Talking about the BIG picture in Berlin

A few weeks back, Carol Amos (principal at Berlin Elementary) asked me to put together a presentation for her staff to offer a big picture perspective on the changes in math instruction.  Where were we?  Where are we going?  And why?

I'm embedding a copy of my presentation in this blog post (if you have any trouble viewing it embedded you can click on this link to get it).   I'll address some of the lingering questions Berlin folks had below... Please check them out and maybe weigh in by posting a comment.

Lingering Questions/Comments:*

Primary Clinical Rounds

A couple of weeks ago, we spent the day doing clinical rounds in the primary grades at East Montpelier Elementary School with Mahesh Sharma.  In the morning, we watched Mahesh work on additive reasoning and place value with a first grade class.  In the afternoon, we saw Mahesh work with second graders on subtraction.

I made some videos of the lesson that I am embedding below.  As you watch them, here are some questions that may help you to frame and reflect on what you observe:

• Questioning: How does Mahesh check for understanding?  How does he circle back and change his questions when a student has difficulty ("Give me ten.  Make it twenty...")?  What questions does Mahesh ask to promote reflection on the patterns students see? 
• Language:  How does Mahesh distinguish between value and digit?  What math language does Mahesh use?  How does he clarify the meaning of math words?
• Models:  How does Mahesh move from concrete to symbolic representations and models?  
• Examples: Why does Mahesh chose the numbers and examples he does?  How do the examples progress to show patterns?  For example, in video 2, what is the logical progression from 7 to 17 to 19 to 29 to 39 to 49 to 29 to 39 to 59 to 19 to 29 to 99?

First Grade Additive Reasoning:

Part 1: First Grade Tool Building

Part 2 & 3: First Grade Concept Building

Second Grade Additive Reasoning

Part 1: Comparing Numbers

Washington Central Case Study

For those of you interested in the long term strategy for math improvement that WCSU is undertaking, here is a video available on the Vermont PLN vimeo channel:  

Lab Classroom: The Washington Central SU Case Study from Vermont PLN on Vimeo.

If you have trouble viewing it embedded, click here for a link.