SUBMIT POST ALL POSTS TOP POSTS
Share | Print | Report Post Math Teachers Chatboard
Search Teachers.Net
Advanced
Quick Links: Set
Hot Now...
July 2008 Gazette
Teacher Tech Center
The Lesson Bank
Most Popular
Set Your Quick Links
Chat Center
All Chatboards
Lesson Bank
Teacher Mailrings
Project Center
Classified Ads
Live Chat & Meetings
Select by
State/Region
Grade Level
Curriculum
Interest Group
Teaching Method
Special Topics
Technology
Languages
Hot Topics
Career Center
Distance Learning
Fundraising
Tutoring Center
Teacher's Bookshelf
Free Printables
Classroom Photos
Meeting Archive
Teaching Articles
Library
Web Tools
Webring
Search
Advertise
 

Re: Praxis ii middle school math - Three Personal Examples
Posted by Pragmatic on 4/28/08

    Box-and-Whiskers is relatively new in the curriculum. I too
    hadn't seen it when I was a wee lad. I think of them more as
    statistics (I never did stem-and-leaf plots either), rather than
    math. They're a way of representing large sets of numbers, but I
    don't think that there's a lot of math in it.

    Transformations are new for middle school, and not very
    worthwhile, I think. They talk about them, but they never
    introduce the concept of a 'rigid motion in a plane' nor the idea
    of what can and can't be done within a certain set of
    transformations. I feel that it's more a 'playing with shapes'
    activity than any real math.

    (Don't get me wrong on this. There's lots to be said for playing
    with shapes. I just don't think that we have time for it in a
    middle school math class)

    I know I did inequalities many times. Unfortunately, m
    inequalities' solutions usually boiled down to "solve the equation
    as though it were an equality, then check (0,0) to see which side
    to shade". There were some trivial problems that could be solved
    by inspection, but anything that required work lent itself to too
    many opportunities for error compared to the
    try-a-couple-of-easy-points solutions.

    I think of the data representations as being artifacts of notation
    and vocabulary, rather than "unseen" math. I also didn't see
    lattice multiplication growing up, but math is math, and once my
    3rd grade nephew showed it to me I saw what was going on. I still
    don't agree that it's a better tool than traditional math, but I
    doubt I'm going to convince any elementary school teachers to
    change their ways when it's district mandated curriculum.

    Pragmatic


 
 
 
June: The 30 Days of Teachers.Net (Introduction)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30

     
     

You are on the MATH CHATBOARD:   LATEST POSTS   ALL POSTS   SUBMIT POST

Sponsors  

New Moms Wanted!
Join the community for new and expecting moms. Check out Maternityville.com Maternity Chat!

Free Lesson Plans
Thousands of lesson plans and curriculum ideas! teachers.net/lessons

Teaching Jobs
Thousands of teaching jobs and other jobs in education - visit jobs.teachers.net

Check out the latest additions to the Lesson Bank...
 
Google
 
Web Teachers.Net
  Site Map: Home Search Teaching Jobs Classifieds Lessons Contacts PR Advertise
  © 1996 - 2008. All Rights Reserved. Please review our Terms of Use, Mission Statement, and Privacy Policy.