Synopses & Reviews
Anyone interested in mathematics teaching and learning is likely to get hooked on case discussions. Barnett, Goldenstein, and Jackson have found that teachers gain a deeper understanding of mathematical ideas themselves in the process of examining the mathematical thinking of children. Their case discussion approach promotes dialogue between and among teachers which serves as a catalyst for changing and improving the curriculum. Case methods open a whole new way of fostering teacher learning that both draws on and informs practice.
The cases-written by upper-elementary and middle school teachers about their experiences covering fractions, decimals, ratios, and percents-enhance professional development by stimulating reflection and dialogue about problems encountered in the classroom. Although the cases contain many examples of teaching that reflect the NCTM Standards, they carry no presumption that the teaching portrayed is either "good" or "bad."
The accompanying Facilitator's Discussion Guide provides many practical suggestions for initiating and leading case discussion groups.
Synopsis
Anyone interested in mathematics teaching and learning is likely to get hooked on case discussions. Barnett, Goldenstein, and Jackson have found that teachers gain a deeper understanding of mathematical ideas themselves in the process of examining the mathematical thinking of children. Their case discussion approach promotes dialogue between and among teachers, which serves as a catalyst for changing and improving the curriculum. The cases featured here are written by upper elementary and middle school teachers about their experiences teaching fractions, decimals, ratios, and percents.
The accompanying Facilitator's Discussion Guide provides many suggestions for initiating and leading case discussion groups.
Synopsis
Anyone interested in mathematics teaching and learning is likely to get hooked on case discussions.
About the Author
Carne Barnett-Clarke is the Director of the Mathematics Case Methods Project at WestEd, a nonprofit educational institution in Oakland, California. A former teacher in Bay Area public schools and teacher educator at the University of California, Berkeley, she is one of the pioneers of using cases as a professional development tool in mathematics education. She coedited Mathematics Teaching Cases: Fractions, Decimals, Ratios & Percents (Heinemann, 1994), a counterpart to this volume for upper elementary and middle school teachers.Donna Goldenstein has been a classroom teacher for more than twenty-five years. As an associate director of the Bay Area Mathematics Project and a consultant on state and national assessment, she is deeply involved in teachers' professional development.Babette Jackson is a long-time classroom teacher with a strong interest in student learning, professional development, and educational philosophy. She is currently a principal of an elementary school in Hayward, California.
Table of Contents
Inside Student Thoughts
Take One-Third
Beans, Rulers, and Algorithms
There's No One-Half Here
Everything I Know About Decimals
How Can 100% of Something Be Just One Thing?
Making Sense or Memorizing Rules?
Point Seven Plus Point Four Is Point Eleven
I Still Don't See Why My Way Doesn't Work
The Decimal Wall
Knocking Off Zeros
Lining up the Decimal 11 . A Proportion Puzzle
Teaching as Questioning
Zeros Sometimes Make a Difference
Six Tenths or Four-Fifths of a Dollar?
Testing Theories
Hugh's Invention
Thirteen Can't Fit over Twelve
Reflecting
Problem of the Week: Bounce, Bounce
Function Machine
Isn't It One Less?
Manipulatives Aren't Magic
Rote Manipulatives?
Two Green Triangles
What Next?
Where Do I Go from Here?
Favorite-Food Circle Graph
What's My Grade?
Connections
Percents, Proportions, and Grids
Six Hours Isn't One-Sixth of a Day VIII. This Wasn't My Plan
Bubbles to Kickball
The Beauty of Math
The Ratio of Girls to Boys Appendix: Advisory Board Members