Now that I'm not so stressed about the training I think I can take a step back and give a little background to what Everyday Counts: Calendar Math (EDC) is all about.
First and formost EDC is a balance of concepts, skills, and problem solving. It involves teacher in practices, it puts an emphasis on numbers, and it wraps around any core program, which is exactly what we need going into Common Core.
Too many times I'm faced with the criticism of EDC. People believe that it's just a study of days of the week and months of the year. They believe it's just a bunch of cute patterns on a grid.
When you break it down EDC is 10-15 minutes of DAILY math discussion, which equals out to 2,700 minutes a year. Students are understanding and using math vocabulary, they are starting to see math relationships, and they are having math conversations with each other and the teacher.
I'd like to end on this questions, and feel free to comment with your answer or point of view: With Common Core Math, is there anything more important for elementary students to learn than how to use Math Talk?
I agree, I believe that it is very important for students to hold conversations about their learning and to discuss the skills. I am a true believer that students can relate and connect the skills learned through each other. That is a great way to show stats on the amount of time spent on EDC.
ReplyDeleteMath talk is something that is huge! Allowing students to talk their way through problems have been nice for me. I can't say how many times I have had students do all of the math correctly, and get the wrong answer. Seems weird, but listening to their thoughts allowed me to see where they may of had misconceptions. We were forced to take two DMI (Developing Mathematical Ideas) classes over the past few years. At first I was not a fan, but it forced me to look at Math differently, and the focus was math talk. It is nice to see it is something being focused on elsewhere. It can be frustrating at times, but it is worth it in the end.
ReplyDeleteNo matter what students end up doing later in life, the calendar (dates, months, relationships between them) will be there. Having that basic understanding of first the calendar, and then as a safe place to discuss other math concepts is great. Do all grades participate in this type of math discussion at your school?
ReplyDeleteBecky -
ReplyDeleteYes, all grades are required to implement Calendar Math. Our school has grades 4K (four year old kindergarten) through 5th grade.
It is very important for students to understand 'how' they arrived at the answer. If they can talk through the problem, then most of the time they can answer it correctly. I think being able to talk use Math talk is important.
ReplyDelete