TO: Cooperating Teachers for UM Cohort 3 Elementary Teacher Education Program

TO: Cooperating Teachers for UM Cohort 3 Elementary Teacher Education Program

September 7, 2005

TO: Cooperating teachers for UM Cohort 3 Elementary Teacher Education program

FROM: Deborah Ball and Laurie Sleep, Instructors for ED 411, Teaching Children Mathematics

RE:Details about the field-based math teaching assignments for your practicum student

We are writing to provide information about the field-based assignments that preservice teachers will complete as part of their mathematics methods course. These assignments, described briefly below, are designed to provide preservice teachers with opportunities to practice specific teaching skills or activities.

1. Teaching a “Mini-problem” (October 3 – 11)

We will be working throughout the term on developing skills and moves for leading a whole class discussion about a mathematics concept, problem, or procedure. To practice some of these skills, preservice teachers will need to lead a 10-minute discussion about a short mathematics problem. The problem could occur at the beginning or end of the mathematics period or during a transition in another part of the day. We will provide a set of problems from which to choose and will ask preservice teachers to confer with you about which problem would be most appropriate for use in your class.

2. Investigating Children’s Mathematical Thinking (October 24 – November 1)

We are investigating how children of different ages (K – 8) understand and can use place value concepts to count, represent numbers, and use algorithms to compute. To do this, preservice teachers will need time to meet with one student for about 30 minutes (depending on the age) to do some one-on-one work. In the past, cooperating teachers have helped greatly in the selection of students and in finding an appropriate place and time for the preservice teachers to meet with their students.

3. Designing and Implementing an “End-of-class Check” (October 31 – November 8)

As part of our work on assessing student thinking, preservice teachers will need to design a short prompt to use with the whole class at the end of a lesson. This can be for a lesson that you are teaching, or for one taught by the preservice teacher.

4. Circulating and Interacting with Students During Mathematics Lessons

During the course, we will be discussing ways to elicit and interpret student thinking, as well as learning about different techniques for recording observations and assessments of students. We will ask preservice teachers to practice these techniques during their interactions with students throughout the term. Therefore, it is important for preservice teachers to have many opportunities to circulate and interact with students during the independent or small group work time of mathematics lessons. At the end of the term (November 21 - December 9), preservice teachers will need to audio tape and analyze some of their interactions with students as they circulate during this portion of a lesson.

5. Teaching a Mathematics Lesson (November 21 – December 9)

Although you may ask your practicum student to teach other lessons, we expect them to teach one complete mathematics lesson near the end of the term. This will serve as an opportunity to integrate some of the skills they have been learning throughout the course. Preservice teachers will be required to video tape this lesson.

The video and audio records that preservice teachers collect during the term are not for research purposes; they are to provide preservice teachers with opportunities to learn from and improve their practice. We would appreciate it if you could assist your practicum student in obtaining the appropriate permissions.

If you would like to read more about any of these assignments, or are interested in other information about the course, please feel free to visit our website: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~sleepl/ed411.htm. Detailed descriptions of each assignment will be posted as they are assigned. If you would like to discuss any of the assignments, or any other aspect of your practicum student’s work, please feel free to call us at (734) 604-4659 or to send us email at sleepball@umich.

Thank you for your support of our preservice teachers and your important contributions to their professional education!

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