Office Hours: Warfield: Mondays, 2:00-3:00; Wednesdays after class in the classroom. If neither of these times works for you, phone or e-mail me, or see me briefly after class, and we will set up another time.
Nyman: to be announced
Text: Mathematics for Elementary School Teachers, by Tom Bassarear, available from the University Bookstore.
You also need a packet of notes from Professional Copy at 4200
University Way.
NOTE: The Bassarear text is shrink-wrapped with a book of "Explorations",
which is three-hole punched. The Packet is also three-hole punched.
I suggest that you get a notebook for those two, because one or
the other will be needed in most classes after week one.
Course goals: We operate on the hypothesis that if you
enrolled for this course, you are either definitely or potentially
interested in becoming an Elementary School teacher. If that is
the case, then you are heading out into a world where a tremendous
amount of change is in the process of occurring. To me, the most
exciting aspect of the change is that elementary mathematics is
no longer being regarded as a collection of computational skills,
but rather as a rich body of intellectual content which includes
computation as a tool, but focuses far more on understanding and
communication and reasoning. Obviously, such a change has deep
implications for all present and future teachers. Essentially
everything we do in this course-the content, the format and the
assessment-is designed to help you get your bearings in this new
scene. Note that one consequence of this is that what we
do in class is an essential constituent of what you are learning,
since communication and understanding each other's reasoning can
only happen there. This is why one of the constituents of your
grade (see below) is class attendance, registered sometimes by
your handing something in, and sometimes by a sign-in sheet. Do
not take this constituent lightly.
Course Format: Highly variable. We have at all times available
to us both Architecture 147, in which we can work together as
a whole class, and Architecture 19 and 21, in which you can work
as a large bunch of small groups. We may occasionally spend an
entire class period in one format or the other, but in general
I propose to start one way and end the other. The trick will be
to make sure I tell you by the end of each period where you will
be beginning the next one. If I don't, go to 147, but look for
signs on the door.
There will be homework to be turned in most days. If you have
taken it seriously and written it up neatly and turned it in on
time or at most one class day late, you will receive full credit.
Otherwise you will receive at most half credit.
There will be a midterm on Wednesday, January 27, and an exam at the assigned time: Monday, March 15, from 4:30 to 6:30.(Note that the starting time is a half hour later than class starting time.)
There will also be two projects. Descriptions are below.
Grade distribution: The constituent parts of your grade
are
Credit: THIS IS A CREDIT/NO CREDIT COURSE. To get credit
you must have credit for each of the parts above. For A and B,
that means receiving at least 80% of the possible credits. For
C and D, if you do not receive credit, you will be given instructions
for doing extra work in order to receive it.
Project 1, Option A: The most dramatic option is one involving some service learning. Thanks to the Pipeline Project, which connects UW volunteers with Seattle Public Schools, it is possible for you to receive some special training as a tutor and be placed within a couple of weeks in a school which needs and wants you. Further information will be available on Wednesday. This strikes me as an excellent opportunity to combine learning and being of service. So I offer the following project option:
NOTE 1: This, clearly, involves the commitment of far more time
than it would be dimly reasonable for me to require in addition
to the homework and other project in a three credit course. I
am offering it because I suspect that many of you would really
enjoy a chance to get to work with children of the ages you are
thinking about teaching, especially in circumstances where you
know you are filling a genuine need. I should also point out that
it is definitely the kind of experience that the College of Education
(and presumably other institutions offering degrees in teaching)
look for in their applicants' portfolios. In addition, this gets
your toe in the door of a school, which could be very useful for
setting up an observation situation.
NOTE 2: If you would like more details on the Pipeline Project,
you can check their web page: http://www.washington.edu/uwired/outreach/pipeline
Project 1, Option B: This one also involves teaching, but on a smaller scale. Later in the quarter, when we have carried out a number of class activities and solved a bunch of problems, you are to choose something from class and teach it to a pair of learners.
Ideally, they should be children, but if you have no access to children, two adults are also fine. You will decide what you plan to do, and write up a page or two telling me
Turn this in to me and I will check it over and either OK it or make suggestions about it.
Then you will carry out your proposed lesson and report on the
result, noting how it compares with your expectation, and observing
and reporting how the learning process of your students compares
and contrasts with your own. The follow-up report, together
with the proposal which I returned to you will be due Monday,
March 8. I need a week's turnaround time for your proposals,
so the initial write-up should be in by February 22. If
you would like to do it earlier, that is fine-just allow a week
for me to read the proposed lesson whenever it is you give it
to me.
Project 2: The second project will be a reading project,
with a written follow-up. You are to read Fear Of Math-How
To Get Over It And Get On With Your Life by Claudia Zaslazsky,
which is available at the University Bookstore on the shelf for
this course. Students who have read it in the past have frequently
commented that they felt all teachers and parents ought to read
it, not just the math-anxious ones. What you turn in will not
be a book report or summary, but a response to some questions
which I will pose in due course. This project will be due Wednesday,
February 17. Notice that this means Project 2 is due before
Project 1. That's the way it goes sometimes.
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT:
This Wednesday , you will be starting the hour in your small groups,
finishing up the problem set you begin today. During the second
portion of the hour, you will have a guest lecture from Christine
Stickler, who runs the Pipeline Project mentioned in the description
of Project 1, Option A. She will be giving an introduction
which is required for anyone planning to take part in the project,
and which will be of value to the rest of you, because a lot of
what she has to say generalizes to any teaching situation. This
will also be an opportunity to ask her questions and to sign up
if you are interested in doing so.
INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT FOR WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 6: Turn in
a brief (up to one page) mathematical autobiography. It needn't
be particularly thorough or detailed-what I would like to know
is roughly your current level and roughly your current feelings
about mathematics and, insofar as you can trace them, how you
arrived at those feelings.
INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT FOR MONDAY, JANUARY 11: Read the
sections of the NCTM Standards which constitute the Section 2
of the Packet you picked up at Professional Copy. Then write a
reaction to what you have read (roughly a page worth of reaction.)
I do NOT want a summary. I want you say something about what you
feel about the contents of the reading-what (if anything) you
like and/or what (if anything) you don't like; what sounds like
fun and/or what sounds scary, etc.
SUMMARY OF TIMELINE FOR THE QUARTER:
| Monday, January 11 | Last chance to sign up for the Pipeline Project (Option A of Project 1) |
| Wednesday, January 27 | Midterm in class |
| Wednesday, February 17 | Project 2 due |
| Monday, February 22 | Proposal due if you are doing Option B of Project 1 |
| Monday, March 8 | Project 1, Option B due |
| Monday, March 15 | Final Examination from 4:30 to 6:30, ARC 147 |