MTE 482 Homework

MTE 482 / 598 – Fall 2007

Methods of Teaching Mathematics in Secondary School

Homework

Unit 1: Platonism / Proportional Reasoning / Lesson Planning and Assessment
Date Due	Assignment
As soon as you are placed with a teacher	Field Experience Paperwork: Download and fill out the information form about your field placement. Give the letter to your mentor teacher, have them sign it and return a copy to me. Download and print out a copy a copy of the RTOP to your mentor teacher for each lesson you teach.
Throughout the Semester	Writing: Teaching Experiences: As part of your field experience, you will need to teach at least three times in your placement. Download the RTOP form and have your mentor teacher fill one out after each lesson. Keep the original for your own feedback and hand in a copy to me. After each lesson you teach, you will also turn in your lesson plan and a self-critique.
Throughout the Semester	Field Placement Discussion Board: Post your thoughts on your experiences in your field placement regularly to the discussion board. Topics may include your development of lesson plans, your teaching experiences, techniques used by your mentor teacher, etc.
Thursday, August 23	Writing: Email Introduction: Send me an email introducing yourself. Please give me some background on yourself, your academic experiences, and why you have decided to become a teacher. I would like to get to know each of you and to help shape your experiences in this class to maximize your goals as future teachers.
Thursday, August 23	Syllabus: Carefully read the course syllabus.
Tuesday, August 28	Writing: Mathematics Typesetting Complete the worksheet on typesetting mathematics equations using Equation Editor in Word. Turn in a printed hardcopy with your name at the top.
Thursday, August 30	Reading: Principles and Standards Overview Read the following sections from the NCTM Principles and Standards. Chapter 1: A Vision for Scool Mathematics Chapter 2: Principles for School Mathematics (This is a very important section - pay particular attention to learning the key idea behind each of the six principles) The introduction to Chapter 6: Standards for Grades 6-8 and the 1-page summary for each standard The introduction to Chapter 7: Standards for Grades 9-12 and the 1-page summary for each standard Read the Arizona grades 9-12 Mathematics Standards (available online here). Participate in the discussion board for the NCTM Principles and Standards.
Tuesday, September 4	Reading: Plato's Meno Read pages 1-21 of the Meno by Plato (logon). The entire text is included if you want to see how it ends. Participate in the discussion board on the Meno. Your posts should be in response to one of the initial questions posed in one of my posts.
Thursday, September 6	Reading: How to Plan a Lesson Read the document titled "How to Plan a Lesson" (logon) and participate in the discussion board on Lesson Planning.
Tuesday, September 11	Reading: NCTM Principles and Standards Read the NCTM 6-8 Number & Operations Standards Read the NCTM 6-8 Algebra Standards Participate in the discussion board for the NCTM Principles and Standards.
Thursday, September 13	Reading: Proportional Reasoning Read the article on proportional reasoning (logon) based on Susan Lamon's book and participate in the discussion board designated for this reading.
Tuesday, September 18	Reading: NCTM Assessment Standards Read the NCTM Assessment Standards for School Mathematics. This is a lengthy reading with a lot of new ideas, so I suggest you get started immediately. Think carefully about the new ways in which the document is asking you to think about assessment and how you might use these ideas in your future teaching. Participate in the discussion board specifically set up for this reading.
Tuesday, September 25	Problem Analyses: Proportional Reasoning Over the next four weeks, you should be able to work out solutions to most or all of these problems about proportional reasoning (logon). These are challenging problems so you are encouraged to work with other students in the class to solve them and we will periodically spend time in class discussing them. You must, however, write up your analyses independently. Remember, your work must be neat and include sufficient exposition to make the solution clear to a student (for example, a sequence of equations without explanation will most likely receive zero credit).
Tuesday, September 25	Writing: Basic Math Interview In this assignment you will explore with someone (e.g.. a roommate, friend, even a parent) his/her understandings of some mathematical concept usually labeled “basic,” specifically multiplication of decimal numbers. The reasoning behind this assignment is that in order to teach mathematics and assess students’ understandings well, one must first have a good sense of what it means to know and/or understand mathematics. This activity will ask you to reflect on that issue. Here are additional details on how to complete this assignment.
Unit 2: Constructivism and Cognition / Algebra / The Structure of Classroom Activity
Date Due	Assignment
Tuesday, October 2	Reading: Variables Read On the Meaning of Variables (logon) by Schoenfeld and Arcavi. Participate in the discussion board on variables.
Thursday, October 11	Reading: NCTM Principes and Standards Read the NCTM 9-12 Number & Operations Standards Read the NCTM 9-12 Algebra Standards Note that these are the secondary version of the middle school standards you read earlier. Participate in the discussion board for the NCTM Principles and Standards.
Tuesday, October 16	Writing: Crisis Procedures Find out what the procedure is for dealing with crisis in your placement school. Ask your mentor teacher to share their thoughts and experience and how they have previously dealt with a specific crisis. Turn in a brief reflection on the interview.
Thursday, October 18	Reading: Piaget's Structuralism Read the excerpt from Piaget's book "Structuralism" (logon). These ideas are central to his constructivist theory of learning and especially applicable in mathematics education. Participate in the discussion board on Piaget's Structuralism.
Thursday, October 25	Reading: NCTM Principles & Standards Read the NCTM 6-8 Connections Standard Read the NCTM 9-12 Connections Standard Participate in the discussion board for the NCTM Principles and Standards.
Tuesday, October 30	Writing: Quiz With the help of your mentor teacher, write and grade one quiz. Turn in a copy of the quiz with your grading rubric and a brief reflection on the experience.
Tuesday, October 30	Problem Analyses: Algebraic Reasoning Over the next four weeks, work out solutions to these problems about algebraic reasoning (logon). Again, these are challenging problems so you are encouraged to start early and work with other students. You must, however, write up your analyses independently. Remember, your work must be neat and include sufficient exposition to make the solution clear to a student (for example, a sequence of equations without explanation will most likely receive zero credit).
Tuesday, October 30	Writing: Student Interview Conduct a clinical interview with a student in your field placement covering a topic that was recently taught in the class. The goal of the interview is to determine how the student understands the concept. This means that i) you are not to teach, but to assess and ii) you must focus on the meaning of the mathematics, not a procedure or technique. Write a 2-page summary of what you learned from the interview.
Unit 3: Socially Mediated Thought / Functions / Cooperative Learning
Date Due	Assignment
Tuesday, November 6	Reading: NCTM Principles & Standards Read the NCTM 6-8 Communications Standard Read the NCTM 9-12 Communications Standard Participate in the discussion board for the NCTM Principles and Standards.
Thursday, November 8	Writing: Classroom Management Discuss classroom management with your mentor teacher. What has he/she learned over the years? What are the most difficult situations to deal with? How does the school administration assist teachers? Write a brief reflection, including your thoughts about the pros and cons of the particular system shared by your mentor teacher as well as what you have observed/experienced in the class.
Thursday, November 15	Reading: Vygotsky Read the excerpt from Vygotsky's The Development of Scientific Concepts in Childhood (logon). Participate on the discussion board on Vygotsky.
Thursday, November 29	Reading: Functions Overview Read the overview article on functions (logon). Participate on the discussion board on functions.
Tuesday, December 4	Reading: NCTM Principles & Standards Read the NCTM 6-8 Representation Standard Read the NCTM 9-12 Representation Standard Participate in the discussion board for the NCTM Principles and Standards.
Tuesday, December 4	Problem Analyses: Functions Over the next four weeks, work out solutions to these problems about functions. Again, these are challenging problems so you are encouraged to start early and work with other students. You must, however, write up your analyses independently. Remember, your work must be neat and include sufficient exposition to make the solution clear to a student (for example, a sequence of equations without explanation will most likely receive zero credit).