WEll, today was my first day of the PreAp Institute hosted by my alma mater. While I was disappointed with breakfast....(donuts and coffee....at least they had blueberry donuts...) I really enjoy the class so far. The facilitator is awesome and doesn't mind too many bunny trails and we have a great group for discussion. Small, yet familiar. We shared horror stories and ideas already and discussing different strategies. So far, I haven't learned anything that I can't use in my low-level classes...
It's great being back with my two fellow coworkers too. We just click so well...
It was also quite shocking to hear of someone who said that number lines aren't really in the math curriculum past 3rd grade... I'm all for teaching abstract thinking and such...but that's a bit early considering some of the later things you learn. It explains why so many of my students have a conceptual struggle with basic things like negatives. We also enjoyed a decent discussion of "Don't teach tricks; TEACH CONCEPTS". Please, please don't teach "Keep it change it change it" (for subtracting negatives...). Show them on a number line or use basic life psychology:
For adding a negative= punishment by spanking
Subtracting a positive = punishment by grounding or taking away cell phone
Adding a positive = reward by giving something good
Subtracting a Negative = Reward by taking away something bad (removing restrictions)
Just to show how +- is the same as -+ and ++ and - - are also equivalent
I'm going to check our state standards for the elementary grades in math to get a better feel for what is supposed to be taught--although that doesn't necessarily dictate how.
We also discussed what different schools do with their PreAP programs--how do students get signed up, athletic eligibility waivers and such. Many schools with open enrollment policies have faced problems of parents who want their students in the classes so that if the student fails an advanced class, it doesn't count against extracurricular eligibility.....If the district has a policy of waiving grades as such. Also how to make sure students are prepared to take grade level TAKS while on an advanced curriculum--key being the 8th graders where the state test standards are very different from Algebra--so when do they learn this material? What do you do for students who decide later on in their education--such as 9th grade to try and "catch" them up in a PreAP program?
Anyways, it's a lot of funning seeing some of the LU peeps who are still around there too. Lunch at the cafeteria wasn't too bad....the spaghetti sauce wasn't watered down (by much) and the salad bar had FRESH fruit and veggies. and the really yummy cookies for dessert...mmm Oh, and they had really fresh french bread too..... Have they ever gone wrong with the baking...???
Posted by Anna at July 30, 2007 05:52 PM | TrackBack