Math I
Ups and Downs
Ups
- Material presented in a way that students no longer ask "How am I going to use this"?
- Math Practices are easily incorporated into daily lessons.
- 21st Century Skills are easy to incorporate.
- Allows for global awareness (part of teacher eval).
- Core-Plus materials promotes scaffolding and allows students to see connections between lessons.
- More student-led discussions in class and groups.
- Students are actually learning - not just memorizing.
- Students are asking thought-provoking questions - not just what is the answer or is this right.
- Students are taking risks - learning that it is okay to be wrong, sometimes that is how we learn.
Downs
- You will be a first-year teacher again.
- Knowing what material (questions/investigations/lessons) to really spend time on.
- Working in groups - students may become too dependent on their peers, personalities that do not match, students that don't want to work.
- Not as many "hands on" activities as first presented.
- Wording of the text is sometimes difficult for students to understand.
- Practice materials must be supplemented - textbook does not have traditional "practice problems".
- Course is majorly open-ended thought-provoking questions that require the use of calculators, while the EOC is multiple choice, constructed (grid-in) response, partially calculator inactive.