We, Jo Ann Mosier and I, started our study of NCTM’s “Focus in High School Mathematics: Reasoning and Sense Making” in May (Post 1, 2, 3) but due to a break this summer we were not able to finish the book study, but WE ARE BACK.
Jo Ann and I will be using these guiding questions as we read through the book and look forward to your thoughts on as well:
- What routines in your classroom do you have that support reasoning and sense making? How do these chapters connect/impact your routine development?
- What Standards for Mathematical Practice are relevant to support students in being successful with the task/example?
- What kinds of prior experiences/scaffolding would your students need in order to be successful with these tasks/examples?
- What specific content would a student need to enter into a certain task/example?
- How does reasoning and sense making help students make connections between content domains? Specifically what aspects of task/examples help students make connections?
We won’t be responding to all questions with every post, but will be using these questions to guide our thinking as we respond to what we’ve been reading. We’ll be posting a response weekly for the duration of the first semester of the school year. We will be responding to each other to your thoughts as we go through the process.
I encourage you to read along with us and to let us know how the book, tasks/examples, and our thoughts compare to your thinking and what you are doing in the classroom with your students.