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.
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You did a really nice job of sticking to your main idea. It was very obvious to me that the paper was about the importance of communicating between elementary, middle, and high schools.
ReplyDeleteDid the article talk about how the middle school teachers knowing what the elementary teachers were teaching helped them? Did their multiplication problem help them in the future?
I think your main idea was great and that you really stuck to it. However, i think your voice could have been a little better, and by better i think more professional or clear. I felt like the topic sentence was a little wordy and it took me a little to understand. but other than that I think your content was great and that you explained it very clear and straight to the point. thanks
ReplyDeleteThe main idea of the paper seemed clear to me, and I got a general sense for how the author made his or her point. What I would have appreciated is more detail about the multiplication method and how knowing the method was helpful to the middle school teachers. In particular, how were the middle school teachers expected to build on this new multiplication method?
ReplyDeleteYour stance toward the main idea was clear, but I didn't feel like there were at least three reasons in your critique paragraph that supported your stance. I thought that your comment about the suggestions for starting conversations between elementary and middle school students probably belonged somewhere else besides the critique paragraph. I didn't see how that supported your position toward the main point. I really only see one main point that supports your acceptance of the author's main point, and that is the example itself. What other evidence in the article did the author give that you felt supported his or her argument? Are there additional reasons that you can think of why there is a need for communication between elementary and middle school teachers? What about the need for elementary teachers to have some sense of the middle school curriculum so that they know what mathematics elementary students need to learn?
I also read this article and feel like your blog covered the author's main point very well. Your topic sentence was a bit confusing but I followed very easily what you had to say about elementary teachers and middle school teachers working together. Overall, you did a very good job!
ReplyDelete