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| Anonymous | i need answers | 1 | Oct 28 2009, 7:18 PM EDT by Anonymous | ||||
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Thread started: May 18 2009, 12:01 AM EDT
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so i can check my childs work where do i go
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| ShadMoarif | Math: The Language of Science? | 0 | Oct 17 2009, 12:31 AM EDT by ShadMoarif | ||||
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Thread started: Oct 17 2009, 12:31 AM EDT
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Math has been touted as a language of science which cannot be contested. However, to claim the status of a language, a few conditions need apply. For one thing a language can be read easily, seamlessly, and invokes comprehension as it is read. It is decodable. That means the black squiggles one sees on a page (and calls print) can be decoded into sounds, and the sounds, being speech-sounds, evoke meaning. To decode in this manner is basically "to read". It can also be encoded. We can take meaning, reconvert it back into speech-sounds, then encode those speech-sounds back into those black squiggles on a page. That is what writing is all about. Can we do that with Math? Anybody can "read" math few can understand it. That's because the sounds that mathematical symbols create in our heads are not familiar speech sounds. They invoke neither images (as of a tree when when one reads "tree"), nor the continuous flow of meaning. How then does it qualify as a language except in its most primitive form? Yet, paradoxically it is among the most advanced forms of language.
An obvious contradiction in terms. Alphabetic languages uses auditory mediation (or phonics) to facilitate the creation of meaning when print is converted to speech sounds. In fact, if it is the phonical element of spoken and written languag that facilitates comprehension of the written and the spoken word. In math, this phonical element plays a hollow, mechanical role. You can sound out "pi" (as "pie") and visualize nothing. It is an abstract concept and remains abstract (and often utterly meaningless to most) . And yet pi has meaning (to those who know it) and even an image (to those who understand where it comes from). My conclusion therefore, is that, there subsists, within the language of math, something that could function as the equivalent of auditory mediation (or phonics). |
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| Anonymous | Help with math project! | 0 | Sep 21 2009, 8:16 PM EDT by Anonymous | ||||
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Thread started: Sep 21 2009, 8:16 PM EDT
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I need to do a math project, i like marketing but i dont know how to apply it, can someone help me with so ideas for my project?
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| Anonymous | read | 0 | Apr 23 2009, 6:44 PM EDT by Anonymous | ||||
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Thread started: Apr 23 2009, 6:44 PM EDT
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join hotmail peeps!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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| BillM | New jobs rating report | 0 | Jan 14 2009, 5:25 PM EST by BillM | ||||
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Thread started: Jan 14 2009, 5:25 PM EST
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I just saw a report in the Wall Street Journal last week on this study:
http://www.careercast.com/jobs/content/JobsRated_Top200Jobs#top-ten-list I haven't studied the methodology closely but it on the surface it seems reasonable and reputable; check out the list and see what you think about the level of math needed for/expected if students are interested in any of the top 20 jobs. I know this sort of ranking doesn't address everything that matters but I think the signficance of math skills in this list is striking! |
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| BillM | webinar questions | 0 | Jan 14 2009, 4:44 PM EST by BillM | ||||
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Thread started: Jan 14 2009, 4:44 PM EST
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These are all great questions but I'd like to focus initially on a classroom teacher audience/discussion, so I think some are more relevant and appropriate than others for that group; my personal favorites would be 4, 8, 3, 7(not the second part of it), and 5, in that order. I don't think most teachers would have a good sense of 2 (opinions, perhaps, but probably not much evidence), and 1 is an interesting question but a bit nebulous (although that quality might also mean it would spark a provocative discussion).
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| JJHouse | Staying Positive | 0 | Dec 8 2008, 8:05 PM EST by JJHouse | ||||
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Thread started: Dec 8 2008, 8:05 PM EST
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I can appreciate the 'working with schools' ideas presented in Jo's book both from personal and professional experience. I’m a big supporter of 'positive interaction' models and approaches for both classroom management and parent-teacher communication (while obvious sounding, a positive approach in the classroom seems to be challenging to maintain). As such, I worry about the process of 'advocating' becoming 'adversarial' if there's a lack of experience and skill in, and recognition of, identifying and building on teacher, student and parent positives, such as 'what is working well' in the classroom, and at home.
I also notice, from my own personal parent - teacher conferences (as the parent), I often have to initiate a focus on my kids’ positives but once I do, the conversation shifts and there's a deeper understanding of learning. How do we help ensure that our advocacy isn’t seen as, or actually doesn’t become, adversarial between schools and communities? And has anyone heard of specific ‘positive classroom practice’ models that could apply to community – school advocacy as well? |
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| cgildner | Topic #2: Outcomes for Your 08-09 Plan | 13 | Nov 26 2008, 2:58 PM EST by BradyJ | ||||
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Thread started: Oct 2 2008, 11:37 AM EDT
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Could you please finish this statement: We'll know that our 08-09 TMP project year has been successful when...
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| cgildner | Topic #3: Connecting Across our TMP Partnerships | 18 | Nov 26 2008, 2:33 PM EST by BradyJ | ||||
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Thread started: Oct 2 2008, 11:36 AM EDT
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Which local TMP project(s) would you like to connect with and learn more about to discuss sharing resources, expertise and forming possible collaborations as we head to the close of TMP Phase II?
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| cgildner | Topic #1: Exploring the Question of Sustainability (page: 1 2) | 22 | Nov 26 2008, 2:28 PM EST by BradyJ | ||||
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Thread started: Oct 2 2008, 11:38 AM EDT
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Where are you seeing movement towards some level of sustainability for select aspects of, or perhaps all of,, your TMP-funded initiative? In other words, where do you see your work taking root, extending out, influencing others, and perhaps being adopted by others? An example or two would be helpful.
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| JJHouse | Another Thought: Resource Experts and PD Topics | 2 | Oct 13 2008, 6:18 PM EDT by JJHouse | ||||
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Thread started: Oct 2 2008, 1:38 PM EDT
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We have lined up Harvard's Kay Merseth to present a TMP webinar on case development later this month (look for an email on this). And we're working with Jo Boaler and Ruth Parker now to identify webinar dates targeting later fall on the topic of parent / student communication and outreach.
With this in mind, who else would you like to hear from? What PD might TMP help arrange for local project teams as a possible follow up to the August Institute or as a way of better connecting and learning from work of the various TMP local projects?
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| BillM | New Standards Alignment with CRS | 0 | Sep 19 2008, 5:51 PM EDT by BillM | ||||
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Thread started: Sep 19 2008, 5:51 PM EDT
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1) Do you think we need to meet again to revisit the standards alignment issue between the CRS and the new, new high school standards, and if we do meet, how should we approach it? I’m asking because as you probably know and can see from the OSPI site, the standards are now presented by courses in two different formats—algebra I/geometry/algebra II and Integrated I/II/III—rather than as a holistic set of standards (the same standards are included in both formats but are re-packaged to reflect the different curricular offerings). Even in the earlier versions of the new standards the changes in the layout and organization of the actual standards made the alignment work difficult; this by-course presentation makes it even more challenging to do a full and thorough comparison both with the earlier editions of the high school standards as well as with the CRS. One could argue that we already know that there’s a solid amount of overlap between the two sets of standards and the reasons for the major disconnects—geometry and probability/statistics; what’s the value of drilling down further into more nuanced differences in content?
2) Whether we decide to re-address the alignment issue formally, there could be value in convening a meeting to discuss the implications of the major differences that we know exist—if there is substantial overlap between the CRS and the high school standards, and where differences exist in the content the high school standards tend to go beyond what is defined in the CRS, what’s the role of the CRS for high school teachers in general and TMP partnerships in particular as we think about Phase III? Note: you can see the official versions of the new high school standards at the OSPI web site: http://www.k12.wa.us/CurriculumInstruct/Mathematics/RevisedStandards.aspx |
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| JJHouse | Creating Sustainable Math Reform | 2 | Sep 18 2008, 3:37 PM EDT by BillM | ||||
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Thread started: Sep 10 2008, 2:02 PM EDT
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A TMP Phase III effort beginning 2009, IF approved and funded, will focus on disseminating, implementing, supporting those most effective/promising elements of the TMP work to date on a broad(er) scale. As we wrap up Phase II, and consider a Phase III, we need to look harder and harder at how our efforts to date are moving toward being sustainable -- after TMP -- in schools and districts and colleges. I reminded myself of the dictionary definition of 'to sustain' which is 'To keep in existence; maintain; to support from below; prolong.' Despite this straightforward definition, we recognize that indicators of sustainability can and will take many forms, and is in general a longer-term process, but the question now is what progress have we begun to see?
The literature talks about district and state policy, school culture, leadership (administrators and teachers), and teaching/classroom factors as main factors impacting sustainability. So...within your local TMP work, where are you seeing movement towards some level of sustainability for select aspects of or all of your TMP-funded initiatives and newly created resources? Some examples may flow from: -New or increased district /school funding support, -Broadening, formalizing, or perhaps better targeting aspects of your work, -Using data to improve and continue TMP-supported efforts, -Increased levels of teacher and leader buy-in and commitment, -Adoption of new practices, behaviors, -Changes to PD, -and more. Please share your examples, thoughts and opinions on this important sustainability question.
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