Workshops offer teachers a jump start on new math program
 Teacher Edna Hinton of Douglas Elementary jumps into a math lesson on measurement. |
June 16, 2004 - For the second time this summer, more than 150 WCPSS elementary school teachers have given up a week of their vacation to voluntarily participate in workshops at Enloe High School to better prepare to use the new Math Trailblazers curriculum next school year.
Schools were asked to send teams of up to four teachers and administrators for the four-day workshops. The school math teams may include the school's principal, Instructional Resource Teacher, a teacher from grades K-2 and a teacher from grades 3-5.
The WCPSS teachers are being led in discussions by a team of district math specialists and nationally recognized presenters, veteran educators from across the nation who have successfully led math instruction in their home districts using Math Trailblazers.
Many of the teachers taking part in this session will lead discussions August 3 and 4 advising other elementary school teachers in the use of the new curriculum.
The new textbook program was selected by a team of elementary school teachers who looked for material to best instruct students on the state's Standard Course of Study for elementary mathematics. They evaluated a number of programs over the past year before recommending Math Trailblazers. Administrators say using one curriculum that addresses the state's required math instruction for elementary students will provide teachers and students a more uniform approach to math instruction.
Teachers selected Math Trailblazers because the program encourages students to better understand mathematical concepts by first engaging them in practical, real-life mathematics applications, and then encouraging them to approach problem-solving in a variety of ways.
The program is also rich in the use of manipulatives, allowing students to visualize problems as they solve them. For example, it is easier for some students to learn that one-third plus one-sixth equals one-half if they actually see a cardboard cutout of one-third of a circle and one-sixth of a circle that fit together to form one-half of a circle.
Teachers also like the textbooks carefully sequenced instruction. It connects lesson to lesson and revisits topics again and again, in a more complex way each time.
-wcpss-