Homework reading and blog response: Battleground Schools (for Wed. Oct. 2)

  

1. 

 Here is a short piece I wrote for a book called Battleground Schools on conflicts within mathematics education in the US (and which affected Canada) in the past century. Please read this and blog about three 'stops' that you had when learning about the fraught history of mathematics education and curriculum in North America! 

Your blog post is due next Wednesday Oct 2 at 9 AM.

A great book that we will work with in class: PDF of Thinking Mathematically

   

Here is a link to the online PDF of Thinking Mathematically -- a classic and wonderful book in mathematics education, with many very interesting problems (and while extensions are provided, solutions arent!) 

I suggest that you also get yourself a hard copy of this book as one of the starting volumes for your classroom library.

Write-up for you math art projects (individual write-up on your own blog)

 

 Hi everyone! After your group has presented your math art project (Assignment #1), each person should
follow up with a blog post that reflects on the project:

• one paragraph plus photos of your project that describes what you did as a group. (This part can be the same for all the people in your group.)

• one paragraph on what the experience of this project was like for you -- where it was challenging, satisfying, frustrating, intriguing, etc.

• one paragraph on your thoughts about what you take away from this project as a teacher. What could you (and couldn't you) use with your own classes? Any ideas for parallel projects bringing together math with other subject areas like the arts, history, science, etc. that you might consider developing and trying out in your own class?

These posts will be part of your mark for Assignment #1, and are due by Wed Oct 2 at 9 AM.

Here is the schedule for our math art presentations

Note that next week (Sept 23 & 25), we will meet in our indoor classroom, Scarfe Room 1211. Here is the schedule:

Homework read-and-respond: Lockhart’s Lament

 

Here is a link to an influential essay on mathematics teaching and learning by mathematician (and interesting nonconformist) Paul Lockhart:

https://www.mimuw.edu.pl/~pawelst/rzut_oka/Zajecia_dla_MISH_2011-12/Lektury_files/LockhartsLament.pdf

(And if you're interested in hearing what Paul Lockhart sounds like, here's a link to a 3 minute film where he talks about mathematical proof.)

Please read this article, Lockhart's Lament, and find at least one thing you agree with and one thing you disagree with -- and why. Also, please mention a point of contact and/or a point of contrast with Skemp's article. Your blog post is due Wed Sept 25.

The NCTM Standards, Common Core Curriculum and draft Catalyzing Change in High School Math (for our Sept 11 or 16 class)

 

 The US-based National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) has had an enormous effect on mathematics curricula worldwide -- including BC! Understanding the NCTM is essential for understanding our own curriculum.

Here is the link to the new NCTM Common Core executive summary, a link to the Common Core State Standards (something like our IRPs) with correlations to Canadian curricula, and a link to the executive summary of the NCTM Principles and Standards from 2000. We will look at this today to get a sense of one of the biggest influences on our curricular reforms and understand where it is coming from. We may also look at the new draft NCTM Catalyzing Change in High School Mathematics document.


Note that there are also standards for teachers, related to a neo-liberal climate of measurement, accountability and teacher testing in the US.

The general NCTM website is accessible at NCTM.org. It is well worth getting acquainted with the great lesson plans, puzzles, interactive activities and other resources included on this page too.

We will look at:

the 6 Standards,
the 5 Process Standards,
the 5 Content Standards,
the 8 Mathematics Teaching Practices recommended, and
the 16 Principles to Actions recommended for teachers (6), administrators (5) and policy-makers (5).

BC's 2019 "new curriculum" from the Ministry of Education

 Here is a link to the 'new' BC Curriculum, which was  fully implemented from K-12 in BC in 2019 https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/>

schools. This curriculum is based on competencies, described here.

We will start by looking at the new curriculum orientation guide and tools for educators that are used in the revisioned curriculum documents.

And of course, we will look at the structure, content and assessment guidelines of the BC Mathematics Curriculum.

Skemp discussion questions from our Monday Sept 9 class

 Here are the questions that guided our discussions in the garden! 

Our first class math puzzle: The locker problem (for Monday September 16)

A school has 1,000 students and 1,000 lockers. On the first day of school, all the lockers are open. 

Student #1 closes each locker.
Student #2 opens each second locker.
Student #3 changes the state of each third locker (i.e. opens them if they are closed, or closes them if they are open)
...and so on, until all 1,000 students have had their turn.After all 1,000 lockers are done, which lockers are open? Which are closed? Why?

Think about how you approach and work on this problem. What mathematical thinking and mathematical problem solving strategies do you do?

Save your notes, drawings, diagrams, right and wrong turns, conjectures, changes of approach and other notes to post on your blog by Sunday evening and discuss with classmates next Monday! 

Homework writing: Favourite and least favourite math teachers (homework for Mon Sept 16)

 As part of revisiting our own histories as math learners to inform our futures as math teachers: 

Write in class about your favourite and least favourite math teachers -- and why. These could be people who formally taught you mathematics in K-12 or university classes... and/or those who taught you ways of thinking mathematically in less formal settings (parents, siblings, grandparents, or other relatives and friends; tutors; classmates; people at work, and others).

Think about why they were great or not-so-great math teachers, and what you can learn as a new teacher by contemplating your experiences with them. Please include important details that might influence you as you take up the 'mantel of the teacher'!

Please post to your blog by the evening of Sunday Sept. 15. 

What is meant by 'curriculum'? (Homework reading and blog response for Wed Sept 11)

What is your first thought about what is meant by the term 'curriculum'? We will start to work on this as a prelude to our consideration of the BC Math Curriculum.

Here is a very influential article by US art educator Elliot Eisner, Three curricula all schools teach
(from his book, The Educational Imagination).

Please read this and comment on:

• Two or three 'stops' you have in this article

• Ways that this might expand our ideas about what is meant by 'curriculum'. How does the mandated BC Provincial Curriculum connect with Eisner's ideas?

Your post is due on Wed Sept 11 at 9 AM.  Hope you enjoy this important reading!

Revisiting our histories, thinking forward to our future careers in math education

 

  All of us have histories as students of mathematics, with teachers that will serve as role models for us in our own teaching. How can we become more aware of the influence of our past teachers in our own teaching work, so that we can choose what we want to take (and leave behind) from our own past experiences?

In setting out on a new career and life as a teacher, we also have our own hopes, dreams and worries about how things will be. How can we bring our own thoughts to mind to help us be aware of the teachers we want to be?

We will do some writing in the next few classes (and possibly for homework) to start to think about these processes that come up throughout our teaching careers.

Getting organized for your Math/Art assignment (first major assignment for the course)

 We will self-organize into seven groups of three for this project.

Each group should go to the Bridges Math and Art 2024 math art gallery online (follow the link to this

site). There are many math/art works on this webpage, and some others that you could also consider from the Bridges 2024 math fashion show and mathematical short film fest.

Each group should choose one of these works of mathematical art that particularly appeals to you (because you like the way it looks and you are interested in the mathematical topic). It is important that each group chooses a different work of mathematical art from this page. Please self-organize by signing up with the names of the people in your group and the name of the art work your group has chosen. If another group has already chosen a work, choose a different one -- there are 133+ to choose from!
I will post the list on our class blog.

Your tasks with this work of mathematical art:
(1) Reverse-engineer it so that you reproduce your own version of the work of art in order to understand the mathematics and art content more deeply.
(2) Extend the mathematical and artistic ideas to take the idea of this art work to a new level, mathematically and artistically.
(3) Design a way that you could use the big ideas from this work of mathematical art to teach in your own classroom.
(4) Design a brief interactive activity to engage your classmates in trying out and understanding this work of math/art when you present it in class.

The due dates for this project are Sept. 23-25.
Groups will book a time during these classes to do a 15- 20 minute presentation showing (a) the mathematical artwork that you reproduced, with an explanation of the mathematical ideas ; (b) the extensions to the mathematical art that you have produced, with an explanation of how you extended it mathematically/ artistically; (c) a brief (5-7 minute) interactive demonstration for your classmates to show how you might use this mathematical art to teach math in your own classroom.

Hope you enjoy getting started with this exciting project! If you have questions, please feel free to ask me.

 Presentation schedule, Scarfe Room 1211:

Monday Sept. 23

1:05 - 1:25: 

1:25 - 1:45: 

1:45 - 2:05:  

Wednesday Sept. 25

1:00 - 1:20: 

1:20- 1:40: 

                                                                                                                                                                   

1:40 - 2:00:  

2:00 - 2:20:

UBC Orchard Garden information

Hello! Here's some information on the Orchard Garden, where we'll be holding our classes for the next weeks till Thanksgiving. You should have received this in an email just now too:

Hello everyone -- and I hope I have used the new WorkDay system correctly to send this email to all the students in EDCP 342, 442 and EDUC450B (and only once per person!), as well as to our TAs, Malihe (EDCP 342) and Erica (EDCP 442) and to our Guardian of the Garden/ Orchard Garden Project Assistant, Madi Lewis.

As mentioned in class and on our tentative course outlines, we are planning to hold our classes in the UBC Orchard Garden outdoor classroom from now till Thanksgiving (Oct. 14), weather permitting. This upcoming week, Sept. 9, 11 and 12 have beautiful weather forecast, so we will plan to be in the garden all week.

How to get to the UBC Orchard Garden:

Address: Totem Field Studios, 2613 West Mall (1 block south of Thunderbird)

Go through the wooden gate between the buildings at Totem Field (the pedestrian gate on the left side is always open -- just push!) Turn right and walk about 100 steps through the 'Xmas tree farm'/ conifer research project, and you will be at the Orchard Garden.

Walking: It's about a 10-15 minute walk south and slightly west of Scarfe.

Cycling or scootering: Faster -- about 5 minutes from Scarfe

Bus: There is one of the smaller community buses (#68) from the UBC Bus Loop that I have seen has a drop-off point right outside Totem Field. However, it is scheduled only every 20 minutes on school days (for example, at 12:20, 12:40, 1:00,...) Google maps say to get off after 5 stops at eastbound Thunderbird @ Eagles Drive, but it's still a 450m (4.5 block) walk from there (I've done that...) I'm not quite sure how to access that bus stop right in front of Totem Field, but maybe you can figure it out and share this?

Car: There's no street parking on West Mall and they do ticket. You are probably ok parking inside the Totem Field gates -- or at the UBC Botanical Gardens lot across Marine Drive? (I don't have a car).

What to bring/ wear:

• A sun/ rain hat -- very important!
• A water bottle -- remember to hydrate frequently
• Any medication, epipen, etc. that you need. (Please let me know about any relevant allergies or medical conditions for safety precautions)
• Appropriate layers of clothes for the changing weather
• Appropriate close-toed shoes or boots for walking on uneven or muddy ground
• Light jacket or windbreaker
• Sunscreen and lip balm with sunscreen (I've had sunburned lips, and it's not fun!)
• Laptop, tablet and/or phone for accessing the internet and writing
• Notebook and pen may be helpful as well
• Snacks

Looking forward to seeing you at the Orchard Garden for our classes this week and onward!




Cheers

Susan

Google sheet with blog URLS and emails

 Hi everyone. Here is a link to a Google sheet where we can add our blog urls and emails (gmail, if you
have it).

We will all be inviting everyone in the class to be co-authors on our blogs, and then setting the privacy to 'blog authors only', so that our blogs are private within our class group. 

Introduction to the BC Association of Math Teachers (BCAMT) email discussion group

I will ask everyone in our class to sign up for the BCAMT listserv, as part of our class. Please do give it a try at least until January -- or if you like it, you may want to stay on and participate throughout your teaching career!

Here is a link to information about the BCAMT listserv/ email discussion group. Please post a confirmation on the comments to this post to let me know you have signed up for this email discussion group.

Hope you enjoy the conversations with fellow math teachers!

Skemp on two approaches to teaching and learning mathematics

 Here is our first article, an old but influential one:

Richard Skemp on instrumental and relational ways of understanding mathematics

Please read this article and write a response on your blog by 9 AM Monday September 9 (note correction!).

Your response should be brief (1-2 paragraphs), but full of interesting ideas. You should NOT summarize the article in this response, but you should talk about:

• Three things that made you "stop" as you read this piece, and why
• Where you stand on the issue Skemp raises, and why

Welcome to our secondary math class and your career as a teacher!

 Looking forward very much to an excellent course and year together at UBC as you develop your skills as new secondary math teachers! 

A binary code welcome mat (upside down though!)

Here's a link to our tentative course outline (which may be revised as we go). 

Happy September, and good learning!