Teaching Teachers to Teach

The "About Me" section in this blog states that I have worked with the education departments of a couple of local colleges. That's more true than ever this semester. With the usual instructor of Vassar's Math and Science Methods course on leave this spring, I have stepped into the breach and am now trying out being "Professor Currie" (that's ADJUNCT professor Currie to you--I'm not actually sure what my official title is).

I have a lovely class of what the education people like to call "preservice teachers," and so far the class is going well, and the students seem to be enjoying the activities and the discussions BUT there's a certain disconnection I'm noticing, which is that things seem pretty theoretical without, you know, actual children in the room. And teaching is all about children, right?



So for my most recent class I brought in a few children. Three, to be exact: three students who are currently fourth and fifth graders at PDS. The kids wandered in about 3:45 (class starts at 3:10) and sat down in too-big chairs in the seminar room. They looked a tad uncomfortable at first but soon warmed to the situation.



I started by asking them some questions about their enjoyment of math (they said they liked it, and a good thing too)--what they liked best about it ("it's challenging," a couple of them said), what was not so good ("when it's boring"--but I could've told you that in advance). I asked them to talk a little about how they learned multiplication as well. (Part of the focus of the class session was on multiplication and division.) Mathups, the kids agreed, had been very helpful, and using the array model had helped them understand the concepts too.



Other questions followed, both from me and from the students. What was your most memorable math project? (The corn kernels experiment, one student said. See the blog entries from October 2009 for more details on this one.) Do you prefer mental math or pencil and paper? Why? I had asked the college students to write an explanation of why the multiplication algorithm worked; one of the students was a bit unclear about one part and asked if the kids could explain it more clearly; one was happy to rise to the challenge. What manipulatives did they like? (NOT the pattern blocks, one child explained, adding "I like numbers best.") The kids were poised and articulate and knowledgeable, which was great to see. ("My, you know a lot!" I was tempted to say at one point. "Your math teacher must be HIGHLY skilled and no doubt deserves a medal and a large cash prize!" But I resisted.)



Finally, I'd arranged for the kids to teach the students a few multiplication games they had played in the past to help them learn and practice multiplication. So we divided into small groups, each with a child in charge, and off we went! The kids really enjoyed the chance to be in charge and the experts, and took well to the role.



We could've gone all afternoon, I think, but homework and other obligations loomed for the younger ones and us older ones had more discussion to do--so I paid the kids with some Freihofer's and thanked them much and off they went.



So the kids enjoyed it, and the students enjoyed it, and I enjoyed it, and it was an excellent reminder that teaching math involves teaching actual children. Fun stuff!