A True Math Story

Once upon a time there was a principal who had lived with a mathematician for a very long time. Over the course of many years, the two discussed and often disagreed about the appropriate mathematical skills for children. The principal wanted children to understand math and appreciate its importance in real life. She hadn’t been so adept at memorizing facts in school, but grew up to be able to write programs for computers. The mathematician wanted everyone to be able to recite math facts from memory…and fast. That had worked for him.

One day the principal brought home a set of third and fourth grade math assessments. She wanted to know more about the new mathematics program now in use in the school. Most of all, she wanted to know how the students were doing. She had the assessments spread out all over the kitchen and the mathematician asked about them. He picked a third grade assessment and looked through the booklet. Then he picked up a fourth grade booklet and looked through it. The principal watched him expectantly. Finally, he spoke.

“These children are learning algebra; they are learning calculus and trigonometry. We never learned those until late in high school – and some of us never did. Now all children will have that opportunity.”

So everyone at Narragansett Elementary School is learning something new. With the first year of Investigations under our belt, we can now determine areas that we feel need more emphasis and decide, by grade level, on the materials to provide this emphasis. We are confident that this will be in the best interest of our students. Join with us on this journey.

Send me your questions at:
snaysner@narragansett.k12.ri.us

Mrs. Naysnerski

10/10/06

As teachers enter their second year with Investigations, I think about many things:

We need to refine the rubrics used last year - grade levels will work on this during their common planning time.

I know that Investigations is all about problem solving, but where do the strategies fit in?

Are there assessments out there for problem solving that we should be using? I am thinking about Exemplars.

Where does the differentiation come in? What about our bright kids? Can we determine if there are students who already know the information in a unit? Can we offer them a task of a higher level or should we adjust the tasks in Investigations?

I am looking forward to our 11/7 PD day. On that day, Deb Armitage from the Vermont Institutes to work with all teachers. Deb has worked on developing the NECAP assessment, the GLE's (Grade Level Expectations), Investigations, and Exemplars. I will look to Deb to guide us through this work. She has worked with several other RI districts.

As you can see, we are all thinking about the math. Teachers are working very hard on this new curriculum.