Interactive Concept Development

I'm reading through the Overview and Implementation Guide for enVisionMath, by Scott Foresman-Addison Wesley (Texas). Because I am used to a traditional, instructivist curriculum, where the teacher guides the student step by step through the lesson, teaching algorithms to help students with knowledge and understanding, I just naturally have some concerns. So, how "new math", how "fuzzy math" is this math textbook?

(My principal stated, as she was giving me the materials, that there were many group activities for developing new concepts and I might want to look over them. Hmmm.)

Several things JUMP out at me.

On about every page so far: "Research says . . ." followed by an explanation of what enVisionMath provides. (There are lots of "Research says . . ." explanations.)

I notice that this seems to be TAKS (our Texas test) driven, and I see that all of the 20 topics are designed to be covered prior to the spring date for students' taking that test.

[One of my prior posts (Expectations Need to be Measurable and Concepts Need Time) referred to an article by William H. Schmidt, where he explains that "top-achieving countries" focus on fewer concepts so that teachers can cover them in depth, rather than the many (up to 20) that our country's math curriculum force teachers to cover.]

And I see that these 20 topics are covered in about 127 lessons (so they can be covered prior to the TAKS), some topics being covered in as few as 4 lessons. So some of the topics are small, bite-sized that hopefully are reinforced throughout the year. I hope there is built-in reinforcement. I'm hoping . . .

Uh-ohhh! Here it is! Interactive Learning

Research Says that students learn best when they have opportunities to interact with teachers and with other students. . . [Research says] Problem-based instruction (before making math concepts explicit) enhances learning because it gets students actively engaged in thinking about a problem and shows students that their thinking is valued.

Teachers are instructed to pose the problem, asking students to work in groups on a problem and share their thinking "before receiving teacher guidance that makes the math explicit".

Before making math concepts explicit ???

And I see lots of writing, writing to list and explain the steps you used, writing to explain what you and your partner decided to do to get the answer and why you chose that method.

Oh my!!!

And while these interactive groups are working, teachers are to be making sure that students are discussing what they are doing and that they are using the proper language and vocabulary in their discussions. How on earth can a teacher be listening to 10 pairs of students at one time to be sure they are using proper math language????

This is why teacher directed instruction is so important. When I teach (prior to the group practice) and when I make concepts explicit (prior to group practice), I can also make sure students practice explicit oral vocabulary (prior to group practice).

More later . . .