t see much in the way of supplies. No computers or any electronics in the classroom. If there were calculators, I didn’t see them. Granted, this was only one school, but from what I’ve been able to gather, schools are pretty similar, at least in cities. Also, from what I understand, in China, parents must pay to send their children to public school.

Enjoying your blog and just watched your 03/06/10 YouTube video. Thanks!

By: Dan Meyer

Dan Meyer — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 04:58:37 +0000

Nah nah. It was fun. I suppose I would’ve enjoyed it more if I were a full-flight member of NCSM instead of a tourist.

By: Ellen

Ellen — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 04:09:28 +0000

Sorry I urged you to come to the caucus. Thought we would actually get to talk to one another. (Usually the purpose of introductions.)
Great meeting you
-Ellen