T&L 564
OTHER COURSE ASSIGNMENTS


Course Assignments will be made throughout the semester. You will be asked to do at least the following:

1. A mathematical autobiography, and an accompanying class presentation.
DUE WEEK 4

2. A classroom-focused analysis of the mathematical environment in your placement classroom.
 DUE WEEK 6

3. Mathematics instruction activities.
 ASSIGNED PERIODICALLY THROUGHOUT THE SEMESTER


MATHEMATICAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Write a 3-5 page paper that represents your mathematical autobiography.

Your "mathematical autobiography" involves two important components:
1) your experiences with learning and teaching mathematics BOTH IN AND OUT OF SCHOOL, and
2) how these experiences have influenced your ideas about how mathematics should be taught in schools.

Specifically, the paper should describe your:

1) self-perceptions about your mathematical abilities and understandings
2) feelings and attitudes toward mathematics
3) important events in your mathematical life (in and out of school)
4) where you are now in regard to both mathematics and mathematics teaching

In response to the first component you should include, but not limit yourself to, your experiences learning mathematics K-12, and in college. Note that these experiences with learning mathematics may also be considered as experiences with observing the teaching of mathematics. Just as importantly, however, you should also include (and perhaps even focus on) experiences occurring outside of school, such as thinking about number patterns while playing games, musing over patterns you see in the garden, or pondering how they know that a President's approval rating is 60%. The point here is to try to consider all of your experiences with mathematics, and identify those experiences that you feel were or are important in contributing to how you think about the teaching and learning of mathematics.
In response to the second component, you should reflect on these experiences and discuss how they have influenced your ideas about teaching mathematics, in general, or with reference to specific topics in mathematics. You may also begin to separate which of these beliefs are specific to the teaching and learning of mathematics, and which you feel are more generally applicable to teaching and learning regardless of subject matter.
The purpose here is to become conscious of your beliefs and the events that may have contributed to their creation. You should not be concerned with what others think about how mathematics should be taught, since you are not being graded on whether or not I (or anyone else) agrees with your views. You are being graded on your ability to delve into your past and analyze it's contents.
This assignment should be typed (preferably on a word processor), and should be approximately 3-5 pages in length (double spaced).

Due: Week 4

Note: Throughout the semester you will be asked to share your autobiograhy with the rest of the class. I am a boring guy and chose to mainly use oral communication; however, I encourage you to use performance, drawings, pictures, recordings, sounds, or any other medium for expressing yourself.

I will ask myself the following questions when reading and assessing your mathematical autobiography:
Do I have a good sense of how this person's beliefs, attitudes, and feeling about mathematics have developed over the years? Were critical and important events identified and described? Were the described events narrow in scope, or did the person reflect upon a broad array of types of experiences?
Do I have a good sense of how this person feels about their own mathematical understandings and abilities?
Is it clear how the experiences described may have led to a mathematical teaching perspective (or teaching perspective in general), and was this perspective clearly articulated?
Did this person present their autobiography in a personal and interesting manner?

CLASSROOM-FOCUSED ANALYSIS OF MATHEMATICAL ENVIRONMENT

In conjunction with each of your other methods and research courses, prepare a description of the mathematical environment in your placement setting. Because not everyone sees the teaching of mathematics regularly in their placement site, this assignment has two different sets of instructions: Option 2 is for students who are in a nonmathematical, content-oriented middle school setting and who do not see mathematics taught regularly, and Option 1 is for the majority of the students who are not in this situation.

OPTION 1:
You have been placed in a classroom in which the teaching of mathematics occurs, probably most every day, and that utilizes a mathematics textbook and supplemental sources and materials. The room also probably contains various mathematical posters, pictures, readings, etc. The seating arrangement may be designed to specifically support mathematical learning. Most importantly, the day-to-day format, focus, and activity that occurs in the classroom provides details on the mathematical environment to which the students in your placement are exposed.

Write a 5-10 page paper that describes the mathematical environment in your placement classroom. Pictures, drawings, or other relevant visuals can be used to add depth to your description and analysis.

You are being asked to provide a "picture" of the mathematical environment of your placement site on three levels. First, provide a detailed account of the relationship between the physical environment of the classroom and how (and what) the children are learning mathematics. Second, provide an overview of the textbook and other course materials with a focus on how these "external" materials support (or fail to) the learning of mathematics in this classroom. Third, provide an overview of the daily classroom mathematical activity and environment that supports (or fails to) the mathematical development of the students. Using all of this information, provide a summary of how the overall mathematical environment in the classroom is supportive, limiting, conducive, or a hindrance to the mathematical development of the students.

I will ask myself the following questions when reading and assessing your description:
(20 pts) Do I have a clear sense of the physical environment of the classroom? Do I have a sense of your opinion on any connections that might exist between the physical environment and how this could or does affect mathematical instruction?
(20 pts) Do I have a clear sense of the content and nature of the mathematics textbook and supporting course materials being used, and how these impact mathematics instruction and student learning?
(20 pts) Do I have a clear sense of how mathematics is usually taught in this classroom? Do I understand the nature and frequency of the following: any mathematical discussions that occur; what the students usually do; what the teacher usually does; what mathematics is attempting to be developed; is the focus on procedures, concepts, understanding, and/or problem solving; are there connections made to any activity outside of the mathematics classroom?
(20 pts) Do I understand your opinion and justification as to the degree to which you feel that the mathematics instruction in this classroom is aligned with the NCTM Standards and Washington State EALRs?
(20 pts) Do you provide a good, overall view of how the three levels of description provided above interact and form a coherent picture of this mathematical environment, and how the classroom is supportive, limiting, conducive, or a hindrance to the mathematical development of the students?

OPTION 2:
For those of you who do not see mathematics taught regularly, you will have to secure an elementary or middle school mathematics textbook or set of learning materials on your own - I will assist you if necessary. Give a careful reading of the entire textbook (and supplemental materials if available), and then provide me with a professional review of the book. I will ask that you be specific about the nature of your review. In particular, I would like you to address the following questions and provide reasons (constantly ask yourself why or why not) for your responses:

Does the book cover appropriate mathematics for the students in your classroom? Does it cover "powerful" mathematics? Does it focus too much on concepts? procedures? applications?
Is the book "teachable"? Would the book support you in your own mathematics instructional goals, or would you have to do significant supplementation?
What are some of the best features of the book? What are some of the worst features of the book?
If your principal asked you to give her a "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" and provide a one-paragraph justification for your decision, what would you respond?

I will ask myself the following questions when reading and assessing your textbook review:
(25 pts) Do I have a good understanding of your view of the mathematical powerful of the textbook and materials?
(25 pts) Do I have a sense of why you feel that the book would or would not be helpful to you as a classroom teacher along the dimensions you discuss?
(25 pts) Is your review thoughtful and reflective, or was it superficial?
(25 pts) Does the response to the principal provide a good overall summary of your thoughts on the worth of the textbook as an instructional resource?

Due: Week 6

MATHEMATICS INSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES

Various assignments involving the creation of story problems and other instructional activities will be assigned throughout the semester as needed. Details will be provided as these arise.

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