Education Week

This week I decided to take a look at a different twitter @educationweek which I found to be pretty cool.  Unlike @RenLearnUS which posts links to many different blogs relating to all different educational topics and subject matter, @educationweek posts links to live chats.  There is a different topic to each of the chats, for instance, this week was 'Integrated' Math: A Transitional Approach to the Common Core where you can see it is not just teachers on the forum.  There are superintendents, teachers, supervisors and coordinators.  People are given the chance to ask questions about integrated math.  For instance:

2:41	Madeline Will:  Paul, we have a great question from Michelle about how it's been teaching integrated math.

2:41	Comment From Michelle L.  In addition to changing the course sequence, have methods for teaching math changed? Is there more of a constructivist approach used? Are students doing hands-on activities with manipulatives and problem-solving? Or group work? Or is lecture-based?

2:41

Paul Stevenson:  Michelle, perhaps the biggest change has been in terms of teaching pedagogy. Implementing the Standards of Mathematical Practice forces a change in instruction. Students are doing far more problem solving and teachers are assigning far fewer problems each day, but the work is more meaningful and application oriented. We are moving away from lecture and using group structures pretty much every day in our classes.

This is taken directly from the forum, where questions regarding such a dramatic change in our schools are being answered almost instantly and making those fretting about the change feel more comfortable with it.  Common Core is a hard adjustment for many so as a math major, I of course found this forum to be interesting.