Mathematics

With the abundance and depth of knowledge gaps created over the pandemic years, many educators are turning to new curricular resources to help meet students’ diverse needs. However, there is much to consider before choosing a resource. Per the company Education Elements, “Curriculum selection is no longer about textbook adoptions that happen every few years. Districts today are developing a strategy for instructional materials adoption and selection that takes into account district goals, pedagogical shifts, cultural relevance, and student-centered environments.” But before jumping into something new, let’s take a step back, and consider these four steps to help guide our curriculum decisions, focusing on mathematics resources.
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Do your students seem less enthusiastic about working in math groups or communicating their ideas and thoughts in class? If so, you are not alone. Teachers with whom we work are observing a decline in students’ skills to work together and express their thoughts. What has been the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on students’ discourse? A great deal has been written about the impact of the pandemic on student learning, standardized assessment results, and students’ social skills (Mervosh & Wu, 2022, Associated Press, 2022, Campbell, 2021). However, little has been written about how students’ ability to communicate their mathematical understandings has been impacted. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted students’ abilities to develop mathematical discourse with their peers and communicate their mathematical understandings. This post will provide explicit structures and routines that can be used in classrooms to develop students’ ability to engage in productive mathematical discourse.
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“When am I ever going to use this?” We, the authors, have been talking about math education since we met eight years ago, and trust us, this is not an easy question to field. Teachers can’t really predict which mathematics problems a student will face, so the quick answer has become, “In the future you’ll come across a problem and “presto” you will see the relevance of this bit of information.” In all fairness, while this is a time-saving response for the teacher, it does not address the real issue, which is “Why does the American student ask this question in the first place?”
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