SED 525 MA/L Methods for Teaching Secondary Mathematics Spring
2009
Mondays,
4:00 – 7:50 pm
Education Building 2103
Telling is not teaching. This course takes the
perspective that good teaching means strategically designing experiences that
promote learning. Effective math teachers view their job as developing
activities that engage students in the kinds of mathematical thinking that lead
to deep understanding, and establishing a classroom culture that supports such
engagement. Teaching math well is a complex activity, requiring teachers to
know not only the mathematics they teach but also how students come to develop
mathematical concepts.
Given this view of effective math teaching, this
course is intended to:
This course also presumes that teaching should
not be an isolated endeavor. Effective teachers find avenues for collaboration
and continued professional growth. They reflect on their own practice and
welcome constructive criticism. They are aware of the broader contexts
surrounding their classrooms; stay abreast of educational, cultural, and policy
developments at the school, district, state, and national levels; and
understand the implications of these developments for their own teaching. Thus,
this course also aims to:
Required Texts
á
Course reader, available in the Matador
Bookstore. Please bring this to
every class meeting.
á
Access to Principles and Standards for School Mathematics (2000), National
Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). (Available online at www.nctm.org with an NCTM membership, which is
highly recommended. Also in the Oviatt Library and most likely in your school.)
Course Expectations
Attendance
This course involves a significant amount of
participation—in learning activities, practice teaching, discussions, and
providing feedback and support for your classmates. Therefore, your attendance
at all class meetings is crucial, both for your own learning and each otherÕs.
Please make every effort to avoid scheduling conflicts with class meetings and,
out of respect for your classmates, to arrive promptly. Occasionally, an
absence will be inevitable. If you foresee having to miss part or all of a
class meeting, please discuss it with me in advance so I can plan class
activities accordingly and so we can make arrangements regarding assignments. Because in-class participation factors into
the final course grade, multiple absences and lateness can indirectly reduce
your grade by restricting your opportunities to participate in class
activities.
Conference Attendance
During the
semester, you are required to attend one professional conference for math
teachers. Two options are the LACTMA Conference, March 21 (http://math.lactma.net)
and the UCLA
Philip C. Curtis Jr. Center for Mathematics and Teaching Conference, Feb. 21 (www.curtiscenter.math.ucla.edu/events.html).
The April 13 class meeting has been eliminated to ÒreimburseÓ you for this
conference time, which must be at least 4 hours.
Several times during the course, you will Òpractice
teachÓ your classmates. When teaching, please conduct yourself as if this were
an actual teaching job or conference presentation. Speak clearly and
professionally, donÕt chew gum or wear a hat, etc. Often youÕll be asked to
critique your classmatesÕ practice teaching. Please do this as sensitively and
respectfully as possible! Remember, most classmates have little or no teaching
experience and many will be nervous about public speaking. Learning to give
supportive, constructive feedback is an important goal for this course. Point
out the positive aspects of a performance and frame criticism as suggestions for
improvement.
Generally, your grade for the course will be
your point total for the course assignments, as listed below. Adjustments may
be made to reward substantial improvement.
Planning Instruction
One-Day
Plan 10
Unit
Plan 15
Assessment
Analysis 15
Team
Lesson Plan: Data Analysis Project 15
Practice Teaching
Activity
ÒIntoÓ 5
Micro-Teaching 10
Participation 15
Weekly Reading Assignments 15
Total
100
I expect all assignments to be submitted at the
start of class on the date they are due. Weekly reading assignments will not be
accepted late. If you miss a class, I will expect the assignment due that night
to be delivered or emailed to me by the end of class, and you are responsible
for finding out the next assignment and completing it on time. Sometimes I will
require a make-up assignment for missed in-class work, which will count as an
additional weekly assignment. Practice-teaching assignments must be delivered
on your assigned night unless you have made a prior arrangement with me. All
other assignments (activity and assessment design assignments) will be accepted
up to one week late but with a reduced grade for lateness.
Assignments—Planning Instruction
One-Day Lesson Plan
Prepare a
fully detailed lesson plan for an entire class period that includes a
30-50-minute learning activity. The activity should engage students in
high-level mathematical thinking, promote deep understanding of an important
concept, and develop mathematical language. Your plans should draw on readings
for this course. Consider strategies for engagement such as small-group work,
technology tools, visual aids, commercial or homemade manipulatives, real-world
applications, and games. Describe the actions and interactions of the teacher
and students, any student work products, necessary materials or equipment, and
ways to formally or informally monitor studentsÕ understanding. Provide a
rationale for your planÕs design based on course readings.
Unit Plan
Develop a unit plan for a secondary math course
that covers a 5-day period of time, addresses 2 to 3 California math content
standards, and addresses the major concepts in approximately half of a textbook
chapter. The plan should immerse students in high-level thinking about
important mathematical concepts, promote a deep, relational understanding of
these concepts, and develop mathematical language. State and aim for clear and
verifiable learning objectives that reframe the CA standards in terms of what
specifically you want students to understand and be able to do. Driving
questions should frame the unit and motivate mathematical investigation.
Include tasks that actively engage students and vary in style and mode enough
to offer diverse learners access to the content. Briefly describe the
activities, assessments, and homework for each day. Finally, provide a
rationale for your unit planÕs design, based on ideas and readings from this course, that shows how the plan meets the assignment
criteria.
Complete the analysis of the learning of a class
of students, based on student responses on a chapter
test, that we will begin as an in-class activity. Your analysis will describe
patterns of comprehension and procedural mastery across the whole class,
subgroups, and individual students, citing evidence from the responses. You
will construct feedback for two students, aimed at supporting individual
learning needs. Finally, you will make recommendations for instruction for this
class (targeting the whole class and/or individuals) to further its mastery of
the concepts and skills, drawing on readings for this course.
Team
Lesson Plan: Data Analysis Project
With a team of
classmates, develop detailed plans for two consecutive lessons that constitute
all or part of a student data-analysis project. This project should interest
students, demonstrate the real-world utility of math, develop mathematical
language, and maximize mathematical engagement, exploration, and understanding.
The project should be carried out by groups of 4 students and must address one
or more of the NCTMÕs data-analysis standards for the target grade level. The
data should be authentic and the purpose of the analysis should be for students
to answer one or more questions about a real-world situation. For the data
generation and/or analysis, students must use computers, CBLs, or graphing
calculators. Your plan should include the explicit structuring of groupwork,
including orienting groups to the activity, making clear your expectations for
group behavior and any final products, organizing and launching groupwork,
promoting group autonomy, and assessing and providing feedback on groupwork.
Your team will be given class time to plan these lessons.
Assignments—Practice Teaching
Activity
ÒIntoÓ
Choose an important secondary-level math
concept. Think of an activity that would engage students in learning about this
concept. Carefully plan the introduction to this activity. Playing the role of
the teacher of our class, deliver this introduction as if we were students at
the appropriate level. In 4 minutes or less, grab our attention, provide any
information we need to get started, and organize our seating and materials.
Micro-Teaching
Choose a CA content standard, from a different
secondary-level math course than your One-Day Lesson Plan. Outline
a plan for a one-period activity through which students can learn this content.
The activity may be original or adapted from a published source (please cite it!).
Playing the role of the teacher of our class, implement part of the activity as
if we were students at the target level. Introduce the activity and get us
started. You may then let us continue to work Òin real timeÓ as you coach,
assess, or otherwise facilitate, or you may ÒbreakÓ the time once and jump to another part of the
activity. YouÕll have 10 minutes total for this teaching.
Assignments—Other
Author
Notebook
Keep a small notebook that summarizes the main
ideas of each author we read in this course and how these ideas apply to the
classroom. The purpose of this notebook is to help you translate important
ideas about teaching and learning into practice and to prepare you for major
course assignments as well as for the PACT Teaching Event and Preliminary
Teaching Events.
Email Communication
I will regularly email course information
to the address you provide me, and I expect you to read it. However, CSUN sends
all official communications by email to your CSUN account. Therefore, you
must also check your CSUN account or have it forwarded to an account you read
regularly. Check your CSUN email as soon as you have activated your university
account. Using any Web browser, go to www.csun.edu/webmail. Enter
your CSUN User ID and Password. To forward your CSUN email to another
address, go to www.csun.edu/account,
log in and select Mail Forwarding. Because some transmissions are not
successful, it is in your best interest to continue to check your CSUN email
account throughout the semester.
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
Michael D. Eisner College of Education
California State University, Northridge
The faculty of the Michael D. Eisner College of
Education, regionally focused and nationally recognized, is committed to Excellence
through Innovation. We believe excellence includes the
acquisition of professional knowledge, skills, and dispositions and is
demonstrated by the growth and renewal of ethical and caring professionals -
faculty, staff, candidates - and those they serve. Innovation occurs through collaborative partnerships among
communities of diverse learners who engage in creative and reflective
thinking. To this end we
continually strive to achieve the following competencies and values that form
the foundation of the Conceptual Framework.
o We value academic excellence
in the acquisition of professional knowledge and skills.
o We value the use of evidence for the purposes of monitoring candidate growth, determining
the impact of our programs, and informing ongoing program and unit
renewal. To this end we foster a
culture of evidence.
o
We value ethical
practice and what it means to become ethical
and caring professionals.
o We value collaborative
partnerships within the College of Education as well as across disciplines
with other CSUN faculty, P-12 faculty, and other members of regional and
national educational and service communities.
o We value diversity in styles of practice and are
united in a dedication to acknowledging, learning about, and addressing the
varied strengths, interests, and needs of communities
of diverse learners.
o
We value creative and reflective thinking and
practice.
SED 525 Methods for Teaching Secondary Mathematics Tentative Agenda Spring 2009
|
Date |
Topics |
Assignments
Due |
|
Week 1 Jan. 26 |
Introduction á
Learning theories;
instrumental/relational á
Standards-based instruction and reform |
|
|
Teaching
for understanding |
||
|
Week 2 Feb. 2 |
á
CA Standards, CST, API, NCLB á
Task analysis for cognitive demand |
á
Weekly reading assignment: NCTM and CA
Algebra Standards |
|
Week 3 Feb. 9 |
á
Algebraic development/misconceptions Meeting the needs of
diverse learners in algebra |
á
Weekly reading assignment: Hoffman
& Brahier; Booth á
1/3
Activity IntoÕs
|
|
Week 4 Feb. 16 |
á
Questioning |
á
Weekly reading assignment: Garrison
& Mora; Bellido; CA Geometry Standards á
1/3
Activity IntoÕs
|
|
Week 5 Feb. 23 |
á
Developing academic (mathematical)
language á
Text analysis |
á
Weekly reading assignment: Barton et
al.; Winsor á
1/3
Activity IntoÕs
|
|
Week 6 March 2 |
á
Meeting the needs of diverse learners
in geometry á
Sketchpad and Geogebra |
á
Weekly reading assignment: NCTM
Geometry and Reasoning/Proof Standards |
|
Week 7 March 9 |
á
Planning Backwards (long-range
planning) |
á
One-Day
Lesson Plan |
|
Assessment |
||
|
Week 8 March 16 |
á
Assessment—Formal/informal;
formative/ summative; traditional/performance á
Analyzing student work |
á
Weekly reading assignment: Ball; NCTM Assessment Handbook |
|
Week 9 March 23 |
á
Assessment—Analyzing student and
whole-class performance |
á
Unit
Plan |
|
Week 10 March 30 |
á
Assessment—Design for balanced
assessment |
á
Weekly reading assignment: Tsuruda á
1/4
Micro-Teaching |
|
April 6 & 13 NO CLASS MEETINGS |
||
|
Environments
for learning |
||
|
Week 11 April 20 |
á
Mathematical autonomy (time for team planning) |
á
Weekly reading assignment: Greenwood; Reinhart;
NCTM Data Analysis standards á
Assessment
Analysis á
1/4
Micro-Teaching |
|
Week 12 April 27 |
á
Discourse (time for team planning) |
á
Weekly reading assignment: Mewborn
Himmelberger, Staples, Truxaw, á
1/4
Micro-Teaching |
|
Week 13 May 4 |
á
Complex Instruction á
Guest speaker Matilde Lopez (time for team planning) |
á
Weekly reading assignment: Cohen;
Khisty á
1/4
Micro-Teaching |
|
Week 14 May 11 |
á
In-class Expert Panel |
á
Team
Lesson Plan presentations
á
Team
Lesson Plans
|
[1] Shulman, L. (1987). Knowledge and teaching: Foundations of the new reform. Harvard Educational Review, 57(1).