Orchestrating Classroom Discussions. NCTM article #2

Smith, M. S., Hughes, E. K., Engle, R. A., Stein, M. K. (May 2009). Orchestrating discussions. Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, 14 (9), 548-556.

Orchestrating discussions in a classroom can be a difficult task for a teacher and requires much preparation on the teacher's part. These authors have developed a five practice model that helps teachers effectively use student responses during in-class discussions in a manageable way. The five points are; anticipating student responses, monitoring student' work and engagement on tasks, selecting particular students to present their work, choosing a specific order in which students present, and connecting student' responses to other students ideas and key concepts. The authors discuss in depth how to use each of these practices and how each can help "build on and honor student thinking" while ensuring that the key mathematical concepts are taught. An example of a task about fractions, ratios, and percentages using marbles is used to show different student responses and an efficient way to use those responses to teach statistics. The authors believe that by giving teachers a road map to follow in class discussions, teachers can better use class discussions in a effective way.

Overall, I think this was a very insightful and helpful article, and I believe that this model can be very helpful. As a student who has not yet had to do this type of classroom discussion yet, I may not fully understand the difficulty of orchestrating classroom discussions. Yet, I believe that by using this model, a teacher will be able to give their lesson plans more potency. In the example the article gave about a task concerning marbles, the authors show clearly how this model of teaching can be implemented, and how it can help class room discussions. I have also seen examples of teachers who have used other models to control class discussions ineffectively, and i think using this model would have been helpful for them. Although this model may take more time and better planning by a teacher, in the end it will save the teacher time and energy.

NCTM Article, Bridging the Math Gap

Switzer, J. M. (2010, March). Bridging the math gap. Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, 15 (7), 400-405.

This article was dedicated to showing how knowing how math material is taught in elementary schools helps middle school teachers bridge the gap between elementary school, middle school, and even high school. The author uses an example of how in elementary schools teachers are now teaching an alternative algorithm for doing multiplication. She uses this to show that middle school teachers should be given the opportunity to work with elementary teachers to coordinate their work. The author, as a curriculum writer for a school district, saw this need to have better communication in school districts and encourages very adamantly awareness of this problem and better coordination among teachers.

I think that the article brings to light a very important point about the way in which middle school teachers go about bridging the gap from elementary schools, and I agree with the assessment the author makes. The article gives some important suggestions about how to effectively begin communication and I think the points would be very helpful as a teacher. The article uses a great example to illustrate the need for awareness, and the example helped me to realize that a gap does exist and as a teacher I would need to take some of the suggestions mentioned in the article to make myself more aware. The author effectively expresses his ideas and makes it obvious to the reader that his points are valid.