TeachNow, Teaching and Learning With Processes in Math

I have found the following things effective in creating high expectations in my classrooms: 1) Establishing that I am there to help them become adults in their thinking through the instruction of logical thought via Mathematics. 2) Teaching a problem solving process that is visible to the students and applicable to real-world problems. 3) Reflective journal writing about the strategies students use to prepare for and do summative assessments. 4) Constant reminding about how Mathematics is a fair subject (moments of genius are always followed by moments of stupidity) 5) Student work written work must be clear enough so that anyone in the world can understand what the problem is and what the student's approach was, and how the solution was obtained.  These factors combine to create an ecosystem that makes high expectations a natural consequence of our work in class. I present adult life as something quite complex and that dealing with life's unexpected pr...

This first post is for the completion of an assignment that is part of the work I am doing for obtaining my teaching certification. I am required to analyze given resources for the way in which teachers set high expectations for their students. The first video is  Roller Coaster Physics , and it shows how students in a STEM lesson for 5th-6th graders in New York apply an engineering process to examining the Physics behind roller coasters. Students are building model roller coasters using foam pipe insulators, marbles, adhesive strips and sandpaper. They have to design and build roller coasters for safety, fun and length of travel, similar to how Engineers design to a specification. The language used by the teacher to describe the way the problem is posed is the same as the language used by Engineers. This is a subtle way to create high expectations as students researching various aspects relating to their work will find many internet pages of engineering companies that use the same...