Nine teachers from Clarkston Community Schools went back to school this summer to learn new techniques for the upcoming year.
The teachers attended the Marilyn Burns workshop ‘Building a Foundation for Algebra,? held in Holly, Aug. 15-19.
The session focused on providing participants with hands-on experience activities to aid students in more concrete learning. The goal was to help the teachers incorporate algebra throughout other math concepts.
‘We were working with ways to help the students understand the concepts behind the math, not just memorize the math facts, although that is still a part of it,? said Independence Elementary math specialist Carol Zorka. ‘We worked with using an open ended discovery method.
‘We learned it might be as simple as changing the order of how we solve a problem,? said Zorka. ‘It helped us see better how students learn and gave us ideas on how to link algebraic thinking instruction to arithmetic instruction.?
The teachers discovered how to utilize different representations of math problems such as t-charts, writing, graphs, functions, and pictures with context (geometry).
The Michigan Department of Education recently incorporated algebra into the ‘Number and Operation Strand? of the elementary math benchmarks. This means elementary teachers and math specialists must now incorporate algebraic concepts throughout other math lessons.
Teachers volunteered to take part in the workshop; however, Zorka said the goal was to get a representative from as many elementary schools as possible.
Participating in the program were: Zorka; math specialist Beth Hermes, Pine Knob; math specialist Jeanne Plancon, Clarkston Elementary; math specialist Barb Huey, third grade teacher Carrie Oullette, fourth grade teacher Maureen Moss, and first grade teacher Carrie Stephenson, all from North Sashabaw; and math specialist Julie Matthies and second grade teacher Kris Simek from Springfield Plains.
‘It (the workshop) was really eye opening and upbeat,? said Zorka. ‘It was great to learn new ways to enlighten children without making the work boring for them.
‘We learned new ways to use real life things the kids would be interested in, while at the same time using a whole lot of math.?
The math curriculum for Clarkston Schools was updated this past year to align with the state’s standards and benchmarks.
According to Zorka, the district is ‘piloting? three new book series this coming year. She added that the goal is to purchase a new text for the following year, as budgeting allows. Those teachers using the current series will alter and remove the text as needed to help utilize the new teaching concepts learned at the workshop.
‘This was exciting,? said Zorka. ‘It gave us so many great ideas.?