Model the Learning

This post was featured in an episode of  This Week in Ontario Edublogs (Sept. 4, 2019), beginning at 35:54 . In Ontario, students need a minimum of three math credits to graduate high school, one of which must be at the grade 11 or 12 level. For students who are not pursuing a post-secondary path that requires mathematics, and/or who really struggle with math, the grade 11 college-pathway math course (MBF3C) is often the last mandatory math course they need to take to graduate. Teachers of this course face several challenges, such as the range of student abilities, range of student interest (particularly if a student is only in the course because they need it to graduate), and also the wide variety of topics in the course curriculum. Last year, we offered new support for MBF3C teachers in our board. At our first session with the teachers, we had round-table discussions on what they most wanted in the way of resources to help their stude nts succeed.  One of the topics that c

Before we begin, take a moment and read the number sentence below out loud . Don't think about it too much, just read it as you normally would to a class or colleague. On Language This past year, I have been doing more work in looking at how aspects of literacy creep into (and affect) how we teach and learn math. One theme that reoccured in different contexts was language, and paying close attention to what we say when we are teaching math. Over time, many of us adopt "shortcuts" when it comes to talking about the symbolic representation of mathematics. We may know what we mean to say, but for students who struggle, the meanings of these shortcuts are not always apparent, and might even cause confusion. The following are three very small, deliberate changes in language I am trying to work into my practice moving forward. Though each is a simple change, I'm having a hard time undoing decades of bad habits! "Equals" Based on some of our work on