MET Building Futures Workshop

After attending the literacy, numeracy and assessment workshops I had some time to think on the long drive home. I was very impressed with the numeracy presentation put on by the literacy and numeracy secretariat of Ontario. I became familiar with this organization during my obsessive drive to find as many videos of teachers teaching and found one of the best online resources. http://www.curriculum.org/secretariat/literacy_en.html The other really good one I found was eworkshop.ca. http://www.eworkshop.on.ca/cfmx/edu/core.cfm?p=home.cfm&L=1

The speaker made a wise decision. Rather than talk briefly about the hundred and fifty thousand topics relevant to mathematics instruction, she choose to spend most of her time discussing one of the most important. She presented the class a problem to solve.

"There are 36 students on a bus. There are 8 more boys than girls on the bus. How many girls and boys are there on the bus?"

She then had us share the different methods we used to solve the problem. This is a key point. She didn't show us "her" way. She let us find our own ways and through each of us sharing our ideas, we all discovered not only that there were many ways to solve this problem, but that our peers can be valuable assets in exposing us to ideas and perspectives that we would otherwise never be aware of. The problems of our society are complex to say the least. No longer can we rely on rote application of set procedures to solve them. We need creative, new ways to solve problems and we need collaborative and cooperative means to do this. Gone are the days when teachers tell us to multiple 47 x 38 by carrying the one and adding a zero on the second line. The true spirit of inclusiveness demands teachers provide opportunities for their students to be exposed to the ideas and strategies of their peers. It's wonderful to think that inclusiveness can be fostered while solving a math problem.