Seminar 4 Post- Kendall Philip

-Chapin (Ch. 9) - The main points of this chapter pertained to how to plan an effective math lesson for students. I thought the breakdown of the four components for lesson planning were significant and relative to what I will be doing in the next few weeks. In order to plan the best lessons possible for my students, I need to identify the math goals, anticipate confusion, ask questions, and plan the activities that I will use. Another important part of this chapter talked about how to generate good questions and really get students to participate in productive mathematical discussions. According to page 181, it is important to "plan for high-level questions- the low-level questions tend to take care of themselves". I plan to come up with the more in depth questions to push my students thinking and to allow them to develop a deeper understanding of the material.

-Stein, M.K. "Mathematical argumentation..." I liked the second page of the article about classroom discussions. I see my CT use the strategy mentioned - “open up the discussion by asking, “Does everyone agree with _______?” If not, I should see your hand up, ready to ask a question.” I think this is a great way to allow students to form their own ideas/responses and support them by articulating their reasoning to the class. It allows students to question one another, and learn from one another’s ideas. This strategy also facilitates discussion, and encourages students to defend their thoughts and ideas.

-Kazemi “Discourse that promotes conceptual..” The most important information I took away from this article related to balance in the classroom. I think it is important to provide students with opportunities to participate in conceptual thinking in order to build on math concepts. The conclusion of the article talked in more detail about the importance of teachers creating “a high press for conceptual thinking”. When we, as teachers, work to hold students accountable for defending their ideas and thoughts in discussion setting, we are promoting well-thought out discussion between students.

-Atkins “Listening to students...” This article taught me a lot about the importance of teaching methods. Providing students with opportunities to engage in richer and higher level thinking works to promote an all around better mathematical learning community. I really like how the article talked about the teacher becoming a part of the conversations and discussions, rather than the one leading the discussion. Sometimes it is most beneficial for the teacher to take a student role during conversations (to sit back and observe and contribute to keep the conversation moving). This way, the discussion feels like a safe place for all students to participate. Similar to the Kazemi article, this article talked about the importance of student accountability. To promote rich discussions, students need to practice defending their own ideas and challenging their peers’ ideas as young as at an elementary level.