Comments on: #CMCMath Opening Keynote Address – Practice Problems

By: “HIGHWAY TO HELL” – MATH ROCKSTARS

“HIGHWAY TO HELL” – MATH ROCKSTARS — Wed, 10 May 2017 05:37:30 +0000

[…] Zac that kids have important mathematical ideas. I learned from Dan that I need to get damn good at problematizing my questions, both with students, colleagues and myself. I learned from Andrew be a better listener […]

By: Be Brave or Be Desperate

Be Brave or Be Desperate — Mon, 27 Mar 2017 06:48:40 +0000

[…] at CMC-North,Â Dan Meyer had invited me and two other teachers, Shira and Juana, toÂ be part of his keynote. I’m grateful to Dan for the invitation and was excited that we teachers got to share with a […]

By: Dan Meyer

Dan Meyer — Wed, 22 Feb 2017 19:54:11 +0000

In reply to Minnie Sudarsanam. Hi Minnie, thanks for the note. I think this is a really excellent articulation of our task:

However in order to be successful in teaching these children, we are not to have an attitude that we are going to bring them up to the level of all students by say providing them with technology but instead we are to see their strengths and only then we will be able to reach them and teach them.

I'm no expert here. I'm currently participating in the Call for Collective Action through TODOS, hoping to learn more.

By: Minnie Sudarsanam

Minnie Sudarsanam — Tue, 21 Feb 2017 04:03:31 +0000

Thank you for all your comments. I appreciate all the insights into what teachers go through and what teachers think about. I will recap what I have read and add to it what I have thought about myself. I liked the conference especially because it creates an avenue of teachers meeting teachers and learning from each other as I do feel isolated from other teachers being in a classroom. I am a student teacher and have finally transitioned to teaching after doing a whole lot of observing. So the questions that go through my mind are, can I finish this credential program with all its requirements ,and how do I teach in a more interesting manner and keep my students engaged, and how do I motivate the students to try their best. We are taught during our classes that we cannot be just giving direct instruction and that we have to ask probing questions. I agree that asking the students the right questions will make them think beyond rules and rote memory to understanding concepts. However I have not been successful as yet to ask these probing questions. My students will not always answer even my "what should be done next" type of questions and I have to cold-call them to get a response. I think that the students need to trust me more so that I can ask these questions and have them answer me, and I can then lead them into deeper mathematics. I am looking forward to building that connection. And after that happens the question is how do we guide students to ask the right questions because only when the students questions are the right questions, can a teacher's answer lead to more understanding. A right question from the student shows that the student is now in the correct place to receive information. A couple of other things. One is where does my experience working in industry come in to help students. I have put any thinking about my previous career aside because teaching is a totally different career than being an engineer but my question is do my experiences have a place in the classroom at some point in time. If so, what time is that and how do those experiences get shared. The other thing is that when I attended the African American Regional Education Alliances (AAREA) seminar, they talked about how there is a need to teach African American children. wow

However in order to be successful in teaching these children, we are not to have an attitude that we are going to bring them up to the level of all students by say providing them with technology but instead we are to see their strengths and only then we will be able to reach them and teach them.

They advised reaching out to the people in their neighborhood who know the children so that we can understand the strengths of these children. My question would then be how can this be done.

By: Forums | Becoming the Math Teacher You Wish You'd Had

Forums | Becoming the Math Teacher You Wish You'd Had — Sun, 08 Jan 2017 18:31:42 +0000

[…] I know the book will be a totallyÂ different read for different readers, dependingÂ on which questions each reader is currently askingÂ and whichÂ problems of practice each reader is wrestling …Â Reading is a always a partnership between an author and a reader, and I’m about to partner […]

By: My question | Function of Reflection

My question | Function of Reflection — Fri, 30 Dec 2016 20:58:39 +0000

[…] few weeks ago I couldn’t sleep because I had a cup of coffee the day before, so I watched the CMCNorth Keynote from Dan Meyer, Shira Helft, Juana de Anda and Fawn Nguyen. Their main call to action was: What is […]

By: The Bureau of Non-White Dude Math Education Keynote Speakers – dy/dan

The Bureau of Non-White Dude Math Education Keynote Speakers – dy/dan — Thu, 15 Dec 2016 02:02:39 +0000

[…] from May-Li Khoe, a researcher at Khan Academy, reflecting on her experience seeing Fawn Nguyen keynoting CMC-North. Both May-Li and Fawn are […]

By: Carrie Hardy

Carrie Hardy — Sun, 11 Dec 2016 15:06:37 +0000

In reply to Carrie Hardy.

ps……I love the question….and the idea of writing it down….publicly …..

By: Carrie Hardy

Carrie Hardy — Sun, 11 Dec 2016 15:05:24 +0000

The question that keeps me up at night? How do I help each individual student fall in love with their inner mathematician? How can I help them believe in themselves, and challenge themselves to push beyond their perceived barriers? How do I make the math classroom challenging for all – at the same time, without pushing to the point of shutdown.

By: Jen Kang

Jen Kang — Sat, 10 Dec 2016 18:37:34 +0000

In reply to education realist. If we're teaching today to develop math practices, why do our assessments still focus on skills? Standards are NOT curriculum; they are not checklists. Standards are meant to guide teachers as we assemble/create learning experiences that lead students to generalize mathematical concepts.