Interviews and Conferences

Anhalt, C. O., Civil, M., & Fernandes, A. (2009). Mathematical interviews to assess Latino students. Teaching Children Mathematics, 16(3), 162-169.

This article discusses the use of mathematical interviews to assess Latino students. The article explains how using interviews illustrates the correlation between language and math. English Language Learners must describe their understanding of math in one-on-one interviews. In this article the teacher is using these one-on-one interviews to assess the students' understanding of measurement. 15 working-class Latino fourth through sixth grade students were interviewed. Each student was asked to solve three NAEP tasks on measurement.

One example given was dealing with language issues that ELL students face with interpreting or solving problems. The student interpreted the question "if both the square and triangle above have the same perimeter, what is the length of each side of the square?" The student interpreted the word if differently because of the different interpretations of the work if between the student and instructor. The instructor asked many probing questions of the student so that they can understand what the student believes the question is saying, and they can also understand how to assist the student with interpreting and answering the question and others they may be faced with in the future. The instructor learned that omitting words that cause confusion to the ELL students will help them succeed in the math classroom. Language has a significant role in the performance of students. Using interviews allow the teacher to ask appropriate questions so the student can form a better understanding and strengthen their language skills. Teachers were able to use gestures the students made to interpret the explanation the student was giving.

The article then addressed how students struggle with applying math knowledge to problems because the questions are lacking context. Interviews allow for the teacher to realize this problem, and address it by providing a context that is meaningful to the student.

Teaching Children Mathematics March Article

McMillen, B., McMillen, S. (2010). My bar graph tells a story. Teaching Children Mathematics, 16(7), 430-436.

This article discusses the effective instructional strategy of connecting stories to qualitative coordinate graphs. The article includes a lesson plan that incorporates story telling with mathematics. Students are encouraged to create a story about the graph. In order for students to properly tell a story about a graph, they must be able to describe the relationship between two concepts, events, or ideas. Students are able to reinforce the relationships within mathematics. They are also able to better understand the connections to other subjects outside of mathematics.

As a teacher I thought this article was beneficial. I liked that it included a lesson plan on how to use stories to explain graphs. The lesson plan was very detailed so there was no confusion on what to do. I liked that this article included the worksheets that were used in the lesson. Having those handouts is very helpful to have as a new teacher. As a new teacher I am worried about confusing the students, and the detail about the lesson that was provided in the article helped me fell more comfortable with the activity and instructional strategy.

March MTMS Journal Article

Roberts, S. K., & Tayeh, C. (2010) Assessing understanding through reasoning books. Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, 15(7), 406-413.

This article discusses reasoning books. Reasoning books have been proven very beneficial to students that are learning and understanding mathematics. Mathematical reasoning books can be used as a tool that helps students develop their reasoning and proof, communication, and vocabulary skills. These books also create a place for students to create a forum to explore and answer the difficult questions. The article explains the reasoning books being used in each way. The article also includes examples of student responses in mathematical reasoning books.

As a teacher I though that this article investigated a great and different way to assess students in math. I liked the idea of using mathematical reasoning books discussed in the article. I liked this idea because it allows teachers to fully assess students in math. This is important because teachers are often found to be not asking the questions that are difficult to answer because they would have to "invest" time in the question by having a complete understanding of material and have explored the material enough to know everything about it. Another thing I liked about this article was that it included student responses and an analysis of each. It gave me a better understanding of how to asses each student's responses in the reasoning book.