Comments

Time and again, I have heard about instances where there are schools located in poor, disadvantaged neighborhoods. However, because of the dedication and effectiveness of teachers, these students have had successes well beyond what anyone could imagine. Math Foundations is a course that will help us all become more effective in our teaching of mathematics. I have already seen changes in the performance and understanding of my students because of my new, own understanding of mathematics. I know I will become a more effective teacher as I continue to learn and practice these conceptual methods and approaches to math. ~Brooke Potocki
 * "Effective teachers are the only absolutely essential element for an effective school." ~ Allington and Cunningham 1996


 * I have truly enjoyed this "new" way of looking at how to teach Math. Reading and Writing have always been my strength, but now, thanks to conceptual thinking, I'm feeling more and more empowered as a teacher to teach Math! I especially love how the philosophy of Math Foundations is so student centered. There are so many times that a student "sees" something in a problem that I do not, and being allowed to actually TAKE the TIME and have that student EXPLAIN the way s/he "sees" a problem, I believe is invaluable!! I think that I have been under the assumption that if an administrator came in and didn't see MY being the leader, the explainer, the director, that I would have my "hand slapped"...but now, I look forward to handing it over to the students and becoming the faciliator!~Dorothy Dalton

"I am thrilled to see that we, as teachers, can understand our shortcomings as math instructors, and do something about it! Our students will only understand math if we understand it. It is okay to admit that we need more instruction in math.....it will only make our students better. The world is changing and we must sharpen our skills to keep up with it." Dacia Jones

Brooke, Great Job! I am so glad that you have created this. This allows our teachers to have access to conceptual math. The video is awesome. I must see that in person. Alycen

In 2001-2002 I was the primary math teacher for a group of 73 5th graders a the lowest performing elementary school in Columbia, SC. I was asked to fill this position, not because of my vast knowledge of math skills, but because nobody else would. Because of our low scores, we had 1/2 days every Thursday, and every Thursday afternoon we were in training until 4:00. There was a lady from Florida that came to teach us math instruction strategies. Some of these strategies were "tricks" and others were based in conceptual learning. I had no pacing guide, math program or text book to use for support. I made plans with my SCOF and limited knowledge. Having struggled with math my whole life, I taught it the way I wished I had been taught. I taught it wiht the intent of the students understanding what math really was, the relationship between numbers and values. I taught using manipulatives, concrete models, and discovery. What I LEARNED was that math instruction had been taught as a series of numbers, facts, procedures and tricks to be memorized. At no point had anything ever been done to help the students understand the "why" and "how". Though I have had experience teaching in all grades K-5, that particular year was the time period where I was exposed to math instruction in the "upper grades" the most. In comparing the above mentioned instruction to the "Hands-on-Equations" type of instruction, in my opinion, they are as far polar opposite as possible. I am thrilled that students in theis county will have the opportunity to learn what "math" really means...the "how" and the "why" of it. I am so excited that our students may finally understand how numbers relate to one another and have a conceptual base for mathematical operations and problems instead of tricks and procedures they are certain to forget as soon as they have passed their final test in the subject. ~Phoenix Waters